I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In John 12:27, Jesus was speaking to a multitude of people when He said, "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

B.      Why was the Lord’s soul troubled, and what was this purpose for which He had come?

                                                             1.      Jesus had just said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23), so His listeners might have been surprised that the Lord would be troubled by the thought of His own glorification.

                                                             2.      However, this hour for glory was also the time that Christ would fulfill His purpose of dying in the flesh for the sins of the world.

C.      In this lesson, we will consider that Christ did not avoid His hour of suffering but instead facilitated the fulfillment of His purpose in the shedding of His blood.  We will also notice how we can follow His example in fulfilling our own purposes.

II.      "NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS THOU WILT”

A.      Let there be no doubt that it was not Christ’s desire to suffer and die on the cross.

                                                             1.      Christ was troubled at this hour because of the ordeal before Him.  The process that led to His glorification was an unthinkable episode of undeserved torment and humiliation.

                                                             2.      In the last moments before His ordeal began, Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane in agony with sweat falling from Him like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44).  In His prayer, He made His petition, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will…My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt. 26:39, 42).

B.      Nevertheless, Christ’s desire to do the will of His Father superseded any desire He had to avoid suffering and death.

                                                             1.      This desire to obey His Father existed long before He prayed at Gethsemane.  Notice Philippians 2:5-8:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

                                                             2.      It was the Father’s will to bring salvation to man through the suffering of His Son, so Jesus conformed to this purpose.  Notice Hebrews 5:8-9:

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.  And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation…

                                                             3.      For Jesus, the pleasure of His Father and His own glorification was worth the ordeal.  Hebrews 12:2 tells us to fix "our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

III.   CHRIST MADE HIS PURPOSE HAPPEN

A.      Jesus made it abundantly clear that He was in control of His own life and even more.

                                                             1.      Notice the Lord’s words in John 10:17-18:

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.  No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

                                                             2.      Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Creator of the world (John 1:1-3).  Nothing happens outside of His knowledge or power (Heb. 1:1-3), so His crucifixion happened only because He allowed it to happen.

B.      So many times, Jesus had the opportunity to preserve His life.  Instead, He intentionally laid down His life for our sake.

                                                             1.      At almost every step of the process, Jesus could have escaped His fate.  However, rather than running from the cross, Jesus deliberately came to it.

                                                             2.      Knowing that He would die in a miserable fashion, the Son of God came in the flesh.  Throughout His life on earth, Jesus knew how it would end, yet He did nothing to change that end.  In fact, He did everything to facilitate it.

                                                             3.      Consider just a few of the opportunities Jesus had to avoid the cross as the time drew near.

a.       He could have avoided Jerusalem altogether, for He knew that His enemies there were planning to kill Him (John 11:53-57).  Instead, He came into Jerusalem not in secret but in the sight of all (John 12:12-19).

b.       He could have stopped His apostle Judas from betraying Him, for He knew Judas’ evil scheme (John 13:21-26).  Instead, He said to Judas as he was leaving to betray the Lord, "What you do, do quickly” (John 13:27).

c.        He could have gone somewhere other than Gethsemane, for He knew that His betrayer and the soldiers were coming for Him (Matt. 26:46).  Instead, He stepped forward when they came, asked whom they sought, and confessed His identity (John 18:1-9).

d.       He could have allowed His apostles to fight for Him with swords (Luke 22:49-51) or His angels to destroy the earth with great power.  Instead, He said in Matthew 26:52-54:

"Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?  How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

e.        He could have defended Himself vigorously before both the Jews and the Romans, for He was innocent, and no valid charges were brought (Matt. 26:57-68; 27:1-25).  Instead, He was silent like a lamb led to slaughter (Isa. 53:4-9; 1Pet. 2:21-24).

IV.    CONCLUSION – DO YOU FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE?

A.      You are here for a reason.  Do you know what it is?  Do you embrace it and work to make it happen?  Do you flee from it and defy the purpose of your being?

                                                             1.      The Scriptures abound with meaning and purpose for all people – men, women, children, husbands, wives, parents, etc. (Eccl. 12:13-14; Eph. 2:10; 5:22-6:4; Tit. 2:1-15).  Your purpose here on earth has been determined by God and revealed to you in the Bible.  "For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:7-8).

                                                             2.      Jesus recognized His purpose and determined to fulfill it, and you must do the same.  He said, "For this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27), and you must also acknowledge your purpose in this time and pursue it.  Make this good confession: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

                                                             3.      Do not resist God’s design for you, but embrace it.  Do not follow the wisdom of the world that teaches men and women to deny their God-given purposes through humanism, feminism, and other godless philosophies.  Instead, do the will of God.

B.      Notice again that Philippians 2:5 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”

                                                             1.      The Bible holds up Jesus as your example.  Your attitude is to be identical to His, which is that of selfless submission to the will of the Father.

                                                             2.      The purpose that Jesus had in life was extremely difficult, yet He submitted to His Father and fulfilled His mission.  Your purpose may be difficult also, but if you will submit to the will of God, then you will fulfill your purpose and succeed.

C.      Finally, consider the words of Mordecai when he admonished his queen cousin Esther.

                                                             1.      When Mordecai urged Esther to plead with the king for the salvation of her people, Esther feared for her life.  Mordecai’s reply is found in Esther 4:13-14:

"Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish.  And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

                                                             2.      Like Esther, whether or not you rise to the occasion of your purpose will neither make nor break what God has determined to accomplish.  However, it will make all the difference for you.  This is your brief hour here on earth (Jas. 4:14).  Make the most of the opportunity, and fulfill your purpose.