God put His plan in motion hundreds of years before Jesus was born. He prophesied of His plan through several prophets, including Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, Isaiah, and even Nathan as He spoke to King David. It was written about in the book of Psalms.
Looking back 2,000 years after Jesus was born, walked this earth, died, was buried, and resurrected, we may take some of this for granted. Sometimes we look at history as mundane knowledge. Perhaps we would be better suited to attempt to put ourselves into the historic event.
In an attempt to gain a better understanding of what Jesus faced, we might think about what it would be like to be a prisoner on death row. The date has been set. We know there is nothing we can do to stop it from coming. All appeals to the courts have been exhausted. Short of the governor staying our execution, it will occur as scheduled. This is what Jesus had to look forward to. He knew the date He would be captured, tried, and crucified.
Can you put yourself in that situation? Can you imagine what it would be like to know the exact date and hour of your death—and have to live with it? I dare say most of us go about our lives without thinking of our coming death. We live on in ignorant bliss. I’m not suggesting we should ponder our death to the point of being morbid nor allow it to draw us into incomprehensible depression. Yet, if we truly want to understand how Jesus may have felt and why He sweat drops of sweat like blood in the garden, we need to attempt to put ourselves in His place.
Jesus did not allow the knowledge of His coming death to stop Him from continuing to perform the work He had set before Him. He had planned all He needed to accomplish beforehand and completed it right on schedule. He performed miracles, taught people what God really wanted from them, and set in motion the building of His church and kingdom.
We can learn a key lesson from how Jesus went about His life. We can plan out long-term goals and set intermediate goals to accomplish them. We want to make an impact; we must take time to think through what it takes to accomplish it and put a plan in motion. Jesus did this. Though there may have been some spur of the moment reactions, He had a 3-year plan to complete what He came to earth to do.
I pray we all learn from Jesus to plan our lives with God’s guidance. I pray we take time to determine how we want to be remembered. I pray each of us will put ourselves in Jesus’ situation, knowing death is coming and planning to make an impact in this life. Put yourself in Jesus’ place. Plan your life. Follow God’s guidance. Seek to make a positive impact.
Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Marty Pressey 