(copied from
Y- Jesus. com)
BENEFIT
Many people have lied for personal gain, in fact, the motivation for most lies is some perceived benefit to oneself. What could Jesus have hoped to gain by lying about His identity? Power would be the most obvious answer. If people believed He was God He would have tremendous power. (That is why many ancient leaders, such as the Caesars claimed divine origin.)
The rub of this explanation is that Jesus shunned all attempts to move Him in the direction of seated power, instead chastised those who abused such power and lived their lives pursuing it. He also chose to reach out to the outcasts (prostitutes and lepers) those without power, creating a network of people whose influence was less than zero. In a way that could only be described as bizarre, all that Jesus said and did moved diametrically in the other direction from power.
It would seem that if power was Jesus' motivation, He would have avoided the cross at all costs. Yet on several occasions He told His disciples that the cross was His destiny and mission. How would dying on a Roman cross bring one power?
Death, of course, brings all things into proper focus. And though many martyrs have died for a cause they believed in, few have been willing to die for a known lie.
Certainly all hopes for Jesus' own personal gain would have ended on the cross. Yet to His last breath He would not relinquish His claim of being the unique Son of God.
New Testament scholar J . I. Packer points out that this title asserts Jesus' Personal deity.
next post 5th April
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