Save Yourself
Luke 23:33-39 NKJV
33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."
Three times, by three different groups, Jesus was told to save Himself. And thank God and the Lord Jesus, for the salvation of all mankind, He did not.
We live in a world where saving ourselves is the top priority of mankind. We do a lot of things in order to save ourselves. Maybe not save ourselves from dying physically, but save ourselves from a variety of lesser deaths. We save ourselves from looking 'less than' in front of others. We save ourselves from embarrassment. We save ourselves from having to admit we were wrong. And we save ourselves from being hurt by other people. We do so many things in order to protect our lives. No one is going to do anything to us, so we prioritize self-preservation.
Jesus was just the opposite. When the religious rulers who He had opposed stood by the cross, they took the opportunity to scorn and sneer at Jesus in His moment of weakness. They saw His unwillingness to save Himself as a validation of their beliefs that Jesus was wrong and not who He claimed to be. He claimed to be the Christ, and if He saved others, surely He could save Himself if He was who He said He was. They took the refusal to save Himself as a sign that He was not the Christ. They had no idea. His sacrifice and willingness to lay down His life is what made all of His claims accurate. He was the Christ, the Savior of the world.
The soldiers mocked Jesus and called on Him to save Himself. They said if He really was the King of the Jews, then He should come down from the cross. To these Roman soldiers, anyone claiming to be a king should have some power. Kings don't die on a cross. Kings aren't weak. But they didn't know that Jesus was a different kind of king. His Kingdom was not of this world, and He did not operate by this world's methods. What these soldiers took to be weakness was, in reality, strength on another level. What the soldiers and the rulers did not know was that Jesus could have come down from the cross but chose not to. The choice to stay revealed the greatest kind of strength.
The last to call on Jesus to save Himself was the thief on the cross next to Jesus. This man did not care if Jesus was the Messiah or the King of the Jews. This man simply wanted out of the misery he was in on the cross. The Roman cross was a horrible way to die, and this thief wanted out. Save yourself, and us, was his cry. What he did not know was that in refusing to save Himself, Jesus did save. He saved all who would believe in Him as the risen Son of God. The other thief recognized Jesus for who He was and asked for salvation when Jesus came into His heavenly Kingdom. This man was saved from a punishment worse than death on the cross when Jesus promised him Paradise.
Christianity is countercultural. In a world clamoring and striving to save themselves, Jesus calls us to live differently. In taking up our cross and following Him, we may at times look foolish or weak to the world around us. But following the Lord is living life on a higher level that is actually wiser and stronger than anything this world offers.
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for not saving Yourself. Thank You for Your sacrifice that has given me life and calls me to live like You on a higher level.