Voice of Truth - Garden of Gethsemane

Hopefully today's blog will get some people thinking a little bit. The sermon at First Baptist Sunday touched a little bit on the Garden of Gethsemane. That is where I would like to go today. As I have studied these passages, my views have changed from what I have heard preached and have been taught. Let's look at the verses as they appear in Luke.

Luke 22:39-46, "39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,46 and said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

In verse 42 Jesus prays "remove this cup from Me.". The question is, what is this cup? Most of the sermons I have heard in my life say that Jesus was referring to his upcoming torture and crucifixion. Was Jesus so worried about those things that He sweat blood? I think probably not. Throughout history, cases are recorded of Christian martyrs singing hymns and praising God while being martyred. Some of these were burned while tied up. Are they greater than our Lord Jesus? Definitely not. If these brave Christians endured with a smile on their faces, how could Jesus be so distressed that He sweat blood? Well I think the cup is of God's wrath. Let me explain what I mean. Jesus had spent every second, at that point, in complete union with God the Father. But the time was coming when He was to bear our sins. Jesus knew what was going to happen on the cross. As the weight of our sin was placed on Him, the Father could no longer look upon Him because of our sin.

Matthew 27:46, "46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

This is why Jesus was so distressed. The Father could no longer look at the Son, and He was to receive the wrath of God. This is gut wrenching for me to think about. The perfect communion between the Father and Son was severed, for just this brief moment in time, for my sins and yours. Jesus was so distressed that He asked the Father if there was anyway to remove this cup. But there was no other way. It took Jesus, fully man and fully God, to bear the wrath of the Father. He was the only spotless sacrifice. And here is the last thing that brought him distress.

Isaiah 53:10, "10 But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand."

Think about the first part of this verse. It pleased God to crush Him. Oh how much more this all means than physical beating and crucifixion. The father crushed His only begotten Son. The spiritual separation was unbearable for our Savior. All I can say is thank you Jesus. After what He did for us, how can we refuse to follow His lead in our lives? This is why every time I hear a preacher say Jesus was upset about the physical pain to come, I just sit back and think no my Savior is greater than that. The physical pain was great, but nothing compared to the wrath of the Father.