Gaius Cassius Longinus, was a Roman Senator and a General best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BC and was successful in his plot.
The above quote of Guais Cassius, "In great attempts, it is even glorious to fail", has reminded me of the attempts the Pharisees, the Sadducees and other sects tried on Jesus. We see many encounters these religious heads had directly with Jesus. Of many I remember one such incident in Lk 4:16-30. One comment of Jesus, flared up the people of Nazareth so much so that, they dragged Jesus out of the town and took him to the end of the cliff and wanted to throw him down. But Jesus withdrew from there and went on his way. It might look like a heroic failure, but has a significant cause.
In Jn 7:1-31, on v30, some tried to arrest him, yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. One radical move by Jesus has flared this up. But yet the attempt failed.
In Mt 21:46, the chief priests of the temple were trying to arrest Jesus but were afraid of the people around. Just a parable by Jesus has flared up this time. But even this was a failed attempt. There are still some more incidents of such sort.
Pleople of this world will fall into plots and make plots for others, but Jesus was a complete human and God himself, it is His time and He knows it very well. Speaking to His mother Mary, Jesus said "My hour has not yet come", Jn 2:4. Jesus clearly knows what his time is. In Jn 8:21, Jesus testifies about his time of departure. In Mt 26:45, Mk 14:41, Jesus says, "the time has come".
Even though His Father can send twelve legions of angles (Mt 26:53), approximately 72000 or 144000 in number, Jesus backoff to "let the Scriptures be fulfilled" (v54), which say it must happen this way. People can plot but may miss sometimes, but if it is God who planned it and inspired to write it, it must happen to what was prophesied.
No man has power over his own life, but Jesus had to fulfill the Scriptures. He exactly knows what's gonna happen. In Jn 10:17,18, Jesus says, "I lay down my life, so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own". Standing before Pilate, Jesus replies back strongly when Pilate tries to command over, "You would have no authority over me (my life) at all.. if it hadn't been given you from above".
Jesus gave his life wilfully for us. In this time of Lent, let us examine ourselves and dedicate ouselves as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1) to the Lord Jesus Christ, one who poured out His blood as propitiation [gk. hilastērion, Rom 3:25] , a sacrificial lamb for our sins and who gave us complete Redemption and Salvation (Rom 3:21-26).
Thank you Lord Jesus for shedding your precious blood for us, a must need which nothing can fulfill or replaced with.
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