Meditation
9 September 2017
“Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him.” John 18:12
What irony!
Only a few moments before Jesus’ mere word had caused this band and the captains and officers of the Jews to go backward and fall to the ground. His word alone had this power. His word alone carried this fear and terror.
And now they bind him!
Irony, but also the great blindness of pride.
As if men might bind the Son of man Himself. As if by His word He could not call down ten thousand angels to deliver Him. As if by His Word He never stilled the wind and sea, cast out devils and raised the dead to life. As if by His Word He could not immediately break the feeble power of men holding His hands together.
His was the power, all the power.
But His was not the will. Neither was it the will of His Father in heaven.
So meekly He submitted Himself to the pride of men. With such humility He submitted to the appearance of being a mere transgressor of the law, a criminal in need of such a bond lest he should escape. So He appeared as a transgressor before the leaders of the Jews at His trial. So He appeared as a malefactor before Pilate.
Bound!
Why was He so bound?
He was bound that we might be loosed from our sins.
He was bound by men, treated and regarded as a transgressor, to demonstrate the binding of our sins upon Him by God. He submitted to this humiliating binding, this treatment belonging to a transgressor and malefactor, that He might show to us He became the transgressor for our transgressions. By His bonds He explain to us that He became the malefactor for us malefactors.
Bound, as the holy, the righteous Son of God. He was bound, who Himself knew no sin.
So was He bound for us.
Bound over to the death of the cross. Bound over to be the sacrifice upon Calvary’s tree for our sins bound upon Him.
Bound, that we might be loosed from our sins! Bound, that before God’s sight we might never be transgressors nor malefactors!
In that blessed freedom from our sins, our guilt, and our condemnation, let us rejoice and praise our God for the binding of His Son that has loosed our sins from us.
“Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him.” John 18:12
What irony!
Only a few moments before Jesus’ mere word had caused this band and the captains and officers of the Jews to go backward and fall to the ground. His word alone had this power. His word alone carried this fear and terror.
And now they bind him!
Irony, but also the great blindness of pride.
As if men might bind the Son of man Himself. As if by His word He could not call down ten thousand angels to deliver Him. As if by His Word He never stilled the wind and sea, cast out devils and raised the dead to life. As if by His Word He could not immediately break the feeble power of men holding His hands together.
His was the power, all the power.
But His was not the will. Neither was it the will of His Father in heaven.
So meekly He submitted Himself to the pride of men. With such humility He submitted to the appearance of being a mere transgressor of the law, a criminal in need of such a bond lest he should escape. So He appeared as a transgressor before the leaders of the Jews at His trial. So He appeared as a malefactor before Pilate.
Bound!
Why was He so bound?
He was bound that we might be loosed from our sins.
He was bound by men, treated and regarded as a transgressor, to demonstrate the binding of our sins upon Him by God. He submitted to this humiliating binding, this treatment belonging to a transgressor and malefactor, that He might show to us He became the transgressor for our transgressions. By His bonds He explain to us that He became the malefactor for us malefactors.
Bound, as the holy, the righteous Son of God. He was bound, who Himself knew no sin.
So was He bound for us.
Bound over to the death of the cross. Bound over to be the sacrifice upon Calvary’s tree for our sins bound upon Him.
Bound, that we might be loosed from our sins! Bound, that before God’s sight we might never be transgressors nor malefactors!
In that blessed freedom from our sins, our guilt, and our condemnation, let us rejoice and praise our God for the binding of His Son that has loosed our sins from us.
