The
other day I was in my own prayer time, and was lifting up a dear brother of
mine. To keep things short there is much anxiety, and depression. It was while
I was praying for him that this verse came to my mind:
Luk 22:44 NKJV
And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great
drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Why was Jesus so distressed?...
Lets maybe take a look at it from the side of being a man. He looked at what
laid before Him and probably saw no hope. I mean the thought of being captured,
mocked, spit upon, beaten, beaten again without mercy, made to drag his own
cross, where He was then hung in full shame of all to see, even to the point
where even God (the Father) had to turn away from looking at Him and at the sin
Jesus had taken upon Himself (and had become) for Jesus even said “God why have
you forsaken me?” (Mat_27:46), where
the Father had to begin unleashing His full wrath and justice for our sins upon
Him over and over again. until as Jesus said "it is finished" (Joh_19:30) where He then went into death.... oh
how my measly words do not even capture what He did!!!
But looking at this it is clear
that the future He saw while praying was grim. looking at verse 43 we see that
even angels were sent to strengthen Him. If you were to take the average person
and lay this "grim" future before them and say "walk it out, the
entire world is counting on you" I am sure that they would feel many
things. I for one would feel a sense of fear, anxiety, hopelessness, worry,
defeat, maybe even depression. though I do not know all of what Jesus felt, I
just know that whatever He felt, it put Him into enough distress, and agony
that He began to "sweat great drops of blood."
Now with this in mind I want you
to think about what blood mean in the Old Testament. In all the sacrifices, and
offerings there was some type of bloods shed. Be it a dove, goat, lamb there
was always bloodshed. That blood was the payment for what they were sacrificing
for. We see the greatest payment of blood with Jesus and His work on the cross.
And in that payment He atoned for our sins. (praise the Lord). So if blood is
the payment for thing (biblically) then what did Jesus then pay for in the
garden of Gethsemane?
Jesus in the garden of
Gethsemane in that state of agony, distress, worry, abandonment, etc... bled
and paid for the victory over it all! See Just as the payment on the cross pays
for our sins, so Jesus also paid for all of our "worry" type emotions!
He paid for fear, anxiety, hopelessness, worry, defeat, depression!!! How
wonderful Jesus is that He did leave us to work out and grit our way through
life and all the "downs" that come with it. NO!!! Jesus paid for the
victory over our emotions when life gets tough. That is why we see this verse
later on:
1Jn 4:18 NKJV
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear
involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
You see, Jesus always showed
love, and in the garden of Gethsemane He started the journey of showing perfect
love. For we know:
Joh 15:13 NKJV
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down
one's life for his friends.
So when Jesus started in
Gethsemane the work of the cross He first had to deal with the
"negative" emotions of man. He shed His blood there for the payment,
and victory over these emotions. He dealt with them on His way to the cross. He
dealt with them in His act of perfect love!
Even though He saw a
"grim" future ahead of Him He did not give up! He pressed into the
Father! He sought fellowship with believers, He prayed, and He remained
obedient!!! He is our example of where to begin when the "negative"
emotions of this world/flesh come. We must press into Him, for He is the
payment and victory over them!
Any additional thoughts from you
are welcome.
Your
Brother in Christ
Grace
and Peace be with you
Nate
Cook, Setting Captives Free Team Member
And Jesus said to me:
Eze 3:10b-11a "...Receive into your heart
all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears, and go, get
to the captives..."
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