Thursday night, in the
In a very real way, this is somewhere we have no right to enter. Jesus is having a private conversation with His Father. Notice that He doesn’t even let the disciples enter.
Luke 22:39-42
39 And He came out and
proceeded as was His custom to the
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."
The cup Jesus is talking about the cross. He wants His Father to remove it, but we know, just like He did, that it was His plan for Jesus. Look at a parallel passage:
John 12:27
27 "Now My
soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, "Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this
hour.
Jesus was troubled! But He realized that it was for the cross that He was born. Jesus didn’t come to be an example for us to live by (even though He is a great one!) but to accomplish our salvation on the cross. While He knew what was coming, it is impossible for us to understand what He was about to go through.
Luke 22:43-44
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.
He’s in AGONY! Jesus is not in fear of physical death, but spiritual death, which we cannot understand. There have been martyrs and Christians that have gone to the lions, or to be burned at the stake, that have gone singing songs and praising God. They are certainly not greater than the Lord Jesus Christ!
Jesus knew that He was heading for something much worse than physical death.
Look how Mark puts it:
Mark 14:34-36
34 And He said to
them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here
and keep watch."
35 And He went a
little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were
possible, the hour might pass Him by.
36 And He was saying,
"Abba! Father! All things are possible for You;
remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
This cup is such a horrible thing to Jesus, He asks God to remove it. We cannot understand the agony, and we cannot identify with the pressure that Jesus was feeling. He knew what was coming! He was to be forsaken by His Father.
Jesus went through unbelievable physical suffering over the next 24 hours or so. He was beaten, scourged, had His beard plucked out, had to carry a 500 pound cross up the hill, then had 1” thick nails nailed through His hands and feet. The Bible says that He was beaten beyond recognition as a man.
But the physical suffering was not what Jesus wanted the Father to remove. The spiritual death, separation from His Father, went way beyond the physical suffering that we see.
Jesus suffered the unimaginable. This spiritual death, which is way worse than the physical death, is exactly what we all deserve. But because He undeservedly suffered it for us, we will never have to suffer the unbelievable agony of separation from God.
1 Peter 2:24
24 and He Himself
bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.