Mark 15:29-32

•  ²⁹And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰save yourself, and come down from the cross!" ³¹So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. ³²Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Why did Christ not come off of the Cross and show his power to those who mocked him that he could save himself?

The reason why Christ could not save himself is because he knew his higher calling. It goes back to Mark 14 where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane (v32-42), where he goes and prays to the Father. In verse 36 he prays, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Jesus knew God's plan for him. He knew he was going to die. In the Garden he told the Father that though he did not want to be separated but if it was His Will then that is what he must do.  So when the people walking past Him and mocked him and told him to save himself, he knew that was not possible. D.A. Carson writes about this in his book, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.

        The deeper irony is that, in a way they did not understand, they were speaking the truth. If he had saved himself, he could not have saved others; the only way he could save others was precisely by not saving himself. In the irony behind the irony that the mockers intended, they spoke the truth they themselves did not see. The man who can’t save himself—saves others. One of the reasons they were so blind is that they thought in terms of merely physical restraints. When they said “he can’t save himself,” they meant that the nails held him there, the soldiers prevented any possibility of rescue, his powerlessness and weakness guaranteed his death. For them, the words “he can’t save himself” expressed a physical impossibility. But those who know who Jesus is are fully aware that nails and soldiers cannot stand in the way of Emmanuel. The truth of the matter is that Jesus could not save himself, not because of any physical constraint, but because of a moral imperative. He came to do his Father’s will, and he would not be deflected from it. The One who cries in anguish in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours be done,” is under such a divine moral imperative from his heavenly Father that disobedience is finally unthinkable. It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and, within that framework, it was his love for sinners like me. He really could not save himself.

Isn't that mind blowing?

Christ knew ahead of time what was going to happen. And unless the work of God was in his life he probably would of taken the people up on their offer by showing his awesome power. If it was me hanging on that cross and I had the power to get off of it, I don't think I would hesitate. My pride at times can be so puffed up that I have to impress others. I think that is all human tenancy to not have our pride hurt in times of accusation. But that work of the Father in Christ's life shows through in Philippians 2 of how we are to emulate Him by applying his example to our lives.

        "³Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

These verses take what Christ was doing on the Cross and Paul is effectively transferring them into a way we can apply Christ's example to our lives. Though it looks different because Christ is dying and we don't get that opportunity like he did. The heart issues can still be present. Christ did not think for himself when he was on that Cross. He had the power to physically come down. But he did not have the power to disobey his Father's will. His relationship with the Father was that strong that he could not bare the pain of any kind of separation with Him.

Why don't we feel that way?
I have been meditating on this passage to see how I can live more like Christ did. That my relationship with the Father can be so strong that disobeying Him is something I don't think twice about. Christ gave us an example to follow so why not do follow? I know this is my prayer and my desire to fulfill. To live like Christ. And follow my Father. And not think twice about disobeying Him.