Gethsemane
In Gethsemane the Christos
prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let
this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will…My Father, if this
cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt. 26:39, 42). Here
the Lord in His humanity expresses the overwhelming distress of the sufferings
to come. He knew he betrayer had left to do his deed, the disciples would be
scattered, and Peter would deny Him thrice. He moreover knew the agony of the
cross would be His destiny. This was the cup of judgment set before Him.
This is an epic moment as one witnesses the grandeur of the interpersonal
relations within the Godhead. The subject/object distinctions of God the Son
praying to and declaring His own will to be in submission to God the Heavenly
Father. Jesus forsakes His own life in humble submission to do the will of the
Father. What magnificence! Truly a fathomable mystery of the Almighty!
It would be the cross that would secure the salvation of a great multitude
of sinners from every tribe tongue and nation. It is by His wounds that we are
healed (1 Pet. 2:24). Out of the darkness of the cross and the victory of the
resurrection the Lord would save sinners and give them blessed hope of eternal
life. Just as Christ died and rose again, the saints too will be raised to
glory at the end of the age immortal and incorruptible.
Even so, just as the Christos endured the cross, He also taught: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). The life of a
believer begins and ends at the cross. The reality of the situation is just as
C.S. Lewis puts it: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who
say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done’ ” (The Great
Divorce).
~ WGN
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