FRIDAY, MARCH 23
Luke 22:39-46
Philippians 2:5-8

“…and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.”

THE AGONY

Jesus took His inner circle of disciples to the Mount of Olives after their last supper in the upper room. The mount was about a mile from Jerusalem. At the side of the mount was a garden called Gethsemane which had many olive trees. Before He withdrew to pray, Jesus exhorted the disciples to pray but they were too tired and sorrowful to pray. The disciples failed to overcome their physical and emotional distress. Physical bodies will suffer tiredness and discouragement.

Gethsemane is the Hebrew word for oil press, a stone hewn to crush the olive fruits. The fruits including the very hard seeds which are actually the major source of the oil are crushed to produce oil for the temple and household use. This crushing pictures the suffering which the Lord Jesus had to go through.

Gethsemane garden was a part of the Mount of Olives. Jesus often resorted here with His disciples. It was here that He spent a part of the night after the last Passover. He was here in intense agony in preparation for the next day when He would drink the cup of the wrath of God for sins which He would bear. Jesus was crushed by the heaviness of the prospect of the wrath of God upon Him. In His great agony, He sweated as it were “great drops of blood.” This was an instance of the great condescension of our Lord Jesus that He needed the assistance of an angel.

Jesus showed us by His example that even though His human will desired to avoid the coming persecution, He was willing to suffer and submitted to the will of the Father. The “cup” Jesus referred to was the wrath of God upon the sins of all people (Phil 2:7-8; 1 John 2:2). He chose to suffer that we may live forever. His agony was done for you and for me.

THOUGHT: Do I really understand the gravity of my Lord’s agony?
PRAYER: Father, Thou hast loved us with a perfect love.