Jesus Reached His Goal!

5th Sunday in Lent, 3/22/15
Hebrews 5:7-9


Jesus Reached His Goal!
I. By submitting to his Father’s will
II. To win our eternal salvation


Whether you’re a sports fan or not, almost every one of you is aware that March Madness is upon us. Many of you who wouldn’t consider yourself to be interested in men’s college basketball during the regular season become interested at this time every year. In fact, like millions of your fellow Americans, you filled out your own tournament bracket, making an attempt to pick the winners right up the eventual champion.

Because you made your picks, you’re more likely to listen to reports of who won and who lost. And as you do so, you’ll hear comments like these: “We haven’t reached our goal yet. We have four more games to go,” or, “Before the season began, our team met and we listed the following goals: conference regular season champion, conference tournament champion, NCAA tournament champion. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done.”

Goals. Every team, whether we’re speaking about a sports environment, an academic environment or an employment environment, sets goals for itself. Considering all the time, effort and money expended, that only makes sense.

This morning’s text from Hebrews 5 portrays the efforts of Jesus to be our Savior. Did you catch the reference to the goal for his efforts? Maybe not. In fact, the word “goal” doesn’t even appear in it. But indeed it’s there hidden in the words “made perfect.” Listen to that phrase again, “and, once made perfect.” That sounds odd to our ears, doesn’t it? We know that Jesus was perfect, that is, sinless. But that phrase makes it sound like he wasn’t that way from the beginning and we know that’s not true. So what does it mean?

The Greek word used here contains the concept of reaching the end or attaining a goal. It states that Jesus reached his goal. And what an eternal difference that makes for you and me. For the next few minutes, let’s turn our attention to the efforts of Jesus to be our Savior from sin and rejoice over the truth that Jesus reached his goal. Praise God that he did because it means everything to you and me.

Part I.

A minute ago I spoke about postgame comments on reaching or failing to reach goals. Another common comment you’ll hear is about the will of a team to win. Players will says things such as, “We wanted it more than they did,” or “We imposed our will on them today,” or “He literally willed our team to victory tonight.” Apparently the individual’s will is a huge component in determining victory.

That’s also true in our Savior’s efforts to reach his goal. Listen again the opening verse of our text, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” The phrase “reverent submission” involves a person’s will, and in this case it actually involves the will of two persons—Jesus and his heavenly Father. But just what is this verse talking about?

The previous two verses assert the truth that Jesus is the very Son of God, true God in every aspect, attested to by God the Father himself. We heard the Father give that very testimony in today’s Gospel reading. It was one of three times recorded in the Bible that the Father gave that divine testimony about Jesus.

But the verse before us declares that Jesus, as the Son of God and true man, submitted to the will of his heavenly Father in every aspect of his work of being our Savior from sin. As evidence of this fact, the writer points to the most graphic submission of Jesus to his Father—his time in the Garden of Gethsemane spent on his knees in prayer, praying so fervently that his sweat was like drops of blood. The writer refers to his “prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.” Recall that prayer. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me” (Lk. 22:42). Jesus wanted his Father to spare him the agonizing death on the cross.

What’s amazing is that our text states, “And he was heard because of his reverent submission.” The flavor of this statement suggests that God granted his request because Jesus submitted to the will of his Father. But didn’t Jesus march from Gethsemane’s garden to Calvary’s cross? Indeed he did!

So how did the Father grant his request? Recall the closing words of Jesus’ prayer. “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus prayed for his Father’s will to be done, not his. And it was. Jesus obeyed his Father’s will in going to Calvary’s cross. Jesus not only wanted his Father’s will to be done, he accomplished that will perfectly. He left nothing undone. He never stated, “My Father is just going to have to be happy with this effort even though it’s not exactly what he wanted.” If Jesus had ever said such a thing, our fate in hell would be sealed. Instead, he did everything to the complete satisfaction of his Father so that he could proclaim in triumph from the cross, “It is finished.” And with that, he slam dunked our salvation.

Jesus reached his goal by submitting to his Father’s will.

So, what’s the big deal about his will and his Father’s will? Once again, it means everything for us. As Jesus marched to Calvary’s cross he was not singing with smug satisfaction and defiant pride, “I did it my way!” The only song ever on his divine/human lips was this: “I did it my Father’s way.” As he stated in today’s Gospel, his heart was troubled over the prospect of dying for the sins of the world. But he didn’t ask his Father to change his divine mind or his saving plan. No one dragged Jesus to the cross kicking and screaming. No, when the time came, he held out his hands to his enemies and they bound him for trial and for death. In spite of the ugly taunts for him to show his almighty power and come down from the cross, his love for us kept him nailed there. Even though his band of twelve betrayed, denied and fled from him, he would not forsake the world’s sinners. So now, when we come to the daily realization that we have not kept our heavenly Father’s will, that we’ve gone our own sinful way, that we’ve despised his love for us and doubted his commitment to us, we have the rock-solid assurance that the blood of Jesus covers our mountain of sins and washes us clean. Our guilt is gone, our punishment taken by him. How can we be so sure? Because Jesus did it his Father’s way. Jesus reached his goal by submitting to his Father’s will.

Part II.

When a person receives a trophy for their winning efforts—be they an athlete, actress or musician—you might hear them state, “This one is for…” It’s their way of stating how much that person has meant to them or what an impact that person has made on their life and their success. It’s a sentimental gesture and often nothing more than that.

When Jesus won the victory over sin, death and hell, he, too, stated, “This one is for you.” But there’s nothing sentimental about it. It’s a spiritual reality. Our text says it like this, “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” The word “source” more literally is translated “reason or cause.” The reason you are an heir of eternal life is not yourself, but your Savior Jesus Christ. Since he completed his work, there’s nothing left for you and me to do. That’s the sweetest news any sinner can hear!

But the very last phrase of our text seems to unravel the certainty of our salvation. It states, “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Doesn’t that phrase clearly state we’re saved by obeying Jesus and his commandments? How can we agree that this statement is true and still hold on to the truth that we are not saved by our own good works?

Let Scripture interpret Scripture. In his first letter John wrote, “This is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.” Believing in Jesus as your Savior is God’s will for you. He wants you to obey that will. But believing is something you can’t do. We cannot work faith in ourselves. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit who convinces us that Jesus did everything the Father required for our salvation. He’s the reason and the cause that we are forgiven children of God and heirs of eternal life. Jesus didn’t turn and run from Calvary’s cross; he steadily marched toward it until he dotted the last “i” and crossed the last “t” on God’s plan to save us. Jesus didn’t reach that goal for himself. He reached it for you, for me, for the world.

Jesus reached his goal to win our eternal salvation.

It’s so simple. Jesus takes our place. He submits to his Father’s will. He suffers the punishment for our sins. The holy One gives his righteousness to the sinful ones. He suffers our hell so we can enjoy his heaven. It’s so simple! But we try to make it so difficult. There are moments in our lives when we charge God with injustice. He’s not treating me fairly! There are times in our lives when we want our record of goodness to mean something to God. Or we parade our record before others and expect praise or remuneration. And in doing so, we don’t merely cause a little snag in the robe of righteousness Jesus won for us; we trash it altogether. We act as if it means nothing to us. That’s why we need the daily reminder that Jesus reached his goal and, because he did, he is the reason we’ll spend eternity praising our God in heaven rather than cursing him in hell.

Because Jesus reached his goal, you can be absolutely sure you’ll reach yours. And when we do, that’s going to be some victory celebration! Amen.