John 8:28-29 "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. (29) And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."
"When ye have lifted up the Son of man..." We read back in
verse 20, "... no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet
come." In comparing verse 20 and 28, we can truly come to the
conclusion that God was in control of all matters concerning His Son. Jesus
came to do a particular work according to a particular time frame and nothing
would change that determination. To my understanding, the darkest time on the
face of the earth was those three hours as Jesus hung on the cross. May I say
just now, that if God was in control during the darkest hour that has ever been
on the face of the earth, He is still in control now.
In verse 20, "no man laid hands on him;" yet, Jesus spoke in verse
28, "When ye have lifted up the Son of man." The time was coming and
redemption would be accomplished. In verse 29, Jesus acknowledged the Father
was with Him then and would not ever leave Him alone. We will see again in
chapter 16 that Jesus makes this same declaration. But we also see Jesus as He
cried out on the cross, "My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?"
Was He mistaken? Did Jesus make an error in statement? Absolutely
not! The Father never left Jesus alone. But the Father did turn His face
away from Him during those hours, because in those hours the sins of all God's
people were transferred from us onto Jesus. "For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Yes, God was in absolute control in those
hours and He still is today.
"I do always those things that please him." Would that not be a
wonderful epithet to place on our grave markers? Although I'm afraid I fail
miserably, Jesus did not fail. He always was in the Father's will. Remember the
words of the Father on two different occasions, "This is my beloved Son in
Whom I am well pleased." Yes! The Father was always pleased with the Son
because the Son always did those things which were pleasing to Him. What
a wonderful goal for each of us to strive toward. I'm thankful that my
Lord and Saviour always did that which was pleasing to the Father because,
"it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."
(Isaiah 53:10) It pleased the Lord to give His only begotten Son to
redeem me from my sin. Praise His Holy Name!