The Unshakable Rock of Our Salvation: Even the Most Uncommon & Deadly Circumstances Couldn’t Trouble the Son of God
Article #2 on the Passion of Jesus Christ
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” - John 1:14
Commonly, when most people think about suffering, what immediately comes to mind is something physically painful to the human body. Others imagine something emotional or psychological coming from bad relationships with family, friends, acquaintances, or peers. Neither of these things are what brought the Son of God into the throes of unimaginable suffering. Jesus Christ was no common Man! Even the most uncommon circumstances couldn’t trouble this extraordinary Man: starving to death, getting murdered by an angry mob, encountering a legion of devils, or being overtaken by a deadly storm in the middle of the sea.
Luke 4:1-4
God Incarnate showed no signs of distress while going 40 days without food. Suffering hunger in the brutal heat of an uninhabited wilderness for this long would have driven the human body of Jesus to the brink of death. In fact, the vast majority of people would have already died after so many days. Nevertheless, after 40 days had passed, the Son of God was not at all swayed by the feeling of hunger in the belly. While being completely assured that He could command the rocks to become bread, by choice, Jesus Christ demonstrated a perfect composure of restraint as one who was wholly satisfied with the Father. Such an unusual temptation speaks volumes about the greatness of this Man. It is simply impossible for us to understand all the temptations that would be suggested by the Devil in a day in the life of Jesus Christ (Heb. 4:15). For, a fallen Cherubim would have had unique insight into the scope of divine ability that the Son of God consciously possessed on earth –the same which He meekly relinquished for the whole duration of His Manhood (Ezek. 28:14; Matt. 11:29, Php. 2:5-11).
Luke 4:14-30
An angry mob from Nazareth trying to kill Jesus couldn’t dismay the Lord of Glory. Not even a crowd from His own earthly hometown (with family, friends, acquaintances, and peers in company), could get the adrenaline of Jesus Christ pumping as they tried to throw Him off a cliff. The end of this ordeal didn’t go as planned for the Nazarenes. “But He passing through the midst of them went His way.” (Lk. 4:30). What happened? The tumult of raging sinners was likely disarmed by the heavenly peace shining from the earthly face of Jesus Christ, while He stood there fearlessly on the edge of the cliff. No one had the audacity to push the Man over the ledge! No wonder. The quietness and confidence of the Man was confounding to everyone (Isa. 30:15). So, with the tumult hushed into amazement for a little while, the Anointed One simply passed on through their midst and went His way.
Luke 8:26-39
Suddenly, when Jesus Christ was faced with a Legion of Devils, He just stood there regal and completely unphased. Fear and trembling came upon all as they watched this infamous madman come running up to the Son of God, only for him to FALL DOWN before Jesus of Nazareth and beg for mercy! In being possessed by so many demons, it was widely known that the man had otherworldly strength. Literally, the demoniac could not be bound, arrested, or forbidden from mischief! Nevertheless, with one word from the mouth of Jesus, the naked man who haunted the graveyards at night – crying and cutting himself – was made completely sane. Raging and untamable sinners find rest when encountering the Righteous One. Hereafter, just one look at the man, being clothed and in his right mind, seated before the Messiah, struck fear in everyone who saw it.
Matthew 8:23-27
It seemed totally outrageous to Jesus Christ that He would be afraid of anything at all! Even upon waking up out of a dead sleep in a boat, in the middle of a mighty storm, as the disciples were crying out, exclaiming: “Lord, save us: we perish” (Matt. 8:25)! This extraordinary Man responded as usual in these uncommon circumstances. “And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” (Matt. 8:26). The disciples marveled at the sight of it, saying, “What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!” (Matt. 8:27). Not even a hint of fear resided in the breast of the sinless Son of God during this whole ordeal. So much the rather, as Jesus Christ arose into a standing position in the boat, while in the middle of the storm, even the torrential winds and raging sea were made afraid of Him (Ps. 77:16, 114:3-6)! Creation was seen bowing before the Creator (Col. 1:16-17).
Matthew 14:22-33
A Man who casually walks on water in the middle of a storm is capable of walking into any earthly situation with a staggering degree of serenity. Even so, Jesus Christ strongly disapproved of fear in the most chaotic circumstances. When Peter attempted to join Jesus on the water, and became afraid at the boisterous wind round about him, the Messiah said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matt. 14:31). Then, when things calmed down, everyone there who witnessed these shocking events worshipped the Lord of Glory, saying, “Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.” (Matt. 14:33).
John 18:3-11
Not even a band of soldiers with torches and weapons coming suddenly upon the Messiah in the middle of the night could make Jesus Christ feel fear or sorrow. The Creator manifested in human flesh could do without creature comforts (Lk. 9:57-62). The Son of God knew exactly what was about to happen. This is explicitly stated. “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?” (John 18:4). Jesus didn’t even wait for them to come directly to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Seeing that they were coming from afar, the Lord of Glory immediately went straight at them. The posture and body language of the Messiah made it abundantly clear that Jesus wasn’t defeated in body or discouraged in spirit. The officers marveled at the boldness of the Man.
In response to the question, “Whom seek ye?” (John 18:14), it was written, “They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth.” (John 18:5). What happened next is revealing. “Jesus saith unto them, I am He.” (John 18:5). However, the word “He” on this occasion is italicized in the English because the translators were hereby indicating that the word does not appear in the original Greek version of John 18:5. Therefore, the inspired record of the original language reads, “Jesus saith unto them, I AM” (John 18:5; Ex. 3:14). An explosion of power could be felt from this confession.
“As soon then as He had said unto them, I AM, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” – John 18:6
“There was a majestic flash of His Deity even in the hour of the abasement of His Humanity – and they fell prostrate before the God who had thus confessed that the name of Jehovah rightly belonged to Him! – C.H. Spurgeon, Christ in Gethsemane
With the enfeebled crowd so easily knocked off their feet, you can imagine how they felt threatened at this moment of weakness. There, in the dark night of Gethsemane, the dominant presence of Jehovah, the I AM, was towering over them all! Meanwhile, as the men were trying to regather themselves, getting up from the ground, the same question was posed again by the Messiah: “Whom seek ye?” (John 18:7). They gave the same answer back again. Everyone just stood there! Apparently, they were so intimidated at the presence of the Messiah that they needed some encouragement, if indeed they were going to go through with the arrest. They needed to know that Jesus, the Anointed One, would allow them to make the arrest. “Jesus answered, I have told you that I AM: if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way” (John 18:8). This implied that Jesus would let them do what they had come for as long as they didn’t seize and capture any of the disciples.
“Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” - John 18:10-11
The situation escalated at one point, when one of the disciples took a sword and struck off the ear of one of the servants of the High Priest. However, the unrest was immediately deescalated and stilled when Jesus rebuked this disciple, telling him to sheath the sword, while suddenly touching and healing the ear of the man who was wounded (Lk. 22:47-53). Then, at once, with everyone gazing upon the Messiah yet again, the following words were uttered: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matt. 26:53-54). Thus, with a countenance of otherworldly confidence, Jesus willingly relinquished Himself into the hands of sinners in the middle of the night, as the disciples then scattered from their beloved King in great distress.
