Before Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus wrestled with going to the cross.
His mission here on earth was to die for the sins of humanity. Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect sinless man. The fulness of God the Father dwelled in him.
Jesus prayed in the garden to God the Father three times asking God, “Not my will but your will be done”. He wanted this cup of suffering to be taken from him, yet wanted to please God his Father. “Not my will but your will be done as Jesus prayed to God the Father.
This shows us the suffering, selfless servant that was spoken of by Isaiah chapter A humble servant. “Just as many were astonished and appalled at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form [marred] more than the sons of men. So He will sprinkle many nations [with His blood, providing salvation], Kings will shut their mouths because of Him; For what they had not been told they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand”.
Isaiah 52:14-15 AMP
“He was despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief; And like One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him. But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed”.
Isaiah 53:3-5 AMP
The ultimate victory was won by Jesus here in the garden on his knees as he surrendered his will as God’s only Son. His greatest temptation was to avoid the cross. Satan tempted him so many times, especially in the desert while on a 40 day fast ( Matthew 4:1-11), yet Jesus was without sin. Jesus overcame his temptation in his humanity by quoting the Word of God.. “It is written” three times he overcame Satan’s temptations.
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”.
The promise of victory and destiny was given all the way back in Genesis.
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15 NIV
This was the supreme sacrifice by Jesus willfully dying for our sins and defeating Satan and his evil forces by crushing his head.
Notice in the movie the Passion, the beginning scene when Jesus got up from praying in the garden he stepped on a snake that came near him and crushed its head. This was symbolic of Genesis 3:15. The Messianic promise.
Jesus is the ultimate champion and gives us a promise and hope as well. It was not just His humanity in temptation, but His humility of how and why He left His glory from heaven to come here to this earth to die.
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross”!
Philippians 2:6-8 NIV
The cross is the ultimate symbol of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. We deserve God’s wrath and punishment, yet Christ hung on the cross because of LOVE. ‘There is no greater love…’
God chose to give you and me His grace and mercy. Our choice is to receive it as a gift from heaven.
How often have we read or seen this verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whoever Believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16.
The battle is the Lord’s and He gives us hope for today and the future. I am grateful for the victory and the power of the cross for forgiveness. How about you?
As we reflect on this Holy Week and what the cross means, may we never forget the price our Lord Jesus paid when he went to Calvary and all He ask of us is to come as we are, and believe and trust Him as our Savior.
The Watering Hole Journey 