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I. IT INVOLVES THE GREATEST SACRIFICE.

1. It was a sacrifice of life. "I lay down my life." It was his own life, and not that of another. Thousands of lives are sacrificed during war by the existing government; but these are the lives of others, and not their own. But the death of Christ involved the sacrifice of his own life. It was personal.

2. It was a sacrifice of the most precious life. Every life is very precious - that of the flower or that of the animal; but human life is more precious still. Personally considered, every human life is equally precious; but relatively, some lives are more precious than others. The life of the general is thus more precious than that of the common soldier. But of all the lives that have graced this world, the life of Christ was the most precious and valuable.

(1) It was so in itself. What makes man's life more precious than that of the animal, but its being the vehicle of a higher intelligence, and immortal and responsible spirit which makes him at once to belong to a higher order of being? The life of Christ was really human, but it was perfect and sinless. This, together with its mysterious union with the Divine nature, made him to stand alone - a new and a higher order of being. He was Divine and yet human, human and yet Divine, which made his life infinitely valuable in itself.

(2) It was so in relation to this world. To this world how useful was such a life! What blessings of intelligence, revelation, holy example, spiritual communications, and of Divine benevolence it was calculated to bestow! The short time he was permitted to live proves this.

(3) It was so to the whole universe. The value of such a life was not confined to this world, but extended to the utmost regions of the Divine empire. Heaven was in close and constant communication with him during his earthly life, and he with it. How dear was he to the Father and all his holy family! How precious was his life! What a tax upon Divine affections was his death! Nature's gloom on the occasion was but a faint shadow of heaven's mourning. What a sacrifice!

3. It was a sacrifice involving the greatest sufferings.

(1) Think of the sinlessness of his nature. Sinfulness of nature habituates that nature to suffering. But Christ's character was not only spotless, but his nature was sinless. Thus the very idea of death must be to him extremely repulsive, and its actual pangs beyond description painful.

(2) Think of the greatness of his nature. Little natures are capable of but very little pleasure or pain, but large natures are largely capable of both. The capacity of Christ for suffering is outside our experience and far beyond our comprehension.

(3) Think of the cruelty of his death. He suffered the death of crucifixion, with all its attendant shame, ignominy, pains, and agonies. All that infernal hatred could devise he had to suffer.

II. HIS DEATH WAS PURELY SELF-SACRIFICING. To prove and illustrate this, consider the following things.

1. His life was absolutely his own. "My life." No other man can absolutely call his life his own. With the exception of Christ's, every man's life is borrowed; he is a tenant at will, and not from year to year, but from breath to breath. But Christ's life was absolutely his own.

2. He had an absolute control over it. Not merely it was his own, but he could dispose of it as he wished. "No one taketh it from me."

(1) This was true with regard to all men. There was no power in Jerusalem, nor in Rome, nor in the whole world combined, that could take it from him.

(2) This was true with regard to the devil It is said that the devil had the power of death, and in a sense this was true. But it was not true with regard to Jesus; he was sinless, and he was almighty. He could say, "The prince of this world cometh," etc. He had neither a right to nor the power over the life of Christ.

(3) This was true with regard to the Father. In a true sense he is the absolute Proprietor of life; but this Jesus, as the Eternal Son, shared with him, and his incarnate life did not deprive him of this Divine prerogative. Even in that state it was given him to have life in himself. Thus the Father could not nor would not take it from him.

3. His death was purely voluntary.

(1) It was his own personal act. His life was absolutely his own, and he laid it down.

(2) It was the act of his free will and choice. There was no circumstantial and personal necessity, there was no coercion. Who on earth or in hell could coerce him? and who in heaven would? The self-sacrificing idea was purely voluntary and self-inspiring, and to carry it out cost him infinite condescension. He bad to become a man before he could have the power to lay down his life. He could not die in heaven; no one can die there, much less he who is the Life itself. But in human nature death to him was possible and right. It would be a small thing for a Being of infinite power and goodness to boast of his power and right to live; the great thing for him was to have the power to die. With becoming pride Jesus boasts of this. "I have power to lay it down." But all this was from his free and independent choice. "I lay it down of myself." In this, and in this alone with regard to the Father, he claims absolute independency of action, involving his perfect voluntariness - the sweetest odor of the sacrifice.

(3) It was purely voluntary to the last. He could evade the cross, could come down from it, could live on it, and in spite of it and its agonies. "He bowed his head, gave up the ghost," etc.

4. His death wets purely vicarious. Every-man must die for himself. It is the debt of nature. But Christ had no debt of his own to pay. He came under the law of death to pay the debts of others, and. redeem them from the curse.

III. HIS DEATH CALLED FORTH THE SPECIAL COMMENDATION OF THE FATHER. "Therefore doth," etc. For this:

1. As it was for the noblest purposes. "That I might take it again." These purposes were:

(1) The perfection of his own life. His mediatorial life was made perfect through sufferings. He attained a perfect life through death.

(2) The perfection of the lives of all believers in him. The lives of all believers are potentially perfect in his perfected and glorified life; for he died and triumphed, not for himself, but for others. "Because I live, ye shall live also." His life was more valuable when taken again than when laid down.

(3) These purposes were worthy of the sacrifice. There is adequate compensation. Even the precious life of Jesus was thus put out on good interest; there was no loss nor waste, but infinite gain. The gain of salvation to the world, the gain of unspeakable glory to the Divine throne. The purposes were well worthy of the Son and the Father.

2. As it was the fulfillment of Divine will.

(1) The salvation of the human race is a Divine idea, impulse, and plan.

(2) An infinite sacrifice was essential to carry this out. It was essential to satisfy the claims of Divine justice, law, and holiness, and also to satisfy human wants, and to remove sin and guilt and enmity. "Without the shedding of blood," etc., is a Divine sentiment, and it was ever echoed by the human conscience.

(3) The death of Christ fully met this requirement. In the sacrifice of Jesus, Divine love is satisfied and fulfilled. It finds a platform upon which to act, a channel through which to flow, and a suitable instrument by which to effect its grand purposes of mercy and salvation.

3. As it was a special act of obedience to the Divine will.

(1) His death was in obedience to a special expression of the Divine will. "This commandment have I," etc. This command was not arbitrary, but the eternal law of love. The principle of obedience in Christ is as old as the law of love in the Divine nature. But this self-sacrificing act was a special expression of it. And Jesus obeyed.

(2) It was in loving obedience to the Divine will. It was the obedience of love. There is no coercion in the command, there is no servility in the obedience. The command is the natural suggestion of love; the obedience is the natural response of love, the expression of loving sympathy - sympathy of nature and purpose. The command was the expression of the Divine heart, and the law of obedience was in the heart of Jesus. It was the obedience of pure love.

(3) It was a practical and public manifestation of obedience to the Divine will. The Father needed no proof of the Son's loving obedience. But the world, and perhaps the whole universe, needed this, and to them it was most important and beneficial. Christ gave a special proof and manifestation of this in his self-sacrificing death, which called forth a special expression of the Father's commendation.

4. Jesus throughout was ever conscious of his Father's approbation. This was felt:

(1) In his conscious power to lay down his life.

(2) In his conscious power to take it again. There is an inseparable connection between the two. He could not take it again without laying it down, and could not lay it down but in the certainty of taking it again. All have the power of laying down their lives, but not to take them again. Jesus had both the power of death and life, and the latter was the reward of his sell-sacrificing and loving obedience.

(3) In his conscious knowledge that the Father accepted and was pleased with his sacrifice. What can give us such pleasure and strength as to know that what we do is most gratifying to the chief object of our affection? Jesus felt that his sacrifice was accepted by his Father with infinite delight and gratitude. This was like a Divine sunbeam on his soul throughout the intense gloom of his humiliation and suffering.

LESSONS. We have here:

1. The highest example of pastoral fidelity and devotion.

2. The highest example of a noble and self-sacrificing life.

3. The highest example, of filial obedience.

4. The royal road to God's special approbation. Follow the footsteps of Christ, in his self-sacrificing life, in his loving obedience; and this will result in our Father's special commendation and love. - B.T.

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KJV: Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

WEB: Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.