The Determination of Jesus
And Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
“ Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” Matthew 20:17-19
It was prophesied years before his birth that Jesus would come to the world for the purpose of saving man from sin. The bible says in John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus knew his assignment and came willingly to fulfill his purpose on earth. “For this cause came I into the world”, John 12:27b.
Not only did Jesus come to save man from his sin, but he came that those who believe in him would gain eternal life (John 3:16). God came as a man (Jesus), was born by the Virgin Mary in a manger, was called the son of Joseph ( the carpenter), was betrayed by his own disciple (Judas), was crucified and died between two sinners at Golgotha. On the third day he resurrected from the dead and appeared to his disciples and others, then ascended to heaven and is now seated on the right hand of the Father interceding for the saints (us).
Jesus’s coming serves as the example, the standard, for which we must measure our lives. The bible says in 1Peter 2:21, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.”There are multiple examples set by Christ that any man that adheres to these standards, can become a virtuous and successful believer. One of these examples is determination.
Christ exemplified the virtue of determination! It was as much as part of him as the blood that flows through our veins; determination flowed through the life and ministry of Jesus. Although he was all powerful because he was God in the flesh, Jesus had to be determined in order to stay focused on fulfilling his purpose on earth: as noted in Luke 2:49 Jesus was focused on doing his father’s business; in Matthew 3:13-15 Jesus determined to be baptized by John in order to fulfill his Father’s command, even in the face of John’s protest otherwise. In John 8:29 it tells how Jesus was determined to please Father God. In Luke 4:2, Jesus was determined while hungering in the desert for forty days & nights, to complete his assignment. In John 6: 1-13 Jesus determined to feed the multitudes in the desert despite those who thought it an impossible task. In Luke 22:15 Jesus was determined to have the Passover meal with the disciples; in John 13:8 Jesus determined to wash his disciple’s feet even though it wasn’t customary and against Peter’s protest.
During this Easter season, we celebrate the significance of the death and the resurrection of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is essential for us to know that it was because of Jesus’ determination that he was able to fulfill his purpose of coming to the world: his death on Calvary’s cross and the shedding of his blood in order to save man from his sin.
Unless Jesus was determined, he could not have gone to Jerusalem to be crucified! So determined was he to fulfill his destiny, that while in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ began to sweat blood when pleading with God to take “this cup away”, Luke 22:39-46. Even though Christ knew he would be betrayed by Judas, he was determined to allow himself to be betrayed (Matthew 26:21). As a faithful High Priest, Christ determined to be condemned as a criminal. Although innocent, he determined to take the stripes upon his back, be spit upon, wear a crown of thorns, and carry his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, to the hill of Golgotha in order to be crucified. And although he was offered the medicinal drink of wine mingled with myrrh, he refused so that he could fulfill the purpose of dying for all humanity (Mark 15:23). Through determination, in the face of so many difficulties and overwhelming circumstances, Jesus accomplished his purpose of coming to the world, halleluiah!!
This month of April as believers, let us be determined like Jesus, to fulfill our purpose for being in the earth! We must be determined like Christ and through the power of God, that no matter how difficult, nothing will deter us from accomplishing our God given assignment and personal aspirations!
Like Christ who in Hebrews 12:2 stated, we must set our eyes on the joy that is set before us and be determined to tackle every challenge with determination!
Welcome to the month of April, the month of “Determination”! Pastor Tope Dosumu