The Inscrutable Question: The Baptism of the Cross, Revised: Two Categories of Love Required of Jesus on the Cross, Eph 5:2; John 14:28-31
D.	Review: Baptism of the Cross:
Mark 10:37 - James and John said to Jesus, “Grant that we may sit in Your glory one on Your right and one on Your left.
v. 38 - But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking for.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
	1)	Impeccability inside the hypostatic union qualified Jesus Christ before the supreme court of heaven to become a substitute to be judged for the sins of the entire human race.
	2)	Baptism means to be identified with a second thing thus changing the first thing.
	3)	The righteousness of God approved of the impeccability of Christ as the necessary qualification for Him to be a substitutionary sacrifice.
4)	However, our Lord had to be willing to become that substitute.  Had He decided to forego the obligation to follow through with the requirements of the cross then the justice of God could not have imputed our sins to Him.  He expressed His willingness to submit to the cross in:
Matthew 26:53 - “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
v. 54 - “How then shall the Scripture be fulfilled that it must happen this way?” 
	5)	God is fair.  Justice cannot judge an innocent person for the sins of others without the vicar’s permission.  This is brought out by the phrase “vicarious sacrifice” which is assigned to Christ as our Savior.
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 2d ed., s.v. “vicarious”:
Performed or suffered by one person with results accruing to the benefit or advantage of another; substitutional.
	6)	The Lord’s willingness to go to the cross and become our substitute meant that righteousness could, through justice, transfer our sins over to Him. 
	7)	But Jesus had to express two categories of love before justice could follow through on the imputation and judgment. 
	8)	First, the Lord had to express unconditional love for the entire human race in order for the imputation of our sins to take place.  
Ephesians 5:2 - Your lifestyle should be motivated by reciprocal love, just as Christ, Who unconditionally loved you and gave Himself up as a substitute for us …
9)	Giving Himself up as a substitute for us resulted in justice imputing our sins to His body on the cross.  Willingness to receive this imputation is behind the statement, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?”  (Mark 10:38b)
10)	The second category of love that must be expressed by the Lord is personal love for God the Father.  This was required before He could be judged for our sins.
John 14:28 - “You have heard that I said to you [ John 14:2 ], ‘I will go away [ ascension ], and I will come to you [ rapture ].’  If you loved Me [ 2nd-class condition, which you do not ], you would have rejoiced [ which you aren’t doing ], because I go to the Father because the Father is greater than I [ the deity of the Father is superior to the true humanity of Jesus Christ ].
v. 29 - “I now have told you beforehand in order that when it comes to past [ the ascension ] it will result that you will believe.
v. 30 - “I will not speak much more with you because the ruler of this world [ Lucifer ] is coming [ the satanically inspired plot to arrest him is already underway ], and he has nothing in common with me.
v. 31 - Even though we have nothing in common he is coming in order that the world may know that I personally love the Father, and just as the Father commands Me, so I shall do.  Arise and let us depart.