Do you know why Jesus did not want to go to the cross? This is not a trick question. I'm not purposefully trying to mislead. There's no extra semantics behind these words. I'm asking if you understand why it was that Jesus did not want to go to the cross.
On the night before Jesus died He and His disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane. In that garden Jesus went away from His disciples, so that He could pray. As it is recorded in the Word of God, there is only one thing Jesus prayed that night. We read about it in the gospel of Matthew where it says, "Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will"" (26:39). Jesus prayed this same prayer three times (Matthew 26:42, 44). The gospel of Luke writes about this same prayer describing the anguish and the physical pain in which Jesus was, as He prayed. We read in Luke chapter 22 from verses 39 to 44:
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. On reaching the place, He said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
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| The name Gethsemane means "to press," and it was in that garden where Jesus was pressed so much His blood dripped out. |
Jesus prayed in such anguish that His Father sent an angel to comfort Him. He was so distraught by what was about to happen that He began to sweat blood. This is a rare medical condition known as hematidrosis, and studies state it occurs in someone when their "fight or flight" instinct is deeply triggered; when someone is warring against their urge to escape from turmoil. What turmoil did Jesus struggle to face? It was the cup that He prayed would be taken from Him (Mark 14:36). It was His death that He prophesied (John 12:31-33). It was the cross.
Why did Jesus not want to go to the cross? If we think about the cross as simply the way in which Jesus died, this question doesn't make much sense. Jesus Himself said, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die" (John 11:25), so it seems bizarre (even somewhat hypocritical) that Jesus would not want to die. He knew that His death would not be the end of His life, because "whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16), and who could have believed in Jesus more than Himself? Jesus even spoke through parables that when a righteous man dies they are immediately brought up to heaven (Luke 16:22), and Jeus knew after He died He would be going to heaven (Luke 23:43). Moreso it appears foolish for Jesus to be afraid of His death to the point of wanting to not suffer, as it was Him who said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). So, what's going on here?
What's going on is that Jesus was a human; fully God and fully man (Hebrews 2:17). Humans are afflicted with temptation, and every temptation appeals to a human's sinful desires, the desires of the flesh. Scripture says, "the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want" (Galatians 5:17), and Jesus' flesh and Spirit were in conflict that night. His flesh wanted so much to run away from the cross and not look back, but His Spirit warred against those earthly desires for the sake of His Father's desires, for "it was the LORD's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer," (Isaiah 53:10a). Understand it was God's will for His one and only son to not only die on a cross but suffer every last torment and blow Jesus endured all through the night, into the morning and then to conclude on the afternoon of Good Friday. Thank God that His will was accomplished that day. Praise the Lord and Savior of the world that He did not run away, but instead conquered the desires of His flesh so that He could stay and endure all the pain, evil and anguish of His death until at last He could cry, "It is finished," (John 19:30).
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
- The Seldom Scene
Because Jesus did not flee from the cross, what did He suffer? You see, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was like no other death in history (past, present or future). Even if someone were to endure the same physical pain that was unjustly brought upon Jesus (which includes being flogged (Matthew 27:26), having His head pierced with thorns (John 19:2), having His bones pulled out of joint (Psalm 22:14), being stricken so much that His bones were visible (Psalm 22:17)), they still would not, nor could they ever endure what was the true nature of all of Jesus' pain. It is written in the Scriptures that anyone who hangs upon a cross is cursed (Deuteronomy 21:23), and the curse Jesus faced was like no other.
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| The pain Jesus suffered on the cross had no word for it at the time, so a new word was created to describe Christ's suffering, and that word is excruciating, which in Latin means "out of the Cross". |
To understand the true curse Jesus was under on the cross, we have to examine the cup that Jesus prayed would pass from Him. This cup did not first appear in the Biblical texts at Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. It appeared hundreds of years before back in the Old Testament. There was a prophet named Jeremiah to whom the LORD spoke, and one day He told Jeremiah, "Take from My hand this cup filled with the wine of My wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them" (Jeremiah 25:15-16). Jeremiah writes that he did take that cup to all of the kings of Israel and the neighboring nations, yet none of them could drink it. The kings knew to drink it would "make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn, a curse," (Jeremiah 25:18). God said that anyone who did not drink it, would be told to drink it and if they did not drink it they would not go unpunished (Jeremiah 25:27-29). It is written in the Scriptures, "In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; He pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs" (Psalm 75:8). None of the kings to which the cup was given could drink it, and so all the nations were punished.
That cup from God's hand was God's wrath against sin, and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23a). Following death those who are wicked will be sent away from the goodness of God and into a place known as hell (Luke 13:28). God does not turn a blind eye to sin, and so it is wise to say, "God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed," (Ecclesiastes 3:17). Whoever God judges a sinner is one who will be under His wrath, as surely as it is written, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness," (Romans 1:18). We are all sinners (Romans 3:23). We all deserve God's wrath. We all deserve to drink God's cup, yet none of us can.
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| It was the Father's will that the cup of His wrath should be given in full to His son, so that no one else would have to drink it, which is mercy and grace like none of us could ever know apart from God. |
Who is it who has drank this cup, so that no one else will have to? Who is it who suffered the fullness of God's wrath, so that no human will have to endure it? What man took on such pain, torment and anguish that no man has ever experienced nor will ever experience? Who did this, so that we could be set free from our sin debt to God? Who is it?
It is Jesus the Christ who died to take upon the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), so that anyone who believes in Him shall never be under the punishment of God (Romans 8:1-2). It was for our sake that "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God," (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is Jesus Christ alone!
In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.
- Stuart Townend
Believe in Jesus Christ's life and sacrifice for you, so that you may live. Know that "whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them," (John 3:36). This is the love God has shown us through the cross. It is written, "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!" (Romans 5:8-9).
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