Friday, March 26, 2010
Luke 22:41-43 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
A MOMENTOUS ANSWER FROM THE FATHER
How did the Father answer Jesus' prayer? God sent an angel to strengthen Him for His work. It was God's will that Jesus drink the cup of God's wrath over our sins.
But let us never think that it was easy for Him to bear. There was nothing fake about His sufferings. Jesus was fully human. He was also fully God. But wasn't that an advantage for Him? Didn't the fact that He was God's Son make it easier for him to face death for all of humankind? Does the fact that He was God take away from what He suffered as a man?
The fact that He was God was not a form of anesthesia. Jesus felt the same pains that we would have felt under the same circumstances. The suffering of soul and body that Jesus endured was not pretend. It was not a charade.
When we are troubled by our sins and beset by guilt, we can think upon His sufferings and know that He understands what we are experiencing. We can also tell Satan our accuser to "get lost" because Jesus took our sin and guilt upon Himself. He carried our sin and guilt so that we don't have to explain ourselves to the Judge at the Judgment. Now, by faith our slate of sin is clean, borne away by Him to Calvary and the grave.
This was the Father's will.
This Lamb is Christ, the soul's great Friend, The Lamb of God, our Savior;
Him God the Father chose to send To gain for us His favor.
"Go Forth, My Son," the Father saith, "And free men from the fear of death, From guilt and condemnation.
The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, but by Thy Passion men shall share The fruit of Thy salvation."
"Yea, Father, yea, most willingly I'll bear what Thou commandest;
My will conforms to Thy decree, I do what Thou demandest."
O wondrous Love, what hast Thou done? The Father offers up His Son! The Son, content, descendeth!
O Love, how strong Thou art to save! Thou beddest Him within the grave Whose word the mountains rendeth.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 142:2-3)
