Have you ever wondered what motivated Jesus to go to the cross of Calvary? In Jesus’ humanity the cross was not something He wanted to endure because it represented supreme pain, suffering, and humiliation. Yet, He willingly became the once and for all sacrificial lamb so we could be reconciled back to God.
Jesus knew His mission in life was to die at Calvary to allow us to live forgiven from our sins now and forever. He knew that Calvary was the only way to restore our broken relationship with the Father and He willingly sacrificed His life there for you and me. When we read (Hebrews 12:1-2) we begin to get a clue to what motivated our Savior to die on the cross. For we read: “Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Notice in (Hebrews 12:2) that it says: “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” I believe it was this special type of joy that motivated Jesus to go to the cross. But just what did this joy entail? I would like to focus on three aspects of this joy:
The joy of fulfilling the will of the Father
At Gethsemane we see that Jesus determined to carry out the will of the Father for we read in (Matthew 26:39): “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” I can think of few things that can bring true joy to a human heart then doing God’s will. Pleasing the Creator of the universe and having Him smile down from heaven on our actions is totally exhilarating and joyful. And it was no different for Jesus. Doing the Father’s will created joy in the heart of Jesus knowing that He was pleasing His Father.
The joy of being resurrected and restored to His former place of glory
(John 17:5) tells us: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Jesus knew that the cross was the way back to receiving all the glory of being with the Father. He knew that His agonizing pain at Calvary would lead to His exaltation through His resurrection. And just as Jesus’ death brought his exaltation His death and resurrection also brought our restoration with God.
The joy of saving you and me
I believe that Jesus looked down the corridor of time and saw how hopelessly lost you and I were. He knew that the only way to save us from our current and eternal bondage to sin was to die and be resurrected from the grave. And this knowledge that His death and resurrection could redeem us to become His purchased treasured possessions must have flooded His heart with joy.
This combination of fulfilling the will of the Father, being restored to His former place of glory, and saving millions of souls, gave Jesus ample motivation to endure the cross.
I pray that when we reflect back on what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago that we will not only rejoice in our salvation but realize that we too can have great joy as we strive to carry out God’s will in our own lives. Trials are destined, as Christians, to come our way, but when we realize that they are opportunities to use them to glorify Jesus, get excited for the joy that you will experience through these trials!