Jesus speaks to you today, saying,
“18 So they were saying, ‘What does he mean by ‘a little
while’? We do not know what he is talking about.’”
There is a very popular myth that is perpetuated among you
and it appeals to your very nature. So much so, that you tend to let it shape
your entire worldview, even without thinking.
That myth is that the human will is free. The myth is that,
in the cosmic battle for the universe, you have a duty to pick a side and God
really wants you to pick the right one, so if you just let Him, He will help
you and in turn, save you. Maybe.
Where this myth stems from is the fact that you can, as a
human, control things close to you. You can speak certain words to certain
people to get things done. You can choose what you will have for lunch. You can
determine your own itinerary for the day. You can even choose who you will be
around and who you will keep around you.
In our modern day of marvels, you can also control your
environment. You are no longer bound to suffer under the biting, below-zero wind
chills. Neither must you bear the intense heat of the August day. You can sit
in a car, or building, or house and condition the air to your liking.
Not satisfied with just the environment, you are able to
determine your own health. You can exercise, eat right, and thereby alleviate
many ailments and even old age. Much more, with modern knowledge of genetics,
we can even weed out the crippling diseases from society, even before a person
is born.
In fact, modern possibilities seem so endless, that we must
sit down in wonder and declare, “Is there no end to what we can accomplish?”
Thus, you and the world conclude together, that the human
will can accomplish great things, maybe even things that last for eternity.
Such as determining destiny, changing the outcome of the future, or even
aligning oneself with the universe, simply by willing it to be so.
Although I’m sure the intention is well meaning, the
practicality of such things just do not turn up. There is no evidence that
positive or negative thinking changes the world, Much less make us healthy or
prevent aging or death. There is no evidence of karma or harmonizing with the
universe and there is no truth behind being able to will anything to your
desire.
It is all in your head and there it remains. Maybe you come
across a happy coincidence, but more often than not, we find the human will is
bound, not just by flesh and blood, but in sin.
Repent. In choosing the good or the bad in life, you believe
you are on neutral ground and can either choose to be saved or choose the
devil’s side. You believe that your right or wrong choices directly affect
God’s kingdom and your own salvation.
The truth of the matter is that your will is bound in sin
and bound to death. You can not choose to live eternally any more than you can
choose to be saved. Those who commit sin are slaves to sin, no matter what
(Jn.8:34). No matter how much the disciples will
to do good, they do not understand Jesus.
Jesus tells us we are dead in our sins and a dead man can
not will himself to life, much less to new life in Christ. Sin leads only to
eternal death and because all have sinned and no one is without sin, ever, the
will is also sinful, even if it wills to do good.
Dear Christians, your salvation; your freedom; your goodness
is with Christ alone. In the Bible you will hear of this Christ, but you will
not find a salvation you can work out, work towards, or will to be. Instead you will find that Jesus has willed and worked
it out for you.
By grace you have been saved, not by works. How do you know
what a work is? It is something you think you do for God. It is something that
takes the glory away from Christ. It is something you think God has commanded
you to do and, if you were to stop, you would no longer be saved.
Hear how Jesus says that in a little while you will see HIM.
Not you, not your works, and not a guide or directions to heaven, but Him, Himself. You will see Jesus with
marks on His hands, feet, and side. You will see Jesus Who was grieved because
of your sin, but now rejoices that He has reconciled you to the Father.
By virtue of baptism, the merits of Jesus’ work are yours
and Jesus’ will is your will. Jesus frees the will to act in the manner it was
created to act: hearing God. In Baptism, you are assumed into the Body of
Christ and are now free to believe the Gospel. You are free to love your
neighbor as yourself and you are free to love God fully.
It is only in Faith that your will is free. Not free to do
what it wants, but free to remember that you have been saved. Free to hear the
Word of God. Free to believe and free to handle God’s means of Grace, even in
your mouth.
In Faith, your hands, life, and will do work towards redemption. The disciples do not understand
Jesus, because they will to follow
Jesus and yet Jesus is going to the cross and that is something, they and we
can not endure.
At one point, there were two wills in heaven. One was cast down like lightning and a third of
the angels with him. There is only room for one will: the will that declares
the whole world saved by the sacrifice of Jesus; the will that proclaims that
Jesus is the end of the Law and of works; the will that reveals forgiveness in
the breaking of the bread.
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