Matthew 26
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Over and over in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus offered this request to God. Over and over, I believe, He received the same answer. "There is no other way. You are the Way, my Son." I hear the agony in Jesus' voice as He cried out to His Father. "This cup" is the sum total of God's wrath. There are many references to the devastation of God's wrath being unleashed with the cup imagery. (See Jeremiah 25:14-16 and Revelation 14:9-11 as examples. Not so pretty!) Jesus knew He was going to endure the full weight of humanity's sin and their consequences. The cross was nothing...it was merely the physical death. What He dreaded, yet so obediently endured, was the penalty of your sin and mine. In His heart, Jesus knew there was no other way. He knew the full weight of that punishment greater than anyone. Today, take a moment and ponder the price that Jesus paid for you. Consider the death He willingly died so that you may live.
Romans 8:1-4
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Over and over in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus offered this request to God. Over and over, I believe, He received the same answer. "There is no other way. You are the Way, my Son." I hear the agony in Jesus' voice as He cried out to His Father. "This cup" is the sum total of God's wrath. There are many references to the devastation of God's wrath being unleashed with the cup imagery. (See Jeremiah 25:14-16 and Revelation 14:9-11 as examples. Not so pretty!) Jesus knew He was going to endure the full weight of humanity's sin and their consequences. The cross was nothing...it was merely the physical death. What He dreaded, yet so obediently endured, was the penalty of your sin and mine. In His heart, Jesus knew there was no other way. He knew the full weight of that punishment greater than anyone. Today, take a moment and ponder the price that Jesus paid for you. Consider the death He willingly died so that you may live.
Romans 8:1-4
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
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