We often talk about the physical pain Jesus endured on His way through death....I prefer saying THROUGH death instead of TO death...I don't want to give death the satisfaction of being a destination because we all have the opportunity to travel past it to a place of paradise. Luke's account of all the events and torture in Christ's journey is often sited because he was a doctor and would have had the most understanding of the physical processes and pain involved in Jesus' suffering and crucifixion. Part of our Good Friday service this year explained some of the torture and pain in depth as I am sure is the case in many services regarding Christ's final hours. I don't think there is anything wrong with a description of it all. I think it is important that we all understand the depth of what our Savior endured for us and we can definitely identify with the physical pain sometimes (or most times) better than any other type of pain because we live in a world where physical things are predominantly relevant to us. I do not think, however, that this is the pain which caused Jesus to suffer and sweat drops of blood as he agonized in prayer and came to ultimate submission to God in the Garden of Gethsemane. Some people say he feared what was about to take place...I don't know if our word for fear is an accurate description for what He was thinking or feeling. I can't really think of another term that seems fitting, but to fear is not to trust, right? I think He abhorred what He would become and grieved that HIS state would isolate HIM....cut HIM off from fellowship with GOD. It is easiest for us to walk through His story and think in terms of His physical trauma because that is what we see in our mind's eye. The danger in this habit of allowing our minds to think only in terms of the physical pain he endured is that it disconnects us from what I think was His ultimate agony.....that of taking all our SIN on Himself and being separated from His Father...OUR FATHER. I think that was THE CUP He was referring to in the garden of gnarled olive branches.
BECOMING SIN and having to be separated from the FATHER is worse than anything we can ever imagine and Jesus had to experience that....that was the way through it all. NOT just death on a cross, but BEING SIN....to get personal, BEING MY SIN....we seldom take our descriptions of His suffering that far....nor, do I think we have an appropriate view of the devastation of our sinful state unless we allow Him to give our souls understanding by revealing this to us. Remember the serpent from the first garden? He doesn't want us to think about the eternal results of our sins, only the brief pleasure we find in them. If you ask GOD, I think He will give you insight into what it is like to be out of fellowship with Him ...I know I experienced some grief today as He brought some things to my attention. Sometimes the only way back to truly desiring Him is a CRASH course in our own fallen nature.
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