Therefore then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses [who have borne affidavit to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside each impediment and that sin which so enthusiastically clings to entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. Looking away ( from all which will distract ) to Jesus, the Leader and Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of getting the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of Our Lord God. Hebrews 12:1-2 Amplified
The cross was no picnic, no walk in the park. It was a sacrifice, a total commitment, laying everything on the line. If something went inaccurate - there were no 2nd chances, no recourse, no way to undo the mess. God was infallible, but His creation was not. He sent His only begotten boy, Jesus, to complete the work and everything rested on His shoulders.
Jesus could not afford to make a screw up or to put one foot wrong. He had to conduct Himself completely for thirty-three and a half years. He could not allow the thought of the pain and the shame to stop or obstruct Him from following thru with the ideal plan of the father. As a soldier accepts his president's call to battle and to give his life, if mandatory, for his country, so Jesus accepted the call to sacrifice His life for the advantage of those who might never, ever appreciate nor suitable what He had to endure on their behalf.
those that saw His fate despised Him, thinking God was against Him. Without opening His mouth to explain, protect or excuse Himself, He had to submit to their scorn, their abuse and their judgment.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and troubled. But he was pierced for our misdemeanours, he was crushed for our iniquities ; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his injuries we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5 NIV
Men did not esteem Him, rather they despised Him - the One who would buy their freedom, the person who would die so they could live, the person who would stand in the opening, pleading with the daddy to pardon them, release them and pronounce them free from sin and all bondages that were imposed by their own choices and decisions. Men thought that it was God who smote and troubled Him.
About
Rodney Howard Brown Rodney Howard Brown and the Revival Ministries global is a ministry that crosses denominational limits and geographical borders to satisfy what the Lord has called it to do, to stir up the Church, informing her to get ready for the approaching revival.
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