Bible Question: Jesus, knowing that He was the sacrifice, asked if the cup could be passed from Him......why? |
Bible Answer: Hi, angelsn! Jesus was acutely aware that He came onto the world to be put through the wringer and to die a most notorious death! Though He was true man, He was also true God--aware, from the beginning of the Divine Plan! This Divine Plan was mirrored in many ways from the very beginning of the Bible (Genesis 3:15 depicts a microscopic sample of the spiritual battle). Jesus was not afraid of the physical consequences of His incarnation for the Plan had a built in fail-save: The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again; and this is the command I have received from my Father. (John 10:17-18) What Jesus was aprehensive about was the consequenses of filling in for us: as the Lamb of God, Jesus would be crucified, in our stead, for the sins of the world! The three Persons of God are completely Divine and Holy--but the Person of Christ, born of Mary, born of the flesh could take onto Himself both our transgressions and the Father's demands for just restitution! Here's the hitch: How could the Father cleanse the Son from our sins if Christ Jesus did not take upon His Person said sins? And, how could the Father come near Jesus if He were to bear our sins on His Person?... For one instant in God's existence the Son would be separated from the Father! This, Jesus dreaded! This cup Jesus wished that He did not have to partake! Yet Jesus also knew that it would all be for naught if this event did not transpire! Jesus call to His Father: 'Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?' (my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) not in fear of death or of pain but in desperation as He was approaching the designated moment in the Plan's schedule. There are two Biblical passages that attest to Jesus' determination to suffer, in his flesh, the wounds and death for our sins: John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, 'It is fulfilled'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. It is evident that Jesus was keeping track with the Plan--fulfilling even that portion that would seem most insignificant. Mark 15:22-24 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it. Then they crucified him... Jesus refused the concoction, not because it was not time for Him to fulfill the prophecy reflected in John 19:28-30, but because this brew contained myrrh--myrrh's properties allowed it to be used as an analgesic. Would Jesus fulfill the Divine Plan if His human body would be impervious to pain? Jesus did not allow the agony and torture of the cross to be taken from Him! God Bless! Angel |