Jesus Escaped...Except

	"Jesus therefore took the loaves;" we read in John 6:11-15, "and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, 'Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.' And so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.  When therefore the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, 'This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world.'  Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone."
	Because of His ability to provide food, the people want to make Jesus their king.  This is not His purpose for coming to earth, though, so He walks away.
	"'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day,'" Jesus states in John 8:56-59, "'and he saw {it} and was glad.'  The Jews therefore said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'  Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'  Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple."
	The Jewish leaders don't like Jesus' statement about His deity.  So they try to stone Him.  But Jesus simply walks away.
	"'My Father, who has given {them} to Me, is greater than all,'" Jesus observes in John 10:29-39; "'and no one is able to snatch {them} out of the Father's hand.  I and the Father are one.'  The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?'  The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out {to be} God.'  Jesus answered them, 'Has it not been written in your Law, "I said, you are gods"? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming," because I said, "I am the Son of God"?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.' Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp."
	Once again, the Jews try to kill Jesus because of His claim to divinity.  But He simply walks away.
	"'But I say to you in truth,'" Jesus states in Luke 4:25-30, "'there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, {in the land} of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.'  And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;  and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way."
	On all of these occasions, Jesus escapes.  He simply walks away and no one is able to stop Him.  There is one time, though, when Jesus does not escape.
	"Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him," John 18:4-11 records, "went forth, and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?'  They answered Him, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' He said to them, "I am {He.}" And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them.  When therefore He said to them, 'I am {He},' they drew back, and fell to the ground.  Again therefore He asked them, 'Whom do you seek?' And they said, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' Jesus answered, 'I told you that I am {He}; if therefore you seek Me, let these go their way,' that the word might be fulfilled which He spoke, 'Of those whom Thou hast given Me I lost not one.'  Simon Peter therefore having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave's name was Malchus.  Jesus therefore said to Peter, 'Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?'"
	How is this instance different?  Why doesn't Jesus escape this time?  Jesus has a job to do.  He escapes when necessary to protect His mission.  But He does not use that same power to escape death on the cross.  Jesus escapes everything except dying for us.

	Jesus can escape anything, any time.  But He chooses to not escape when the time comes to die on the cross for us.  What do we see when we look into the mirror?  What do we decide when it is time to live for Jesus?  What are we trying to escape, perhaps because of fear, shame or pride?
	Do we see someone who is trying to escape Bible study?
	"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed," Paul urges in 2 Timothy 2:15, "handling accurately the word of truth."
	Do we see someone who is trying to escape worshiping God?
	"And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds," Hebrews 10:24-25 instructs, "not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging {one another}; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near."
	Do we see someone who is trying to escape living for Jesus?
	"For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," Paul affirms in  Philippians 1:19-20, "according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but {that} with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."
	"More than that," Paul notes in Philippians 3:8-14, "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained {it}, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of {it} yet; but one thing {I do}: forgetting what {lies} behind and reaching forward to what {lies} ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
	"By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;" 1 Peter 4:15-16 warns, "but if {anyone suffers} as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God."
	Do we find someone who is trying to escape sharing the Gospel with others?
	"And He began to teach them," we read in Mark 8:31-38, "that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, 'Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.'  And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.'" 
	"For I am not ashamed of the gospel," Paul affirms in Romans 1:16, "for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
	Do we find someone who is trying to escape giving?
	"Now, brethren, we {wish to} make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia," Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, "that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.  For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability {they gave} of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and {this,} not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God."
	"But I have sent the brethren," the thought continues in 2 Corinthians 9:3-11, "that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, that, as I was saying, you may be prepared; lest if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to speak of you) should be put to shame by this confidence. So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, that the same might be ready as a bountiful gift, and not affected by covetousness.  Now this {I say,} he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.  Let each one {do} just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, 'He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness abides forever.'  Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God."
	Jesus has the power to escape anything which threatens Him. But He willingly allows Himself to be killed on the cross.  He does not escape in the garden.  How do we respond to this act of love?  Do we try to escape Bible study, worship, giving, living for Jesus or sharing the Gospel?  If so, we should reconsider the false sense of security we might temporarily find.  And we should focus on the eternal security which is available to those who do not try to escape being Christians.
	"For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night," Paul points out in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3.  "While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
	"How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" Hebrews 2:3 asks.  "After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard."
	"And now, little children, abide in Him," 1 John 2:28 advises, "so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."
	We have nothing to fear if we are following the truth, because the truth will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."