Was Jesus a Hero or a Fool?
Neither! He was better than a hero and never anyone’s fool.
“Don’t go in there! You know something bad is going to happen if you go in there,” I scream at the screen as my favorite character peers into the dark alley. What happens? They go in and get killed. Every. Single. Time.
I suppose that’s what makes the show so compelling — this character I’ve grown attached to is walking into a trap. You see the evil they’re walking into. They should see the danger, too, but they choose to ignore it. They move forward, and you are powerless to warn them. Then they needlessly die.
That’s how I feel every time I read Luke 9:51–53.
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival, 53 but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
I want to say, “C’mon, Jesus. The fact that the Samaritans won’t receive you is a sign, a bad sign. And you know you’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest in Jerusalem. Why are you setting your face toward that place? Turn around!”
Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” where the people in charge were plotting to capture him and kill him. That’s bad enough. But to make matters worse, Jesus knew how they would kill him. He knew the cross lay ahead. Yet there was no way out.
Or was there?
Was there another way?
Do you ever feel bad for asking God if there’s another way to accomplish His plans? One that doesn’t involve you sacrificing or hurting? I used to. I felt ashamed for not wanting to take it on the chin like Jesus did.
However, as the crucifixion drew closer, even Jesus hoped God would find an alternative to the cross. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to be spared:
Matthew 26:39:
39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”
Jesus asked to be spared not once, not twice, but three times!
But just as I think to myself, “Yay! I can ask God to change His plans for me if I don’t like how things are trending,” Jesus closed his prayer with, “Your will be done.”
Seriously?
First, Jesus stirs up a hornet’s nest with the people in charge; then He enters said hornet’s nest — — Jerusalem; next, He prays that God delivers Him from the torture and death He knows is coming — — a reasonable request, if you ask me — — and He ends request with, “Your will be done.” Why?
Hero? Fool? Neither. Jesus was...
Jesus knowingly turned his face toward Jerusalem because Jerusalem was God’s route to our redemption. And Jesus was not just determined to follow God’s map; Jesus was God’s map. The moment Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem, he turned His face toward us.
25 God put Jesus forth as the place of mercy, through faithfulness, by means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his covenant justice, because of the passing over (in divine forbearance) of sins committed beforehand. Romans 3:25
So, while I’m saying, “No! They’re going to kill you if you go there and make more of a fuss,” Jesus is saying, “Yeah, I know. That’s why I must go. It’s what I came here to do.” He obediently accepted God’s will: the punishment He didn’t deserve.
As it turns out, Jesus wasn’t a hero, nor was He a fool. He was a Savior. Your savior, my savior, our savior.
Father, thank you for reminding us that Jesus felt human emotions in the Garden of Gethsemane. He felt so desperate that He sweated blood and prayed for a different way to accomplish your will. I feel like that sometimes. When things get difficult I ask for a way out. However, I don’t always end my prayers with, “Your will be done.” I humbly ask that you help me with that. I want Your will to be done in theory. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult to put Your kingdom before the one I don’t know I’m building for myself. Help me be true to Your will for Your kingdom to come here like it is in heaven. Amen.
