June 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?' " (John 18:4).

Devotional

Our Savior's voluntariness in offering himself was not founded on ignorance. He knew very well what the covenant of redemption involved. He knew exactly what stern justice demanded. The entire scene of his humiliation, in all its dark and somber hues, was before him from eternity past—the manger... the bloodthirsty king... the scorn and ridicule of his countrymen... the unbelief of his own kinsmen... the mental agony of Gethsemane... the bloody sweat... the bitter cup... the waywardness of his disciples... the betrayal of one, the denial of another, the forsaking of all... the mock trial... the purple robe... the crown of thorns... the infuriated cry, "Away with him, away with him! Crucify him, crucify him!"... the heavy cross... the painful crucifixion... the cruel taunts... the vinegar and the gall... the hiding of his Father's countenance... the concentrated horrors of the curse... the last cry of anguish... the falling of the head... the giving up of the spirit. All, all was before the omniscient mind of the Son of God, with vividness equal to its reality, when he exclaimed, "Save him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom." And yet he willingly rushed to the rescue of ruined man. He voluntarily—though he knew the price of pardon was his own blood—gave himself up thus to the bitter, bitter agony.

And did he regret that he had undertaken the work? Never! It is said that the LORD was sorry that he had made man (Gen. 6:6); but never is it recorded that Jesus was sorry that he had redeemed man. Not one action, not one word, not one look ever betrayed an emotion like this. Every single step he took from Bethlehem to Calvary did but unfold the willingness of Jesus to die. "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!" (Luke 12:50).

Oh, how amazing is the love of Jesus! This, this is the secret as to why he did not love his own life even unto death. He loved sinners too well! He loved you better than himself! With all your sinfulness, with all your guilt, with all your wretchedness, and with all your poverty—yet he loved you so much as to give himself an offering and sacrifice unto God for you. Here was the fountainhead out of which flowed these streams of mercy. This was the great gushing fountain that was opened when he died.

And when they taunted him and said, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself"—oh, what a reply his silence gave, "I did not come to save myself, but my people. I hang here, not for my own sins, but for theirs. I could save myself, but I came to give my life a ransom for many." They thought the nails alone held him to the cross. But oh!, he knew it was his own love that kept him there.

Behold the strength of Immanuel's love. Come, fall prostrate, adore and worship him. Oh, what love was his! Oh what depth! Do not content yourself with standing upon the shore of this ocean. Enter into it, drink deeply from it. It is for you! If only you feel your nothingness, your poverty, your vileness; then this ocean is for you. It is not for angels, it is for men. It is not for the righteous, but for sinners.

Then drink to the full from the love of Jesus. Do not be satisfied with little tastes. Do not be satisfied with small sips. Take a large vessel to the fountain. The bigger the demand, the bigger the supply. The more needy, the more welcome. The more vile, the more fit.

There is a fountain filled with blood,
drawn from Immanuel's veins;
and sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
lose all their guilty stains.

(William Cowper, 1771)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.