When we decide to go on a trip, we usually make a lot of plans – how to get there, where to stay, what to do and how long it will last. We might begin making plans six months or even a year in advance. But when Jesus began his journey to the cross, he and his Father began in eternity past, as we read in the book of John ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ (John 1:1 NIV).
There was never a time when the cross wasn’t in Jesus’ future. It wasn’t something Father, Son and Spirit cooked up when it looked like Adam and Eve were going to go for the forbidden fruit. The plan for Jesus, the Son who is the Son eternally, was always in place. We know this because we know who God is – he is the self-emptying One. Self-emptying is his nature, and it was the greatest act of kenosis in history for Jesus to empty himself and become a human being so he could go to the cross for us.
His purpose was the cross, right from his first breath, and even though he might not have realised that until he was well into his teen years or beyond, he never wavered from that purpose. Various translations of Luke 9:51 tell us that he set his face like flint; he was resolute in going to Jerusalem, he made up his mind and steadfastly set his face to finish what he started. In other words, he fully embraced the cross, which was his eternal destiny, and it was ours as well.