Daily Devotional for Friday, October 13

The Principle of Sacrifice

“For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day,” Mark 9:31.

We could go through the list of the people who have founded some 
religion, and they would all have one thing in common. While some may still be living, the vast majority have died. Not only that, but theyhave stayed dead. Even the ones who may be living will someday die. They also died normal deaths. In other words, they died just as you and I will eventually die. Additionally, neither they nor their followers make legitimate claims that their particular prophet or deity came back to life.

Jesus, on the other hand, came to this earth with the sole purpose of dying. His was not to be some random, normal death like other men die. His death had a purpose. Mankind then and now is born owing the just penalty for sin. We know that the just penalty for sin is death, both physical and spiritual. Jesus’ purpose in His incarnation was to die so that men do not have to die. As God in the flesh, Jesus has the power to do that, as proven by His resurrection three days later. 

It is also important to realize that Jesus died as a human, just like you and me. Our passage tells us another thing. In ways we cannot understand, Jesus the man was well aware of what the future held for Him. Our devotional passage tells us this. I cannot even get my mind around how any man would willingly submit to what Jesus knew was coming. He did that, willingly, for all of us. His sacrifice was huge. How big is yours?

JUST A THOUGHT: Jesus’ mission in life was to die. He came to die for all of us so that we could be forgiven and restored to our Heavenly Father. 

Wally Fry