The Cross, Part 1: Grief

"My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death" [Matt 26:38]

And it is here in the garden, that the reality of the cross and all that it would cost our Lord, begins to weigh heavily upon his soul; Seemingly to the point that it becomes impossible to bear. "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour." "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth."

If then the Father were to save the Son from "this hour," then Jesus would not be able to bear witness to the truth that the "Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life." And yet it was for this very truth that Christ was born into this world; to atone for the sins of man and "raise him up at the last day." Therefore, to be saved from this hour is impossible, because it would make God a liar. The cup of suffering had to be drank by Christ himself before anyone else, as he is "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." It would later pass to the disciples; "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with." And for the cross, there have been countless men and women who endured the same sorrow "even unto death." Yet, their is much in this seemingly gloomy passage in which to find joy, for "if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Indeed, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." [Phil 3:10-12, Rom 8:17] Therefore, the Lord's grief expressed at the cross is both a weight and a glorious crown to the believer.