NO QUITTER

NO QUITTER by Shawn Brix

"When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:30

Were there times when Jesus simply wanted to quit? Is it possible there were moments when he was ready to simply say, “Thanks, but no thanks?”

Maybe you’ve never thought of Jesus wanting to throw in the towel. But isn’t that what Jesus was expressing when he prayed in the garden on the night of his arrest? He said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me” (Luke 22:42).

Jesus was in anguish, praying so earnestly that “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44). He was looking into his Father’s heart, asking if there was some other way. He was looking up to the heavens, searching for another way to replace the path that he knew lay ahead.

It is difficult for man, surrounded by and laden with sin, to grasp its repugnance to the HOLY, SINLESS CHRIST but certainly it is the necessity of HIS taking that horrific burden upon HIMSELF that repulsed HIM, not the suffering itself.

Of course, we now know that he didn’t give up. He followed through. In the end, he was able to pray, “Yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Jesus was not on the verge of quitting; He was simply grasping for another way; for a plan that would not require His assuming man's burden of sin, but he obediently pressed on so that his Father’s will was accomplished through him.

That’s what makes his words from the cross “It is finished” so magnificent. Despite every obstacle, Jesus fulfilled his mission. He had resolutely completed what the Father had sent him to do. He was no quitter; he was a finisher.

PRAYER: God, my Father, thank you that Jesus never gave up. He was determined to see your plan of salvation through to the end, for my sake and for your glory. Amen.