Articles
He Let Them
Unfortunately, when I was young I was scarred for life by a couple scenes from the movie Child’s Play. For those who don’t know (I pray none of you do), Child’s Play is a horror movie where people are terrorized by a killer doll named “Chucky”. Please don’t watch it. It’s full of senseless violence and filth…and it’s absolutely ridiculous. Though the scenes were disturbing, I was never afraid of Chucky because he was only two feet tall! He only uses close-range weapons, so all you have to do is boot him across the room! I don’t care how crazy you are, if you’re only two feet tall, you don’t stand a chance against a full grown adult fighting for survival. I couldn’t believe these people were so terrorized by someone so tiny; the thought is laughable.
Want to hear something far more ridiculous? It’s in Matthew 26:47,50. “While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people…And Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you have come for.’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.” Imagine the absurdity of this scene! These mere mortals have come to arrest, and potentially attack, the Creator of the Universe with swords and clubs! Jesus could have easily booted them across the world like twofoot rag dolls. In fact, when Peter tried to fight them off, Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (26:53). Jesus could have snapped His fingers and wiped them out in an instant! To dispense with them would be “child’s play.”
Yet He let them arrest Him. He let them bring Him back and forth to different hearings. He let them put Him through a false trial. He let them mock Him, spit on Him, beat Him over the head, and scourge His back until His flesh ripped off. He let them “make Him” carry His cross, and He let them nail His hands to it. He let them make fun of Him, He let them divide up His garments among themselves, He let them believe they actually had power over Him, and He let them watch Him die. How could He let them do all that? “How else will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen this way?” (Matt. 26:54). He did it so He could let them see the depth of their sin, so He could let them see that He let them kill Him to offer forgiveness for that sin, so He could let them see neither they nor death had any power over Him, and so He could let them into Heaven despite their wickedness. Praise be to God and Jesus for letting us have our way with Him so He could let us find our way to Him.
