04/05/2023
As we are now in the midst of Holy Week, and Easter Sunday is imminent, my mind dwells ever more completely on the activities that were about to transpire in the life of Jesus as He faced the Cross. This morning I am concentrating on the Garden of Gethsemane and the sorrow and agony that Jesus encountered there as He prayed.
“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”
Matthew 26:36-38 KJV
On Calvary Jesus completed His life on earth, but on the hill at Gethsemane He truly began to die for us and make the sacrifice that washes us clean. The Son of Man feared, and the Son of God was repulsed. One feared the pain, agony, suffering, and death... the other was repulsed at the mere thought of taking man's sin into his perfect and sinless self.
As men and women we can relate to the fear of pain, suffering, and death, but we have no way of knowing what taking on the sin of mankind feels like. After all, we have known nothing else but that sin; it has been with us our entire life in some form or another... we have become accustomed to the stench.
My parents and family live in northern Virginia, and I have driven the long road from Nashville to Newington, Virginia many many times over the years. On the way I would pass through one particular stretch of road that was near a plant that emitted the most horrendous odor. It would gag you and make you hold your breath in the hope that you could pass by before you had to take your next one. But you could not.
I often wondered about the people who lived there and how they could tolerate such an oppressively foul odor. But in fact, they knew nothing else. The odor had surrounded them from birth and as incredibly putrid as it was, they had become used to it and no longer noticed its gut wrenching stench. Our sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, are just like that... we have carried it all of our lives and now it has become so normal for us that we no longer smell it. Perhaps that is why babies cry when they take their first breath... it is the smell of sin entering pristine lungs. Jesus knew no sin before Gethsemane, he had walked around it and through it, but he had to hold his breath... it wasn't a part of Him, and in Him it hadn't become normal.
Now, Jesus was facing that sin in a much different way; He was being asked to take it on. He was being asked to breathe deep and to let that foul concoction enter into Him and taint Him. He was being asked to not only join mankind in a particular sin, but to take on all sin. He was being asked to drink the sin of Eden, the sin of Cain, the sins of men like Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, and the dungeon masters of the Middle Ages... well you get the picture; it is much worse than anything most of us can even imagine, and yet all of this would flow into a sinless Jesus. How that must have repulsed Him.
The pain of receiving that sin would be nearly intolerable, but then He had to carry it to the cross, into death, and defeat it. He had to die with the full weight of that sin upon Him... His blood was required of Him as He became the perfect and final blood sacrifice. In the face of this, we have no idea what it means to humble ourselves. We can only imagine what He was feeling as He felt its coming at the Garden of Gethsemane.
Oswald Chambers wrote these words about Gethsemane...
"The agony in Gethsemane is the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is drawn aside to reveal all it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony is the basis of the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ is a triumph for the Son of Man." - Oswald Chambers
So on Gethsemane Jesus begged His Father to take the cup of sin from Him. Then in total submission and humility he said “not my will, but thine, be done." And the final days of Jesus began with a drink from the cup... and He gagged it down for you and me.
“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.”
Luke 23:34 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I weep this morning at the thought of Gethsemane, and of Jesus drinking the cup that was filled with the sins of Man. My heart breaks in the knowledge of the suffering that awaits Him on Calvary, Golgotha, but at the same time I thank you for His sacrifice, and the redemption from sin His obedience to your will has brought. Lord, let me be worthy of His sacrifice. Lead me through the times when I stumble, and bring me face to face with the humility and suffering of Jesus so that I can understand fully the price He paid for me. Let me understand the ramifications of my transgressions and the shame I bring upon the name of Jesus as I commit them. I realize that sin is not trivial Father, because I see the price that was paid to remove it from me. Mixed with my tears find my repentance, and hear the moans of my heart breaking for the pain and suffering of Christ; to whom I have brought dishonor by my discretions. Forgive me Father for I have sinned. Wash me clean in the blood of the lamb that I can stand before you pure once more. Walk with me Lord Jesus and hold my hand... help me to go and sin no more.
“He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2 CSB
Rich Forbes