The Will of God
August 17, 2003
Dear Friends,
In Luke 22:42, Jesus makes an interesting statement: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” From this short little statement, we can glean two facts: 1. Jesus’ will was different than his Father’s will. 2. Jesus subjected his own will to that of his Father’s will. Furthermore, from this same statement, we can infer the following ideas: 3. Jesus thought there was a chance that his Father may be willing to remove this cup (his impending execution by crucifixion) 4. Jesus understood that he could opt out of the crucifixion by following his own will rather than that of his Father.
Let’s look at each of these statements individually and see what we can glean:
1. Jesus’ will was different than his Father’s will. There are those who would suggest that Jesus and God have the same will. This is not limited to those who believe Jesus is God, but those who believe that when Jesus said “I and my Father are one”, he was speaking about a closeness of mind that the two were not simply close, but exactly one in mind. This may be true now as Jesus is in heaven where God’s will is always done (Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.). However, in his mortal existence during the first century, he was of a different will including (but not limited to) the verse in question.
2. Jesus subjected his own will to that of his Father’s will. This is important as Jesus is a role model for all of us and our salvation depends on following that model. ” For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” (Heb 10:36 AV)
” And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1Jo 2:17 AV)
3. Jesus thought there was a chance that his Father may be willing to remove this cup (his impending execution by crucifixion). As there were many prophecies outlining in great detail the agony he was going to face, Jesus probably felt that the crucifixion was inevitable. However, he had a precedent that I believe this prayer was aimed. Abraham had taken Isaac to the mountain to offer him as God had commanded. Yet, as we all know, at the last possible moment, Abraham was spared the terrible ordeal of slaying his own son. Perhaps Jesus, knowing that his Father truly sought obedience rather than sacrifice, thought there might be some way out. His mind might ponder the prophet Hosea’s words: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Ho 6:6 AV) It seems highly unlikely, however, that Jesus would make such a petition if he were absolutely certain that there was no way out. If this is true, this lays the groundwork for further inquiries into the will of God.
4. Jesus understood that he could opt out of the crucifixion by following his own will rather than that of his Father. If Jesus prays for God’s will to be done rather than his own, we can infer from it that he could exercise his own will — otherwise the statement is meaningless. As we know that it was God’s will that His son die on the cross, we can again infer that God’s will is not always done. This is fairly obvious from the statement in the Lord’s Prayer we quoted earlier — Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. But we will leave you with this thought to ponder which we will pick up next week — As we know that God is all powerful, how is it that God’s will is not always done on earth. Wouldn’t you think that if God “willed” it, whatever “it” was would be an automatic?
Have a good week!
Kyle
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