Full Tenderness
Can you imagine the walk to the Mount of Olives that Thursday night? Jesus’ Spirit was troubled, the confused disciples were exhausted from grief, and Judas had left the group to betray Him.
Leaving the disciples, Jesus went off by Himself, fell on His face, and poured His heart out to His Father, “Please, take this cup from me.” Jesus knew well the cup of wrath that He was about to endure. Innocent of all sin, He would soon bear the sin of the entire world and God’s anger at sin would be poured out on Him. He also knew that His Father would turn His eyes away and He would be left alone. Separation from His Father was unthinkable, so He pleads to be released from this cup. Yet, knowing that this was why He had come, He submits to the will of the Father. He submitted with joy (Hebrews 12:2) not because He suddenly saw the cross differently, but because He looked beyond the cross to
- His reunion with His Father
- The reconciliation of man to God
- His glorification
Sadly, there are countless people who are deceived into thinking the cross was Satan’s victory rather than realizing Jesus’ prayer in the garden was the beginning of complete victory over sin and Satan. In Haiti, countless people still deceived in their satanic worship, will take to the streets to celebrate Jesus’ death and their master’s victory. Little do they know that when Jesus submitted to the will of His Father during that agonizing prayer, He submitted to bearing their sin so they could live eternally with God.
May Jesus’ example drive us to look beyond our circumstances and to His love and power as we share this message with a lost world.
Ginger Muchmore
Additional Resources:
Lord, I Need You - Matt Maher
All the way my Savior leads me
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