Destined for the CrossSample

Jesus understood that His death was the will of the Father, which was the same as the will of the Son and the Spirit, because He knew all things are in the Father’s hands. “ ‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin’ ” (John 19:10–11).

After He was raised from the dead, we find Jesus teaching His disciples from the Old Testament as He explained the necessity of His crucifixion and resurrection, and the coming of the Spirit to empower them to take the gospel into all the world.

The witness of the church would be connected to the receiving of the new covenant Spirit through which the kingdom of God would advance as a result of the good news of the kingdom of God being proclaimed by the followers of Jesus that would be backed up by signs and wonders (Acts 1:8; Mark 16:15–18).

In answer to Pilate’s question of why Jesus had to die, Scripture says that Jesus died to fulfill Scripture. Jesus, obedient to the Father in all things, continues to fulfill the promises of God to His people as found in Scripture, revealing the glory of God through you and me. The commissioning found in Acts 1:8 and Mark 16:15–18 was the evangelism strategy of the apostle Paul, who testified to this reality near the end of his letter to the church at Rome. Open your heart and take hold of these words and make them your evangelism strategy as you testify to their reality in our world today.