It is usually said that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for our sins, but we know that the sacrifice is always voluntary, and not by force. Because this is the historical fact that the Jesus Christ prayed to God the whole night before the day he was to be killed “O God! please save me from this painful deathâ€. This clearly shows that he was absolutely not happy what was going to be happen with him the next day. So, is it a sacrifice (volunteer) or a murder (by force)? And those who murdered him, gave the name to that satanic act as sacrifice, obviously to save themselves from the anger of the people. So, I think that the Muslims’ concept of Jesus Christ is correct.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins. Indeed, the sacrifice was voluntary, as evidenced in the very passage mentioned in your question. In Luke 22:42, Jesus says, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.†Thus, Jesus, in His humanity, did not want to suffer the agony of the cross, but He was willing to, because He voluntarily wanted to do His Father’s will. Even later, there in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the soldiers came to capture Him and Peter took up the sword to defend Him, Jesus stopped him and said, “Permit even this. (Luke 22:51). Jesus was not forced, rather He submittedâ€to be the sacrificial Lamb Who would die for the sins of humanity (Philippians 2:8).
Jesus’ death cannot be characterized as murder, because He was in control of His own death experience. This is obvious in Luke 23:46, with Jesus’ last words, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last.†Even the Roman guard who witnessed this was amazed and said, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!†(Luke 23:47). Another verse to prove that Jesus was in control of His own death is in John 10:17, which says, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.†In this verse, the phrase “lay down†is one Greek word (tithemi), which means “to put in place on purposeâ€, therefore, Jesus “purposed†to be placed on the cross to die for the sins of humanity.
The term sacrifice is not a man-made word used to deceive, rather it is how the Bible describes Jesus in Hebrews 9:26, “…He (Jesus) has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.†Yes, the Jews, the Romans, as well as all those who cried, “Crucify Him!†bear some responsibility for their unbelief and hatred, but, ultimately, it was God the Father’s will that His Son, Jesus, die as a Sacrifice for sinners, so they could receive Christ as their personal Savior (Acts 2:22-24, 3:18-19).
May the Lord bless you with a Biblical understanding of Who Jesus was and what He did for you on the cross of Calvary! Beware of trusting in religion when you can trust in the Righteous One, Jesus Christ!