The more I get to know Jesus, the more impressed I am by what Ivan Karamazov called “the miracle of restraint.” The miracles Satan suggested, the signs and wonders the Pharisees demanded, the final proofs I yearn for— these would offer no serious obstacle to an omnipotent God. More amazing is His refusal to perform and to overwhelm. God‘s terrible insistence on human freedom is so absolute that He granted us the power to live as though He did not exist, to spit in His face, to crucify Him. All this Jesus must have known as He faced down the tempter in the desert, focusing His mighty power on the energy of restraint.
–Philip Yancey
Dads everywhere know how quickly they will fight for their children if they are threatened. And yet, the strongest Father that ever existed restrained Himself from destroying those who threatened His Son and placed Him on the cross.
I am so thankful for a God who loves me so much that He engaged in the Miracle of Restraint so that He could send Jesus to the cross to die in my place. It is hard to even wrap my mind around.