Jesus let go of his opportunity to be rescued so that he could rescue us

We had communion at Orchard Baptist yesterday and I experienced God’s love through it in a new and powerful way. We were also looking at the Psalms and I had been thinking in my preparation about how the emphasis in lots of the Psalms is on the word

Help!

The person writing the Psalm was often starting with a plea for God to rescue them. The Psalms then shift from a desperate rant to a focus on who God is as they express their confidence that God can rescue and save.

When we are struggling a cry for help is a natural instinct and as I thought about these help themed Psalms, I was reminded of Jesus in Gethsemane and his prayer.

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”(Luke 22.42)

Jesus prayed that he would be rescued from the need to die on the cross but it is an odd prayer because he really knew that he was the only one that could restore the relationship between humanity and God.

Jesus is desperate to be rescued, but he lays aside that request as he surrenders to God’s will afresh.

The love that Jesus shows in his death for us is beyond our ability to comprehend, it is greater than anything that we can imagine. Jesus’ love is overwhelming and his grace is something that we don’t deserve.

We shared the bread and grape juice that remind us that Jesus died for us and we sang ‘Before the throne above’ (you can listen to it below if you don’t know it) and the love of God felt pretty overwhelming.

Christians believe that Jesus loves us, but my prayer is that we would experience his love for ourselves rather than just trying to understand it. Yesterday at church was a wonderful opportunity to do that and for that I thank God.

You can read more about why Christians believe that Jesus died here.