It was Robert E. Lee who said, "Duty s the sublimest word in the English language." But though her name may be sublime, Duty's demands may be harsh and burdensome. "Must" is an unpleasant word. It sometimes speaks of harsh necessity. Jesus Christ said, "The Son of man must be lifted up" (John 3:14; 12:34). God's Son must be nailed to the cross. Yet there was no drawing back from the obligation, no shirking the necessity. He must be lifted up because He loved, and love, eager to save poor sinners, made His death necessary. He must die because He loved. His submission to the will of God and His love for men were tangent at the cross. In obedience to the will of the Father and because He loved men and willed to redeem them He must die. He had to die. It was necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up because the Son of Man came into the world to save sinners and He must go to the cross to do the work of salvation.

He went to the cross willingly. He was bound to the tree not by the nails which impaled Him upon the beam. The God who hid in the earth the iron from which the nails were forged and made the tree of the cross grow from its seed could not have been held by the nails upon the wood against His will. He was bound there by the cords of His own divine love. He gave His life. No man took it from Him (John 10:17,18).

—Selected