As our journey continues, we should be mindful of what Jesus endured.
According to Matthew's gospel, Jesus goes to Gethsemane with His disciples.
There, He instructs them to sit while He goes to pray.
Filled with distress, He takes Peter and two others aside with Him.
He tells them that He is grieved and asks them to remain awake with Him.
He leaves them and goes a little farther where His human nature struggles with what is to come.
Death by crucifixion is the cruelest and most painful form of execution devised by man.
Jesus throws Himself face down to the ground and prays.
His human nature, knowing what is to come, leads Him to pray to the Father and ask if possible, to change what is to transpire.
His divine nature leads Him to pray that the Father's will prevail.
Jesus returns and finds Peter and the two others asleep.
Three times this process repeats itself.
Three times Jesus asks His followers to remain awake as He prays.
Three times they fall asleep and Jesus prays alone.
Judas arrives with armed men and betrays his Lord with a kiss.
With that signal, the armed men forcibly take hold of Jesus.
In the brief struggle that ensues, Jesus tells one of His followers to put away his weapon.
He reminds him that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.
Jesus states that He could, if He so desired, call upon the Father and be rescued by twelve legions of angels.
Yet He does not do this in order that prophecy is fulfilled.
His disciples, every single one of them, flee and abandon him to His captors.
He is taken away to the high priest and those assembled there.
His physical ordeal begins.
They spit in His face, strike Him and mock Him.
Peter, who promised Jesus that he would never leave Him, denies that he even knows Jesus.
Jesus is taken to Pilate, the governor.
Pilate, not wishing for a riot, gives in to the demands of the crowd and the religious leaders who incite them.
Jesus is sentenced to death by crucifixion.
This time it is soldiers that assail Jesus. They hurl insults at Him, crown Him with thorns, spit on Him and strike Him repeatedly.
Jesus is crucified along with two common criminals to further demean Him.
As He suffers, the chief priests, experts in law and the rest of the crowd that has gathered hurl even more insults at Him.
Jesus suffers for hours as darkness falls over the land.
As His life ebbs away, Jesus takes all the sins of the world upon Himself.
God, who is perfectly holy and righteous, must break away from these sins.
For the first time in His eternal existence, Jesus experiences separation from the Father.
You can hear the anguish in His cry.
Matthew 27:46 (NET) - At about three o'clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Then, Jesus cries out one final time in a loud voice and gives up His spirit.
Jesus endured so very much to save the world.
It is easier for us to think that He endured this in order to save a vast, faceless and nameless sea of humanity.
It is not so easy to think about the fact that He did so in order to personally save individuals like you and me.
That was the Father's will.
When we realize this, the experience is both truly amazing and truly humbling.
A feeling of deep sadness also accompanies it,
But there is wonderful news.
The tomb in which they laid Him is empty!
He has risen!
Jesus is exactly who He claims to be and our salvation is assured!
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com
According to Matthew's gospel, Jesus goes to Gethsemane with His disciples.
There, He instructs them to sit while He goes to pray.
Filled with distress, He takes Peter and two others aside with Him.
He tells them that He is grieved and asks them to remain awake with Him.
He leaves them and goes a little farther where His human nature struggles with what is to come.
Death by crucifixion is the cruelest and most painful form of execution devised by man.
Jesus throws Himself face down to the ground and prays.
His human nature, knowing what is to come, leads Him to pray to the Father and ask if possible, to change what is to transpire.
His divine nature leads Him to pray that the Father's will prevail.
Jesus returns and finds Peter and the two others asleep.
Three times this process repeats itself.
Three times Jesus asks His followers to remain awake as He prays.
Three times they fall asleep and Jesus prays alone.
Judas arrives with armed men and betrays his Lord with a kiss.
With that signal, the armed men forcibly take hold of Jesus.
In the brief struggle that ensues, Jesus tells one of His followers to put away his weapon.
He reminds him that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.
Jesus states that He could, if He so desired, call upon the Father and be rescued by twelve legions of angels.
Yet He does not do this in order that prophecy is fulfilled.
His disciples, every single one of them, flee and abandon him to His captors.
He is taken away to the high priest and those assembled there.
His physical ordeal begins.
They spit in His face, strike Him and mock Him.
Peter, who promised Jesus that he would never leave Him, denies that he even knows Jesus.
Jesus is taken to Pilate, the governor.
Pilate, not wishing for a riot, gives in to the demands of the crowd and the religious leaders who incite them.
Jesus is sentenced to death by crucifixion.
This time it is soldiers that assail Jesus. They hurl insults at Him, crown Him with thorns, spit on Him and strike Him repeatedly.
Jesus is crucified along with two common criminals to further demean Him.
As He suffers, the chief priests, experts in law and the rest of the crowd that has gathered hurl even more insults at Him.
Jesus suffers for hours as darkness falls over the land.
As His life ebbs away, Jesus takes all the sins of the world upon Himself.
God, who is perfectly holy and righteous, must break away from these sins.
For the first time in His eternal existence, Jesus experiences separation from the Father.
You can hear the anguish in His cry.
Matthew 27:46 (NET) - At about three o'clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Then, Jesus cries out one final time in a loud voice and gives up His spirit.
Jesus endured so very much to save the world.
It is easier for us to think that He endured this in order to save a vast, faceless and nameless sea of humanity.
It is not so easy to think about the fact that He did so in order to personally save individuals like you and me.
That was the Father's will.
When we realize this, the experience is both truly amazing and truly humbling.
A feeling of deep sadness also accompanies it,
But there is wonderful news.
The tomb in which they laid Him is empty!
He has risen!
Jesus is exactly who He claims to be and our salvation is assured!
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com
