Unto Death


Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I look only to You as my God and King. Please teach my willing heart, and where I am lazy or unwilling, please bring conviction. I want my entire life to be Yours to command. I want to be shaped by Your hand as You work through Your Word and the power of Your Holy Spirit. Awesome God, I am Yours. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Read: Mark 14:32-42
http://www.esvbible.org/Mark 14:32-42

Think about It: Three men in the Bible talk about being in a state that draws them into death; Jonah, Elijah, and Jesus. Jonah, “angry enough to die”, sits under a plant given by God overlooking Ninevah awaiting its destruction. Elijah is frightened and exhausted, lying under a broom tree, asking God to “take his life.” And Jesus, collapsing under an olive tree, feels the weight of our sin to the point of death. This is what anguish looks like. Jonah and Elijah’s anguish was self-induced. Jesus’ anguish was our fault.

As we examine the anguish of Jesus, we must always come to grips with the fact that His pain was the result of our sin. Nothing else could have made the Father turn His face away from His dear Son. But in that moment, the sin of the world was imparted to Christ and He suffered the worst blow of all – separation from the Father. His anguish began in that moment. He who had known no sin throughout His life suddenly becomes sin – that which the Father cannot have in His holy presence.

We will never be able to comprehend this mystery. We can never know the depth of that anguish. For us, all that we can truly know is that it was suffered for us out of God’s unexplainable love. In order that we might be restored to the Father’s side, Jesus suffered this anguish for us. We are forgiven and the Father gathers us into His arms in perfect love.

Prayer: The Holy Heart
The holy heart was broken,
Sent from the Father's side
The Son of God, forsaken,
The holy sacrifice

The holy Lamb was stricken,
Abandoned and alone
He bore the world's affliction,
He bore it as His own

And when my heart is broken,
Torn by my sin and pride
The Son of God now risen,
Will draw me to His side

For me He was forsaken,
For me He died alone
My sin forever taken,
That I might be His own
© 1993 Maranatha! Music Anne Barbour and Marsha Skidmore. CCLI#551204

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