Harvest Daily - June 27, 2005

June 27

No Greater Love

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.”

—John 15:13

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem for the birth of her son, the Messiah, there was no room for them in the inn. And that essentially foreshadowed the treatment that Jesus was to receive at the hands of people for the rest of His life.

There were many attempts on His life, beginning with Herod’s order to kill all the children of two years of age and under in Bethlehem, because he was threatened by what he had heard about a baby king. We know there were many times when the multitudes wanted to kill Jesus. On one occasion, when they were about to throw Him over a cliff, Jesus just walked through the midst of them. His time had not yet come.

You see, no one could take the life of Jesus against His will. Pilate did not take His life. The soldiers that pounded the spikes through His hands and feet did not take His life. Jesus had the power to get out of that situation at any moment, had He chosen to do so. Instead, He laid His life down. In speaking of His life, Jesus said, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18).

In the Garden of Gethsemane, when soldiers came to arrest Him, He could have said, “I am. . . . and you were. Bye.” But He chose not to do that. Instead, He laid aside the privileges of deity and willingly laid His life down. So whenever you are tempted to doubt God’s love for you, take a long, hard look at the cross.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.