Calvary's Deepest Pain

Read: Matthew 26:36-46

The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. --- Isaiah 53:6

The Bible In One Year:
Isaiah 40-42

After washing His disciples' feet and celebrating the Passover with them. Jesus led them into a familiar garden and "began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed" [Matthew 26:37]. Going a bit farther with Peter, James, and John, He said, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me" [v.38].

Then, walking a short distance away, Jesus "fell on His face" before God, saying, "O Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" [v.39]. He did this three times [v.44].

How do we account for such a surge of emotional turmoil? Only by understanding the "cup" that Jesus asked His Father to take from Him. He was about to bear "the iniquity of us all" [Isaiah 53:6]. That "cup" was filled with the sins of the whole world.

The agony of Gethsemane would cultimate on the cross in His heart-wrenching cry: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" [Matthew 27:46]. Jesus' physical pain was nothing compared with Calvary's deepest pain --- the awful reality of being abandoned by His Father. God made Jesus "to be sin for us" [2 Corinthians 5:2], so the Father had to turn away from Him.

Praise God for His great love for us! --- Herb Vander Lugt

"Man of Sorrows," what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! What a Savior! --- Bliss

CHRIST BRAVED THE SHADOW OF ETERNAL DEATH TO BRING US THE SUNSHINE OF ETERNAL LIFE.