When the appointed time came for Christ to lay down His life for His sheep, He did not do or say anything from that point on that would have hindered or delayed His sufferings. When the great multitude came with swords and staves to Gethsemane to arrest Him, He could just as easily have hidden Himself from them then as He had done on numerous other occasions (See Luke 4:28-30, John 8:59 & 10:31,39). That He had complete control over them is evidenced by the fact that they "went backward and fell to the ground" as soon as He spoke to them (See John 18:6). As He told Peter on that occasion, He could have had twelve legions of angels and more come to His aid at any time He might have chosen. But the truth is, He didn't even need the aid of angels. It was He who had created the angels, and He could do just as well without them. He needs nothing, seeing that it is He who gives to all "life and breath and all things" (See Acts 17:25). 

    What a pathetic sight is God's creatures bowing their necks against Him! Poor, weak creatures thinking they can contend with their Maker! Pilot was like the rest of us in that he was but a lowly worm of the dust, and could not have raised even a little finger against Christ if heaven had not consented. Oh, the marvel of the very Son of God incarnate suffering Himself to be scourged by this godless governor! And yet, submit He must; not for lack of power to deliver Himself, but because His very mission into the world required that He suffer, bleed and die for His people. 

    Of His life He said, "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:18). When the soldiers came to break His legs and hasten His death, they found to their amazement that He was already dead (John 19:32) for He had "given up the ghost" at His appointed time, not theirs. The Jews were charged with His murder because they had demanded it and intended it, but He was in control of the whole event, not they. Praise be to God for the sweet hope that He laid down His life for me!