World Unyielding

“He saved others; Himself He cannot save.

Matthew 27:42a

Priests of the highest ranks taunted the Savior of the world with these words, all the while not grasping the truth they were helping to propagate. He saved others—you can be sure of that fact. If Christ did not save, then none were saved at all. And if Christ does not continue to save, then none shall ever be saved again. He came into the world to save sinners. Is that not the gospel?

These men looked upon the Savior with the eyes of unbelief. Let me look upon Him with sincere faith. He saved others—am I one of them? Is my case so strange and extreme that it is beyond His saving power? Somewhere it says that He saves to the uttermost. Men gazed upon His selflessness with self-sufficiency and disdain. Those poor religious souls. Who can even begin to truly imitate His sacrifice without first being saved by it?

It does a soul no harm to first look inward, asking, ‘Has Christ saved me? I’ve got to have this salvation for myself.” Perform an inventory of your own soul before venturing to the aid of others. That is not selfishness but the humble realisation that unless Christ saves a man, his supposed selflessness is of no value. It is spiritually void, with no eternal consequence.

I can be sure that the jeers of the mob would have rightly fallen on me: ‘He cannot save himself!’ It is no secret—I cannot save myself. And that doesn’t tell half the story. My words and deeds have sealed the opposite. There is no self-salvation, only self-destruction. Through my disobedience, I have warranted everlasting destruction. I deserve only to be cast away into the outer darkness.

But He saved others. Heaven’s hero saw my plight and stooped down to rescue me. Christ came to die and give His life so that I might have everlasting life. The public spectacle of His suffering drew hostile jeers. He suffered in the place of selfish sinners so that they might be saved. He would not spare Himself the agony of the cross nor the cup of the Father’s wrath. In life and in death, He saved others. Thank you, Jesus, that You not only are able to save but willing to save. For myself I cannot save, nor do I seek to try. No longer tarrying, I come to You.