Facing the cross of Calvary, Jesus’ human side showed up big time. He felt the weight of the burden He would bear. How would you like to know the exact day you were going to die and the barbaric way it was going to occur? “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death,” He admitted to His disciples (Matthew 26:38, KJV).
We often talk about the deity of Christ. It’s what makes Him one with God. That’s what separates Him from every other person that has been born of a woman. But during His sufferings leading to His death, Jesus ministered as a human servant. Emotionally, the ordeal was overwhelming. Facing the cross, He prayed three times requesting that the bitter cup He was about to drink would pass from Him.
Though omniscient, prior to the cross, Jesus did not know death firsthand. He did not know what it was to be separated from His Father. He had lived every day, abiding in the Father’s presence and love. But now the One who knew no sin would become the perfect sin offering for us. As such, He became separated from the Father because that’s what sin does. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He cried on the cross (Matthew 27:46, NASB).
Death Cannot Separate Us from the Love of God
How could the Lord endure this ordeal? Where could He find an anchor for His soul amidst the utter darkness of those hours leading to His crucifixion? It was only in the arms of the Father that He could find such an anchor: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” He said to God (Luke 23:46, KJV).
Because Jesus trusted the Father with His life, He had hope beyond the agony of the cross. “After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee,” He said to His disciples (Matthew 26:32, KJV). In the arms of God, His life was in good hands.
Jesus is our example. Like Him, we must entrust our life into the hands of the Father. In the appointed time, He will raise the dead in Christ from the grave. This is the good news of Easter, or Resurrection Day, or whatever you choose to call it.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live,” Jesus said.
John 5:25, KJV
Our hope is in the power of that very resurrection. As it was with Jesus, not even death can separate us from the love of God. Because Jesus lives, we too shall live at His return. Then will be fulfilled the saying, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55, KJV).
Copyright © 2023 by Frank King. All rights reserved.