And his generosity was total.  He kept nothing back for himself: all was freely sacrificed for us.  He hung there empty-handed, save for what men had put into his hands – the nails that crucified him.  He had already exchanged the unimaginable glory and bliss of Heaven for this hostile and wicked world in which, once his ministry had begun, he had nowhere to lay his head, until on Calvary he had nothing left at all.  As St Paul puts it, “…you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (NRSV, 2 Corinthians 8:9).

For all he did and all he gave was wholly for his Father and for us.  “I am the good shepherd”, he said, and “I lay down my life for the sheep”.  And he went on, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life…No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord….I have received this command from my Father” (NRSV, John 10:14,17,18, our emphasis).

And St Paul expressed the same truth by saying, “…the Lord Jesus Christ…gave himself for our sins…according to the will of our God and Father…” (NRSV, Galatians 1:4, our emphasis).