[Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me] (John 16:32). This is what Jesus our Eldest Brother said to His disciples who would abandon Him just before He was to be crucified alone on the cross as a sacrificial Lamb for sinners on earth. He knew that though His disciples should flee away and leave Him, His Father who had not sent Him, His innocent Son, alone into this fearful world filled with demons, would never leave Him alone but stay with Him to the end as He had from His birth in the manger of Bethlehem.
[Then Jesus said to them, 'When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that ... He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him'] (John 8:28, 29). [Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me] (John 16:32). Therefore [whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me] [and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me] (Luke 9:48, 10:16).
In other words, "whosoever accepts Me accepts Him who sent Me, whosoever treats Me unkindly treats Him who sent Me unkindly, and whosoever persecutes Me persecutes Him who sent Me." [The Father is in Me, and I in Him] (John 10:38).
Therefore, whoever crucifies Jesus the Son of God, crucifies His Father who walks with Him, for Jesus is one with His Father.
Truly the agony of Jesus the Son of God in Isaiah 53 is also the agony of the Father.
[Who has believed our report?] (Isa. 53:1). When [He [Jesus] was despised and rejected by men,] the Father in Him was despised and rejected by them. When He was despised "as one from whom men hide their faces," the Father likewise was despised in Him. [And we did not esteem Him] (Isa. 53:3). When He (Jesus) bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, the Father in Him also bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. When He was wounded and bruised for our transgressions and iniquities, the Father embracing Him was also wounded and bruised (Isa. 53:5).
Many years ago, I heard the following story from a minister whom I respect very much about an experience that he had had during the Korean war when he was a little boy. At that time, he had a widowed mother and an older sister. One day, the enemy planes suddenly attacked, dropping bombs into the area where he was living. And the bursting sound of exploding bombs filled the air. His mother called his sister and himself into the room hastily saying, "Let's share our fate regardless of whether we live or die." Then she made him lie flat on the floor, and next her daughter on top of him. Then she threw herself upon them as to cover them for protection. Oh, what a sacrificing love of a mother for her children! She probably thought she could be a bulletproof iron plate and protect her children safely under her, thinking to herself, "If the bombs should fall upon me, I would die first, then my daughter, but hopefully my only son will be spared!" What a mother's great love for her only son!
Now Jesus says, [If you then, being evil] (Luke 11:13), love your children so much, how can your heavenly Father send His only Son alone into the world of darkness where furious enemies abound? Truly [the Father is in Me, and I in Him,] in the bosom of the Father (John 10:38). [I and my Father are one] (John 10:30). Yes, when Jesus, the Son of God was wounded and bruised, the Father who was embracing Him was first wounded and bruised. With His chastisement and stripes we have peace and are healed; but it was really the chastisement and stripes of our heavenly Father who was holding Him in His arms (Isa. 53:5).
When the violent Roman soldiers and the more insidious Jewish leaders were mercilessly nailing down the hands and feet of the only Son of God, they were actually nailing down the hands and feet of the Father who was embracing His Son to His bosom. When Jesus was crucified on Calvary in the midst of the world between heaven and earth, the Father who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and became one with the Son, was also crucified. [Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God! ... The world... did not know Him] (1 John 3:1). Behold the Father who, in order to save the world, came down with His Son to the land of Judea!
Behold the Father and the Son surrounded by a throng of mocking and insulting people, who are like starving wolves and furious dogs! (Ps. 22:16).
Behold the Father and the Son who, to save sinners, are hung on the cross of Calvary between heaven and earth! O what an incomprehensible sacrifice of the Father and the Son [which passes knowledge!] (Eph. 3:19). It cannot be measured by our finite mind and understanding.
If I were an artist, I would draw not one but two crosses on Calvary - one big and the other little - for the Father and the Son.
I was much inspired upon reading my favorite books, [Steps to Christ] and [The Desire of Ages].
"God sacrificed Himself, in Christ, for man's redemption." [God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself] (2 Cor. 5:19).
"From the time when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem ... to Calvary, the storm of Satan's wrath beat upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father, and press on in the blood-stained path."
[God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself] (2 Cor. 5:19). He suffered with His Son. Through the agony of Gethsemane and the death of Calvary, the heart of Infinite Love paid the price of our redemption.
"In the thick darkness (of Calvary), God's presence was hidden ... The Father was with His Son. Yet His presence was not revealed ... and in that dreadful hour Christ was not to be comforted with the Father's presence ... In the thick darkness, God veiled the last human agony of His Son."
"No eyes could pierce the gloom of God's presence that surrounded the cross, and none could penetrate the deeper gloom that enshrouded the suffering soul of Christ ... But God suffered with His Son."
"The hosts of heaven (angels) veiled their faces from the fearful sight. Inanimate nature expressed sympathy with its insulted and dying Author. The sun refused to look upon the awful scene. Its full, bright rays were illuminating the earth at midday when suddenly it seemed to be blotted out ... In that thick darkness God's presence was hidden ... All heaven was filled with amazement ... What a startling scene it was to the universe of heaven!"
"God loved sinners so much that He gave Himself in the body of Christ, that He might save all humanity."
[God so loved the world that He gave (not only) His only begotten Son (but Himself) that whoever (beholds the Father and the Son on Calvary and) believes in Him (and His Father) should not perish but have everlasting life] (John 3:16).
Praise the Lord! Glory to our Father!
Poem
- The Two Crosses -
On the lonely hill of Calvary
Are standing two crosses in parallel.
One, big
The other, little.
The big one is of the Father,
And the little one of the Son. My Father and Eldest Brother,
Just for me, one sinner, They were crucified there.
Hymn
1. On a hill far away stood two old crosses,
The emblem of suffering and shame,
There the Father and the Son, to save fallen sinners
Suffered untold torment and pain.
Refrain: So I'll cherish the two old crosses
Till I come to see the great nail-pierced hands.
Just for me a sinner on that lonely hill
Were slain the Holy Father and the Son.
2. On the hill of Calvary stood two old crosses
Just for me the Father and the Son were slain
Through His precious blood and death, infinite sacrifice was made.
It was all for my life everlasting
3. On the hill of Golgotha stood two old crosses
To save me His prodigal son;
Holy Father and Son gave up the throne of heaven.
What a wondrous love for me alone!
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