There Was No Plan B

By Joe Slater       We cannot fully comprehend the horror Jesus faced that night in Gethsemane. A merciless scourging awaited Him, followed by nails being driven through His hands and feet. For six endless hours searing pain would wrack His battered body as He struggled for every breath.     But that scarcely begins to describe our Savior’s woe. Who can fathom the agony of taking the whole world’s sins and bearing them in His body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24)? No wonder He cried out, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39a). Yet even as He pleaded, He knew there was no Plan B. Unless He stayed the course all the way to the cross, no sinner could be saved. Therefore, He continued, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (26:39b).     Jesus had no Plan B when He sent His apostles to preach His gospel to the world. Not that long ago they had scattered like a covey of quail when Judas brought the Roman soldiers and temple police to arrest Him. Peter had denied three times that he even knew Jesus, much less that he was His disciple. Would you entrust those men with the most powerful and desperately needed message the world will ever know? Jesus did! And ten days after He commissioned them, they demonstrated that His confidence in them was fully justified. About 3000 souls believed and obeyed the glad tidings that the apostles proclaimed boldly. From that point on, the church grew by leaps and bounds.     You and I are still part of Jesus’ Plan A. He is still the one and only way anyone can come to the Father (John 14:6), and His gospel is still God’s power to save (Romans 1:16). He has no Plan B, so don’t bother looking! Just follow Plan A, the plan “ordained from the foundation of the world!” (1 Peter 1:20).

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com