He was resolutely determined to die. The time had come for him to leave this world because he had trained up a group of disciples who were nearly ready to die to themselves. But this final lesson had to be taught. Die to your own selfishness, rights and desires. We put to death our sinful natures.
Every day is a new opportunity to pick up our cross and die to our fleshly natures.
Here is where many potentially great relationships never get off the ground. So many disciples of Christ never fully develop because they buy the lie that good relationships happen only when we find the person or people who will meet our needs as we would like them to. We mistakenly think we will have a great marriage if we find the right spouse who will cater to our ever desire. We will have best friends if we find the person who always meets our emotional needs. We will have great family relationships if our family will just understand our wants and desires.