“leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.” –Matthew 26:44
No human can even remotely comprehend the load Christ was carrying the night before Passover. He was going to be rejected and abused by those He came to save. He was going to experience a scourging, otherwise called, “the little death.” He would be crucified like a common criminal. As horrific as that knowledge was, He knew that His timeless relationship with the Father was about to be broken, if only for a few eternal hours, as the Father would supernaturally place upon Him all of mankind’s innumerable sins. His holiness would not allow God to give even the slightest glance toward His dying Son because of the imputation that was going to take place. The darkening of the sky at midday would reflect this spiritual reality.
As bad as the physical torment and the momentary separation from His Father would be—when He would cry out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”—Christ understood that His body would become our propitiation. In other words, in the crucifixion, He would satisfy the wrath of Almighty God who had witnessed man’s rebellion again and again for several millennia of man’s mutinous history. Jesus intimately knew the Father’s abject hatred of any one sin, let alone all the sins committed against Him since the Garden of Eden. The Father’s anger, that had been held back and held back, was about to be unleashed without any restraint or mercy upon His own son … and Jesus knew it as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
His soul carried a deathly sorrow at the prospect of the next day’s realities. He called out. Not once. Not twice. But three times, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. His humanness wanted to avoid the upcoming events, but His divinity declared, “… nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” It took these three interchanges to truly know, this was the course the Father had chosen. And despite all that He knew he would have to endure, Jesus Christ was committed to fulfilling His Father’s will, regardless of the personal cost.
We still live in the same fallen, sinful world. Because of this, there seems to be so many injustices, so many things that are not right. Bad things happen to godly people and good things happen to those who completely oppose Christianity. None of these, however, can compare with the injustice done to Christ. Still, knowing in advance the pain and suffering, He did not complain or kick against the will of the Father. He simply asked if there were any other way. None was given. Christ, therefore, fully embraced Heaven’s plan. The result was our salvation and His ultimate exaltation.
God knows what He is doing even when we don’t. May this Easter season find an army of Christian homeschoolers, who, like their example, are willing to say, “Not as I will, but as you will.” And in that submission, may we find freedom, joy, and peace as we die unto self and live unto Him.
HAPPY EASTER FROM ICHE
-300x147.jpg)
