John tells us that Christ has “prints of the nails in his hands” (John 20:25). Matthew tells us that the mob on the hill of Calvary challenged Christ to “come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40). What was it that held Christ to the cross?

It was not the nails that held Him to the cross. He had power to remove the nails. He could have called “more than twelve legions of angels” to help and remove Him from the cross (Matthew 26:53). He who had the power to still the storm, feed the multitude, and raise the dead could have removed the nails. That crowd could not have killed Christ if He had not wished to do His Father’s Will. “Therefore, doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again. No man taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17-18).
The Father’s will and wish held Him to the cross. Jesus prayed in the garden and said: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). It was the will of God that His Son became the “propitiation,” that is, an atoning sacrifice for our sins (I John 2:2). The Savior’s love and your sins held Christ to the tree.
God’s eternal purpose held Christ to the cross. Jesus died to purchase the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). The church is the institution through which the eternal purpose of God is to be made known to the world (Ephesians 3:10). Without the death of Christ, God’s purpose for the world have been aborted. Thus, His love for God and man held Him to the cross – not the nails.
The joy set before Christ held Him to the cross. In the Hebrews letter we learn that the “author and perfecter of our faith” disregarded His suffering and “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). The mocking by the angry mob at the foot of the cross was ignored by Christ because of the “joy set before Him.”

Neither the lack of the power nor the nails held Jesus to the cross. His resignation to the Will of God and His love for the souls of mankind bound Him to the tree on which He died. Our love for God and His Son should cause us to remain faithful to the kingdom of God, despite the mocking of all who would have us depart from the path of duty.

G. K. Wallace