Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-56 This passage in Matthew is the longest and perhaps most detailed of Jesus' preparation for His sacrifice. All the Gospels have an account of this time as it is an important part of the cutting of the New Covenant which Jesus had already started. The eleven disciples went with Him to Gethsemane but Jesus chose Peter, James and John to go further with Him and then left them to go beyond them. I have heard the three criticized for sleeping when Jesus needed them to be praying with Him. Most do not understand the depth of the spiritual battle that was being waged and the overpowering weight that caused these three to sleep. They did not have the Holy Spirit at that time to the measure to withstand the battle.

Jesus had to face that force of darkness alone. I have often heard it preached that Jesus wanted to be spared the cross but submitted to the will of the Father. I believe this battle He fought at Gethsemane was far more than that. Jesus had lived His life on this earth in full union with the Father. Now He had to take the whole world into Himself to take our place. All human nature and sinful darkness had to be brought to judgment. Before God, all sin had to be punished. The cup that was presented to Jesus was not the death of sacrifice on the cross.

The cup could not be taken away unless Jesus drank it. Holy, sinless, pure before God, Jesus had to take on the sin of the whole world in order to be the sacrifice that would cleanse every sin and all darkness. His powerful Blood would fight it and be the perfect vaccine to cleanse and make holy for all time. But the depth of agony to become the sacrifice for anyone who would come to accept it, is beyond our capacity to know. If you have ever withdrawn from the sight of sinful activity in disgust, you might have an inkling of what it would mean to drink the cup Jesus was handed that contained the deepest dregs humanity can sink into. What is done in secret, what is thought and what is acted on, every plot and degradation of man in any generation, Jesus had to accept to pay for their cleansing. Yet, He could stand in front of religious condemnation without retaliating. He could go through three beatings in less than 12 hours, once by strong soldiers until His face was marred more than any man, beaten by 39 stripes, tormented and vilified, finally crucified and still say "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." What a wonderful Savior! What a magnificent Lord! What love! To go through everything our salvation cost would be a tremendous feat for Jesus, the Holy Son of God. But to go through that and carry me is beyond my power of comprehension. I can only praise Him and be eternally grateful.