The Courage of Christ
We may not talk about the bravery of Jesus much, but he showed tremendous courage constantly. It took courage to stand up to the leaders of his people and tell them they were corrupt. Maybe we don’t think of it as courageous, afterall he is the Son of God. There honestly was nothing that could be done to him without him allowing it. In the verse we read today, we are shown yet another instance of Jesus being extremely brave. On one hand, Jesus tells his disciples exactly what is going to happen to him when they reach Jerusalem. On the other hand, he leads the way towards his betrayal, torture, and death. The disciples were amazed as his bravery. They were afraid, but they still followed.
Sometimes I brush off my ability to have courage like Christ because I am not God. I am very much far from being like Him. It is easy for me to dismiss God asking me to be courage simply because I don’t feel qualified to do it. Then I remember, Jesus may have lead, but the disciples followed. They were afraid but still, they pressed on. I then think of Isaac. In Genesis 22:9-12, we read, “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the woo. Then Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’”
Though we often see children’s books that show a young child being placed on bundles of wood, Isaac was no child at this time. Looking at the timeline given to us in the bible and the word used to described Isaac at this time, we can see he was actually a young, healthy man. (Most likely, he was in his early twenties.) You will never be able to convince me that a healthy young man could not overpower a very old Abraham. Isaac allowed himself to be bound. He willingly got up on the pile of wood. He did not fight the blade. He submitted. That is courage. This is why the story of Abraham and Isaac stands as a foreshadowing of Jesus. He willingly laid himself down as a sacrifice, and so did Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God, but the disciples and Isaac were mere men. They faced certain death with bravery, not because they had a death wish. They submitted to the will of the Father. That is what bravery is: submitting to God even when we are afraid. That is something you and I can do. We don’t have to be without fear; we just need to have greater faith. No matter where God is leading you, he walks ahead. He controls the outcome, and His will is always good and right. That is why we can have courage like Christ.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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