In our scripture, Jesus asks God to take this burden of death from him. Last week, we talked about how, Jesus being human as well as God, he must have felt terrified knowing that he was about to be betrayed, tortured and publicly executed. This may be where he was coming from when he prayed the prayer in Matthew 26:39.
But have you ever wondered why didn’t God just take his cup from him? I mean, if God is the one who ordains and gives everything order and meaning, why couldn’t he just change the script? Why was the death part necessary?
This is a huge question and one that we need to fully understand in order to comprehend the significance of Jesus’ crucifixion in context to the time period in which it happened and how it impacts us today.
Starting all the way back in Genesis 4, we find the first mention of the idea of sacrifices. Here, we find Cain and Abel making sacrifices to God. Evidence of faith and required by the law, sacrifices continued throughout the Old Testament as a way for man to connect with God, seek forgiveness, ask for peace, give thanks and, of course as an atonement for guilt and sin. The idea behind sacrifice is to donate something of great value in order to imply that something of even greater value has been received or will be received. To sacrifice was to tangibly acknowledgement God’s sovereignty and our gratitude for it.
This is where Jesus comes in.
When Jesus came to earth, God had this opportunity to take the concept of sacrifice and flip the script. He would display the ultimate act of humility and love by sacrificing the most precious and perfect creation ever to exist – his son, Jesus Christ. That’s right – even though we were the ones who were broken and sinful, God wanted to make a sacrifice to us. And not just any sacrifice, but the most perfect, precious sacrifice on earth – his only son. He did this to show us how much he loves and wants to offer his forgiveness to us.
John 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him
If you think about it, it’s the most extreme act of love ever made. If you are a parent, you know that there’s nothing worse than losing a child. A mother or father would gladly die in place of watching their child suffer and die. There’s literally nothing worse. Yet, that’s exactly what our God did for us. That’s why there was and is nothing greater that our Heavenly Father could’ve done, than to make this gesture to us.
He demonstrated to us what real, unabashed love looks like and, even though it brought Himself and his son, Jesus enormous pain, God knew that there can be no true sacrifice without pain. Pain is precisely what makes sacrifice meaningful.
But the reason why Jesus needed to suffer and die didn’t end with his sacrifice. Remember what happened three days after Jesus’ crucifxion? Jesus rose from the dead. This mighty act demonstrated his undeniable diety, his absolute authority over the heavens and the earth and his dominion over death itself. Because he rose from the dead, there would be no doubt that we follow the Living God and that eternal life is possible for us, too!
So. When Jesus asked in his very anguished, heartfelt prayer that this cup be taken from him – do you see now why God’s answer had to be ‘no’? This must happen. This act of Jesus’ betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection was part of a much bigger plan that resulted in all of humanity having an opportunity to know just how redeemed and forgiven we really are.
God’s answer to Jesus’ prayer was – I love you too much to let you do what you came to earth to do – and I love my creation too much to make this sacrifice on their behalf, in the hopes that we might be together – face to face, one day in His eternal joy and glory.
