Chapter 42 Withdrawal

You believe what you hear and what you say.Believe what Namo said!For men's silence is closer to the truth than their words. You ask: Could Jesus have avoided his tragic death and saved his disciples from persecution? I replied that he could indeed escape if he wanted to.But he didn't care about personal safety, nor did he care about protecting his flock from night wolves. He knows his own destiny, knows the tomorrow of those who love him loyally, and he predicts what will happen to each of us.He didn't deliberately ask for death, but he accepted death, just like a farmer uses the soil to straighten the grain, accepts the winter, and waits for the spring and the harvest; it is also like a builder using the largest stone to lay the foundation.

We Galileans come from the slopes of Lebanon.Our Lord could have led us home, and made us the companions of his youth, and live in our gardens, till old age came, whispering in our ears the ages past. Had any obstacle barred his way from returning to the temple in our village?In the village, people are reading the words of the prophets and then speaking their minds. Couldn't he proclaim, "Now I'm going eastward with the west wind," and dismiss us with a smile on the corner of his mouth? Oh, he could have said, "Go back to your kindred, the world is not ready for me. I will come back in a thousand years and teach your children to wait for my return."

He could have done it if he wanted to. But he knows that in order to build the invisible temple, he must make himself the foundation stone, and we, the pebbles of the house, should be laid close together around him. He knew that the sap of his towering tree must be drawn from the roots, so he watered the roots with his own blood.For him, it's not sacrifice, it's gain. Death is the revealer, the death of Jesus revealed his life. If he had fled from you and his enemies, you would have been conquerors of the world, so he did not flee. Only he who expects all gives all. Yes, Jesus could have eluded his enemies and lived his life.But he knows the seasons change, and he loves to sing his song.

Who, in the face of a world that is heavily armed, would not exchange a momentary broken piece of jade for the rule of EMI? You are now asking: who killed Jesus, the Romans or the priests of Jerusalem? Neither the Romans nor the priests.It was the whole world standing in awe and kicking him on that hill for the honor.