For refuge have fled

When Jesus Christ proclaims, “I can lay my life down; I can take it again,” it’s a voluntary thing.

Jordan says, “There’s a lot of songs that come off of the psalm that says, ‘He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set Him free, but He died alone for you and me.’

“It comes off of Matthew 26:40. That’s a reference back to the Book of Psalms when He says, ‘My own familiar friend have turned up his heel against me.’ Matthew 26 continues, ‘Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
[49] And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.’

“We’re talking about friends in John 15. Judas represents rebellious Israel. Christ is still claiming a relationship with them. In fact, when they don’t want it in the throes of betraying Him, He says, ‘Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
[54] But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?’

“He’s saying, ‘Don’t you understand that I could ask the Father, ‘Let’s stop this’ and He’d send enough angels down here to wipe out everybody . . . you remember back in Numbers how one angel killed 185,000 in one night?
“Now what would happen if you had twelve legions? If a legion is 2,000, that’d be 24,000. I mean, that’s a lot of angels. You could take care of a whole bunch of people in one fell swoop. He said, ‘Don’t you know that I could do that?!’

“In verse 54 He’s right there, facing the Garden of Gethsemane. He’s been there, He’s prayed the prayers and come out of that Garden and Judas comes and He’s being betrayed. Pete takes out the sword and tries to whack off Malchus’ head and got his ear. Jesus says, ‘Put up your sword.’ In John 18 He says, ‘The cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?’

“Involved in the conversation He says, ‘Don’t you know that I could call on the Father and He’d send legions of angels and get me out of this? I don’t have to do this! But if I don’t do it, how’s the Scripture going to be fulfilled that said I would?!’

“At that moment He still had the privilege not to do it. But He willingly submitted to the Cross, voluntarily of His own free will, as the true son of David.”

*****

“In Israel if you kill someone, you were to be executed if you were guilty of first-degree homicide. If you were guilty of manslaughter, accidental death, you still could be executed. The family of the slain person could come get you and execute you.

“So God established around Israel what are called ‘cities of refuge’; places where the person who’s accused of murder could flee to until there could be a judgment made by the elders about the guilt or innocence.

“Numbers 35:11: ‘Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.’

“That opportunity of safety from the Avenger, well, who was he? Over in II Samuel 14, the whole family of a slain guy
comes to get the dude! But just like the nearest kinsman (you remember Boaz) could redeem, that near kinsman could also be the Avenger and literally had the right to execute the person.

“Now if that person could get to a ‘city of refuge,’ he couldn’t touch him. He had to go to court, seek an order and go through court proceedings. If while a guy is in that city, and the Avenger is there prosecuting the case, the guy happened to go out of town hunting outside the city, you know what, he’d go out and whack him! Take vengeance; avenge the slaying of blood.

“You remember God told Noah, ‘You slay a man’s blood by man’s blood will be shed?’ Not what does all this have to do with? The nation Israel shed the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They said, ‘His blood be upon us!’ You remember that? That’s actually Deut. 21 when the blood’s on you.

“So there is a cause against Israel. They are guilty, not of innocently shedding the blood, but they purposely, willfully—‘His blood be upon us and upon our children.’ That’s why, by the way, in Acts 3, Peter said, ‘I know that through ignorance you did it.’ Peter literally changed the charge from murder to manslaughter so that they could have a place of refuge to flee. And that little flock was like a city of refuge; a place to flee from the avenger of blood.

“But if you don’t flee into the little flock, the avenger of blood has got you in his sights and who’s going to be the avenger of blood? The Antichrist. So literally he’s going to be the one who avenges God Himself against the satanic policy that wound up killing His Son. Now, you talk about God’s wisdom causing the wrath of men to praise him, that’s an illustration of it! And Isaiah 10 says He didn’t mean it so. ‘But that don’t mean I can’t fix it,’ so that that’s the way that it happens.”