The Bond of Love

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It was a hollow victory. To tell the truth, it wasn’t a victory at all. If Satan thought he had won when he turned Judas into a traitor and paved the road to Calvary, he was mistaken.

Just as Jesus and the disciples left the upper room to take the short walk to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said this: “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father commanded me” (John 14:30, 31).

Six words of tremendous importance: “He has no hold on me.” This road had been paved since before the beginning of time. It had been determined between a loving Father and an obedient Son in order to rescue a rebellious people. Satan was no more than a pawn on the chessboard of history. He only had the power to manipulate events that had been granted to him by God. Whatever “hold” he thought he had was no hold at all.

The power of the underworld is a popular theme in books, movies, television series. Society’s fascination with it speaks to the darker side of human nature. But I would rather remember that evil “...has no hold on me” because of Christ. I would rather focus on the power of God.

The Lord took the road to Calvary only out of love for His Father. That love was demonstrated in His obedience, even to death on the cross.

I was researching some material for a Bible Study and came across a comment made about a passage from Isaiah 42 which describes the coming Messiah. Isaiah 42:4 says: “...he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth...” Gill’s Commentary noted how Christ would not be broken “...with the weight of all the sins of the people upon him, and with a sense of divine wrath; and with the whole punishment due unto them, inflicted on him, enough to have broken the backs and spirits of men and angels; but he stood up under the mighty load, and did not sink beneath it, but endured all with an invincible courage and resolution of mind” until He “fully satisfied the justice of God for the sins of his people, and performed the work of their redemption in righteousness...”

The only “hold” was the one that forged the bond of love that existed between the Father and the Son. It was a bond strong enough to deal with whatever was required of it. That is the hold that needs to cement our relationship with Him. We love Him because He loved us. And out of that bond of love comes obedience just as Jesus Himself modeled for us.