Predikan: But even if not (Dan 3:8–30)

En predikan av Samuel Wells från Duke Chapel, 12:e maj 2012. Se predikan på YouTube eller läs den som pdf.

The poignancy of what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say to Nebuchadnezzar is finally not just what we say to a skeptic, or to a person in pain, or to ourselves, but what the members of the Trinity say to one another. When Jesus goes to the fire, when Jesus faces the flames of hell for us, when Jesus hangs on the cross, what does he say to the Father? Is it so different from the words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? “If you will to deliver me from the cross, O Father, then take this cup away from me. But even if not, be it known to you, O Father, that my love for you will hang on forever, and that those who somehow find that they have lost you can hang onto me.” Isn’t that what makes Jesus’ final words so wondrous? Jesus loves us so much that he goes to the cross even if there’s no certainty of resurrection. Jesus isn’t just keeping his side of the bargain. Jesus is loving even if not. That’s the definition of love.