1. Jesus is Part of the Triune God (or Trinity)
The Trinity is one of the more difficult biblical concepts for our human brains to grasp.
God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons within one being (aka God).
John 14:9-10 (MSG): “You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.” [Said by Jesus.]
In John 10:30 (NLT), Jesus says it even more succinctly: “The Father and I are one.”
Matthew 28:19 (NLT) speaks to the entire Trinity: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus is not God the Father - but He is part of the Triune God.
This means that:
Even though Jesus was born into human history, He wasn’t as powerless or helpless as a normal human.
Jesus knew who He was (i.e., His identity as God the Father’s Son, part of the Trinity, etc.) and that He was carrying out His Father’s will/work.
He was still part of God (the overall being) which means He also loved us like God loves us.
2. God’s Love Does Not Demand Its Own Way
In 1 John 4:16 (NLT) it says, “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” [Emphasis mine.]
And 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NLT), we see God’s love defined: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” [Emphasis mine.]
God’s love is not the kind where God forces Himself or His will on us.
This is why God will woo our hearts patiently (another trait of His love) rather than force us into relationship with Him.
This is also why God the Father would never force Jesus to die on the cross.
3. Jesus Willingly Carried Out His Father’s Will
Jesus may have struggled with the coming torture and crucifixtion - as we see in Matthew 26:36-46 where He’s praying in Gethsemane before being arrested - but what Christian doesn’t struggle with a tough calling?
Jesus had left Heaven to be in human form. He was about to experience extreme humiliation and physical pain. More than He’d ever experienced in His 30-some years as a human man.
So when Jesus was praying, He wasn’t trying to throw off something God the Father was forcing onto Him. He was working through things - mentally, emotionally, and spiritually - to help Him come to terms with the very difficult act of love He was about to do.
In John 15:13 (NLT), Jesus says: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Up to this point, Jesus had “laid down His life” in terms of dedicating Himself to the ministry God the Father designed. Now He was about to give His actual life.
And because Jesus is part of the Trinity, and He loves us with a Godly love, He willingly went to the cross for our sins.