We turn back to that lonely figure in the Gethsemane olive orchard – prostrate, sweating, overwhelmed with grief and dread, begging if possible to be spared the drinking of the cup.
The martyrs were joyful, but he was sorrowful; they were eager, but he was reluctant. How can we compare them? How could they have gained their inspiration from him if he had faltered when they did not?
Besides, up till now he had been clear-sighted about the necessity of his sufferings and death, determined to fulfil his destiny, and vehement in opposing any who sought to deflect him. Had all that suddenly changed?
Was he now after all, when the moment of testing came, a coward? No, no! All the evidence of his former teaching, character and behaviour is against such a conclusion.
In that case the cup from which he shrank was something different. It symbolized neither the physical pain of being flogged and crucified, nor the mental distress of being despised and rejected even by his own people, but rather the spiritual agony of bearing the sins of the world, in other words, of enduring the divine judgment which those sins deserved.
__Stott, John. The Cross of Christ . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
Three times Jesus struggled in prayer with His Father about not having to suffer and die – “If it is possible”.
Turns out it was impossible for Jesus to not die…
…if we were to have any hope of eternal life.
The ONE THING for today: Three weeks away from Good Friday ’23. Each day takes us a step closer to that most holy memorial. Let us prepare ourselves.
The ONE THING 