Passion Week: Maundy Thursday

Luke 22:42-43 "And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.'"

We look today in our examination of Passion Week at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is one of my favorite biblical stories, and it should be yours as well, because through it we see that Jesus Christ went to the cross voluntarily.

The scene goes like this: Jesus knows that he is about to be betrayed and delivered over. He knows that he is about to die on a cross, but not only that, but bear the very wrath of his father for the sins of mankind. Thus, the night before his betrayal, he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. What does he say? "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done." Jesus quite literally asked his Father if there was any other way. The "cup" that Jesus spoke of is an Old Testament metaphor referring to the wrath of God. Jesus asked if the Father could let that cup pass from him. In other words, amidst the great anguish of the wrath of God, he asked his Father if there was any other way. What was the Father's answer? Silence. The Father did not answer, because there was no other way. Jesus would have to bear the wrath of God on the cross in order to save his people.

So, what do we do with this passage? I believe that this passage should lead us to ask the following question: what makes an all-sovereign human yet divine Jesus ask that something go differently in the Father's sovereign plan? In other words, what makes the very Creator of the universe pray that it might not be so? Answer: God's wrath being poured out on him, which was the very thing that needed to happen in order that he might save us. Jesus knew of the great physical and spiritual anguish that was about to beset him, thus he asked the Father if there was a way that this trial could pass from him, but there was no other way. Thus, Jesus went willingly to the cross, even joyfully (Hebrews 12:1-2), so that he might save us.

So, what do we do with this? Jesus prayed in the Garden that his Father's wrath might not be upon him, but what does that have to do with me? Our greatest application from reading this passage today is simply to behold our God. Jesus was so willing to pay the price for our sin that he did so even though it caused him unimaginable anguish. In submitting to the Father, Jesus went to the cross and bore the wrath that we deserved even though the very thought of doing so brought him to sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Thus, we must behold him. We must praise him for his sacrifice, his love, and his grace. We must realize his greatness, and be led to tears at the price of his sacrifice.