Tuesday: Gethsemane
During Passover week, the priests sacrificed thousands and thousands of lambs at the temple just up the hill from the Kidron Valley. The blood from the lambs was poured onto the altar and then flowed down a channel to a brook that ran through the Kidron Valley.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
The brook may have actually turned red from the blood of the lambs. Jesus and His disciples would have crossed over the red waters of this brook on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Read Matthew 26:36-46. Why was the Gethsemane experience so difficult for Jesus? What was really happening there?
It wasn’t physical death that Jesus was afraid of when He prayed that the cup would pass from Him. The cup Jesus dreaded was separation from God. Jesus knew that to become sin for us, to die in our stead, to bear in Himself the wrath of God against sin, He would have to be separated from His Father. Violation of God’s holy law was so serious that it demanded the death of the perpetrator. Jesus came precisely because He was going to take that death upon Himself in order to spare us from it. This is what was at stake for Jesus, and for us.
“With the issues of the conflict before Him, Christ’s soul was filled with dread of separation from God. Satan told Him that if He became the surety for a sinful world, the separation would be eternal. He would be identified with Satan’s kingdom, and would nevermore be one with God … The awful moment had come—that moment which was to decide the destiny of the world. The fate of humanity trembled in the balance. Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup apportioned to guilty man. It was not yet too late. He might wipe the bloody sweat from His brow, and leave man to perish in his iniquity. He might say, Let the transgressor receive the penalty of his sin, and I will go back to My Father. Will the Son of God drink the bitter cup of humiliation and agony? Will the innocent suffer the consequences of the curse of sin, to save the guilty?”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 687, 690.
| How should Jesus’ willingness to do what He did for us impact every aspect of our lives, especially when it comes to helping others? How can we learn to model better the character of Jesus in our lives? |
(25)
As Ty's article so clearly states, the work of learning to model the character of Jesus is the very work of Jesus in us.
Our part in the work is simply to give our permission or choose that He do this work in us so that it will be natural for us to work it out in our lives.
Where Jesus is working in our lives we can (and will) do things with the same motivation He had. We will have His willingness to help others. Our lives will preach His gospel to the world around us.
Hi Don,
Thanks for your comments. Which Ty article are you referring to?
Hi Chris, Ty Gibson's post, "The Theological Identity of the Remnant" was published just a week ago.
Thanks kindly Inge!
Jesus was not rebelling against his father's will when he asked that the cup of suffering and separation be taken away in fact.he reaffìrmed his desire to do God's will by saying,"yet not as I will,but as you will".His prayer reveals to us his terrible suffering.His agony was worse than death because he paid for ALL sin by being separated from God.The sinless son of God took our sin upon himself to save us from suffering and separation.
Wow, great question! We are foster parenting for three siblings whose mother was on drugs. It was so bad that the two year-old has severe oppositional defiant disorder. At times we've been tempted to give up on him. But then I read something like this, and it motivates me to press on, showing him the love of Jesus. If we can't help this little guy turn his life around, he might slip through the cracks. I fear we'll hear about him on the news some day. We might be the only stable, loving home he ever knows.
Wow! That is a sacrifice Mr Wilcox. Be encouraged. You are doing the work of the Lord.
Praise God indeed for what you are allowing God to do through you!
May God sustain you and may He touch this little one in a special way as He blesses your efforts. Praying with and for you! Thanks for sharing such a testimony.
In the garden he went to pray when it seemed hope was gone. He prayed with a broken heart that this cup may pass from him. I love the last part of "but if if it's thy will dear Lord, I will bear it for thee. God showed his love on man kind that even though we are yet sinners Christ died for us.
Thank you for the Cross Lord, thank you for the price you paid, bearing all my sin and shame in love you came and gave amazing grace...I have found new meaning in this song. O Lord Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
Dear Brother Wilcox
Thanks for sharing your love with these children. I prayed that God will continue to give you the strength and the love to press on and the child will see Jesus in you. God will remove that stony heart of his and give him a heart in which Jesus dwells. Don't give up. I am praying for you.
What a great sacrifice Christ made. My own burden of sin seems unbearable at times. Can you imagine how burdensome it was to have the sin of the world? We must stop playing with sin and accept Jesus's sacrifice.
Anything that required the Son of God to die should not be looked upon lightly. Not to mention God's love for us.
Thank you for your Love so full and free. Thank you for your mercy Oh Lord. Your Love is so Great to behold, higher than the mountains, bigger than the Ocean. Who can describe your Love? Words cannot describe your Love for us. You died for Human Race... The Gethsemane story melt our hearts, you suffer for us. It is our will that One Day Lord, we will see you face to face.. this is our desire. Thank you Lord for the Redemption story.
Amen thank you Jesus for shedding your blood for me thank you Jesus
Mathew 26:48-
Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.”
How is it that the priests, elders and common people could not recognize Jesus despite ALL that He had done amongst them-cleansing the temple,preaching to them and performing miracles?
The 'sign' was for the soldiers. The Priests knew who He was but wanting to look conspicuous; it was their plan to be witnesses of this plot...
Before the foundation of the world the plan of salvation was already planned. in my opinion Jesus endured the temptations that were placed before him; his life as a human was a testimony that he sympathises with our weakness. as the son of God being incarnate as man to be separated from the Father was Jesus true test. Satan thought he would cause Jesus to back down but Jesus knowing that he came to do the Fathers will that was pre destined before the foundations of the world, knowing that the Father loves us so much and could not stand to see us lost, continued with the Fathers will.
Jesus will was to do his fathers will. yes he experienced despair in terms of being separated from the father. it was not the physical pain that he was about to endure but the separation of God his Father. it just shows us the intimacy, the connection that Jesus has n it makes me wonder how intimate r we with our heavenly father? how is my relationship with the great I AM? do I not feel despair/despondent if I don't do his will? If Jesus who knew no sin who became sin could feel this way how much more u n I who r born sinful. we need to realise that we need to commit ourselves totally to our Father - not mine will Lord but thine. jesus at that moment truly felt what the lost would feel n it terrified him, the cup was indeed bitter but not my will but thine; if we r aiming to have our characters built for heaven let our will be the will of our father