The Price of Freedom

Excerpt taken from Prison Break: 21 Days to Spiritual Freedom by Juan Martinez

 

Day 2
The Price of Freedom

I recently watched a movie called The Burial. It is loosely based on the true story of lawyer Willie E. Gary and his client, funeral home owner Jeremiah “Jerry” O’Keefe. Facing financial troubles, O’Keefe entered into a contract with a large funeral home company owned by Raymond Loewen. But when Loewen didn’t follow through on their agreement, O’Keefe suspected that Loewen was intentionally trying to force him into bankruptcy to snatch up his entire business.

The movie takes you on an emotional roller coaster, and in the end (spoiler alert) O’Keefe was awarded $500 million in damages—and that was in 1995 dollars.

I bring up this film because it parallels how the enemy of our souls works against us. Satan seeks to exploit God’s children and make us spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially bankrupt. He comes to us with a solution we think will solve all our problems, but in the end it leaves us on the brink of losing it all! The devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy each and every one of us. No one is exempt.

But like O’Keefe, you can overcome—because you have the right defender. O’Keefe had a flashy lawyer named Willie Gary. You have God in heaven. He looked down thousands of years ago and knew you and I would face a formidable foe. For this reason, He loved us all so much that He sent His only begotten Son to the world to atone for our sins.

This is the crux of the gospel, something you likely have heard if you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior. But I’m focusing on it today because one reason so many people are not representing the kingdom of God and living victoriously in Christ is that they have lost sight of the cross. They have a form of godliness but deny its power.

The cross is more than a charm we wear to represent our risen Savior. The cross is the place where we received eternal victory over death, hell, and the grave. First Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

The reason so many Christians are not representing the kingdom of God and living victoriously is that they have lost sight of the cross. Many have held to a form of godliness but have denied its power.

Today we will look at passages from Luke 23. We’ll see the power of what Jesus endured for our sins and learn how to endure seasons of trial by observing the way Jesus endured His.

Let’s begin in verses 1–3 (NLT):

Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”

So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

First, we must keep in mind that Jesus knew no sin. He had done nothing wrong. Yet He was being accused of leading people astray and instructing Jews not to pay taxes to Rome. We know Jesus told the people to “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” (Mark 12:17, NLT). Yet the council claimed Jesus did the opposite.

Let this remind us that sometimes we can be doing good—telling the truth, helping people, minding our business—and still run into trouble. When that happens, understand that God is preparing you for a victory you can’t quite see yet.

Next, notice that Jesus’ response was to the point. He simply replied, “You have said it.” He was a verbal tactician. He was cool under pressure and said only what was necessary. We often get ourselves in trouble by giving people a piece of our minds and reacting emotionally. But remember, we mature spiritually when we choose what God wants. When the flesh dies, the spirit lives.

In Luke 23:4 we see that Pilate found nothing wrong with Jesus, but the noise from the religious leaders and the crowd only intensified. So Pilate found a loophole to send Jesus to another official. Let this also be a lesson for us. It is hard to stand firm on your convictions if the crowd can sway you. We must put pleasing God over pleasing people.

When Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Him to the official in that jurisdiction, Herod. Interestingly, even though Herod mocked Jesus, he secretly wanted to encounter Jesus and see Him perform a miracle. Although Herod plied Him with questions, Jesus said nothing. Still under pressure from the crowd, Herod let the chief priests and religious leaders accuse Jesus. Then he and his soldiers mocked and ridiculed Him. But Herod couldn’t find any fault in Jesus either, so he sent Him back to Pilate.

The Bible tells us Herod and Pilate had been enemies, but they became friends that day, and they stood in agreement that Jesus was not guilty of what the crowd accused Him of doing (Luke 23:12–13). This tells me we can never underestimate how God may use an unfavorable season to correct a situation or produce a positive result for someone else. He can use things that might seem horrible for our good.

Yet even after Herod and Pilate gave their verdicts, the masses cried, “Crucify Him!” This revealed to me that sometimes the people we help will accuse us of wrongdoing. We cannot let that stop us from doing the Lord’s work, but we must understand the risk and proceed with wisdom.

Undeterred by Herod and Pilate, the masses called for the officials to release an actual criminal named Barabbas and execute Jesus instead. Unlike O’Keefe in the movie, Jesus did not have an attorney advocating on His behalf. There was no plea bargaining with the district attorney. There was no time to file an appeal with the judge. It seemed as though Jesus’ fate was sealed.

In a moment of vulnerability Jesus had asked His Father in heaven if He could be spared the cup of this affliction. This showed Jesus’ humanity. Yet He prayed, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, nkjv). Jesus chose surrender before His trial. And when the rubber met the road and He was in the midst of all that pain, Jesus still chose God’s will, His Father’s preferred choice. This is what the cross represents for you and me—dying to self and choosing what pleases God. If Jesus the Son of God had to die to His will, so must we!

After being beaten and hung between two criminals, Jesus took His last breath and was buried in a borrowed tomb. If this were a movie, it would seem all was lost and the haters had won. But that was not the end of the story. In Luke 24 we read about Jesus’ glorious resurrection, and in verses 44–53 (NLT) Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples before ascending to heaven.

Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ You are witnesses of all these things. And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.

Jesus became poor so we can become rich in God. He willingly paid the price for our sins because of His love for you and me. Let us show that same love to others so we can make Christ known everywhere we go. We do this not by might nor by power but by His Spirit!

Living in victory brings glory to the One who paid the price for our freedom. Remember, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1).

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