The Lord Gave His Life For Me
Pastor Rong
Translated by Allan Liang
Mark 14:1-2
From the Scriptures we see, the passover originally involved a lamb being chosen and slaughtered, now it became about the Son of Man being handed over and nailed to the cross, for the Lord Jesus is the passover lamb, who was killed as a sacrifice for us, he is the one “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). We remember the Passover to remember the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, allowing us to be freed from the chains of sin. The chief priests and teachers of the law wanted to think of a plan that would allow them to slyly arrest and kill Jesus, but they did not want to carry it out during the passover. Even more so, they couldn’t control which day Jesus would be killed, for all this was under Jesus’ authority. To fulfill the symbols of lambs being killed as redemptive sacrifices, Jesus was nailed to the cross on the day of the passover. Although they wanted to avoid nailing Jesus to the cross on that day, Jesus still ended up being nailed to the cross on that day. The Bible says: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). This passage of Scripture tells us: the Lord Jesus has the authority to control his own life. He has the authority to lay down his life and has the authority to take it up again. In all of heaven and earth, only our Lord has this authority. We humans have no such authority to control the length of our lives, when we ought to lay it down and when we ought to take it up again. Just as the Lord Jesus himself said: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matthew 26:53-54). Evidently, it was not that Jesus could not save himself. For he is the Lord of life, and life is in his hands. Not only was his life in his own hands, all things are in his hands. All darkness and fear is removed from us because of the salvation accomplished for us by the Lord, and we in turn, receive eternal life; however, when Christ the Lord died for us in our place, he passed through death, tasted death, rose from death and crushed the power of death, sparing all believers from death - brothers and sisters, how amazing a salvation is this! It is difficult to describe the struggles, pains and sorrows experienced by the Lord Jesus Christ the night he entered the Garden of Gethsemane. In the Bible the Lord Jesus himself said, “my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). This was all because of the Lord Jesus having to face the coming of the darkness of death. Brothers and sisters, wherever we remember the Lord, we often think of the work accomplished for us by the Lord, the grace we have received. But have we thought deeply about what the Lord experienced for us, carried for us, as well as the cost he paid for us? May we see deeper that the Lord has great authority and life is in his hands, he was willing to hand his life over in order to save us from the power of sin and death. From another side, the Lord experienced six hours of pain on the cross, he gave up his spirit, and then passed through death, destroyed the one who had the power of death, accomplished the work of salvation, and saved us. How amazed should we be! Thanks be to the Lord, who paid such a great and heavy cost for us undeserving people! I am deeply moved every time this hymn is sung. I am touched by the love of the Lord, and feel undeserved of his love; may the love of the Lord inspire me to more deeply love the Lord. The chorus is particularly moving, as if the Lord is asking me: For you I laid down my life, what things do you lay down for me? For you I forsook heaven, what treasures do you forsake for me? For you I endured everything, what sufferings do you endure for me? To you I gave precious grace, what offerings do you give to me? Please meditate and pray: The Lord sacrificed his life for me, what do I sacrifice for the Lord?