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Jesus in Gethsemane by Esther Swyer
Luke 22:40-44
Written September 7th, 2004
A friend called me one day to ask some questions about the struggle Jesus went through as He prayed that night in Gethsemane - the night before His trial and crucifixion - the night He was betrayed and deserted. Some of her questions were - "Could Jesus have refused to go to the cross?" "Did He have a choice?" "Was that why He sweat drops of blood - because that battle was one He might have lost?" "Was this a time of decision for Him?"
My first response was, "No, this wasn't a time of decision. The decision had already been made long before." So why was this battle so terrible? As my friend said, this battle was worse than the physical one on the cross. The thought occurs to me that the original decision, for Jesus to make such a sacrifice, was made long before He came into this world as that tiny Baby. It was made before He took on flesh, and became a part of our humanity, and before He had experienced all that meant.
But this battle was not a physical one. It was a spiritual one - where the enemy of God, and of our souls, was trying to prevent that Holy Sacrifice and the plan and work of salvation on our behalf. It was a battle none of us could have fought, and the sacrifice was one we could never have made.
Satan knew that, and his only hope of victory lay in the defeat of Jesus in that time of prayer that night. He knew that this night, this point in time, was the crucial time in his war against God, and the working out of God's plan for our salvation. He knew if he could not keep Jesus from going to that cross, his own doom was sealed. And so he attacked with all his strength.
But even in His perfect humanity, Jesus knew that His strength had to come from His full and perfect submission to the Father's will. He could not exert His own Deity and Authority, because He had laid aside all those rights before He came - that He might be fully human, as well as fully God. As a man He had to learn obedience to His Father, just as we do, by the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8.
There was another reason why Jesus suffered so in that prayer time. He knew what He was about to go through was more than a physical ordeal - Even worse was the knowledge that He would experience separation from the presence of God, His Father. And I believe that spiritual agony was the reason for his sweating of blood. Imagine for a minute what He was shrinking from - not just the crucifixion, but added to it was the weight of the world's sin on Him, and the fact that He would have to become sin, and that He would be utterly forsaken, even by His Father.
As I think about it, I see a parallel - in agony of spirit He sweat blood - in agony of body He gave His blood for us. All the way through the Bible we learn that "the life is in the blood". And always it was the sprinkling of blood that cleansed, and made the atonement possible. We might even stretch it further, and remember that when men go to war, it is ultimately the spilling of blood that decides who wins or loses. This battle Jesus was fighting was for man's soul. If He lost this battle, He'd lose us.
In this case the spilling of the blood of the only possible perfect sacrifice is the key to God's provision of salvation to all who accept such a costly gift. Costly not to us, but to Him Who suffered so, to purchase it for us.
It was not nails that held Him to that cross - it was love for us. How can we even think of refusing such a gift, given with so much love?
about the author
Esther Swyer was born in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. The eldest of eight children she married at twenty-one and promptly had six children. She became a Christian in October of 1958 at the age of twenty-five and was baptised in December of that year. She began teaching a Sunday School class of a dozen nine to ten year olds in 1961 or 1962 and has been teaching various age groups ever since.
Luke 22:40-44
Written September 7th, 2004
A friend called me one day to ask some questions about the struggle Jesus went through as He prayed that night in Gethsemane - the night before His trial and crucifixion - the night He was betrayed and deserted. Some of her questions were - "Could Jesus have refused to go to the cross?" "Did He have a choice?" "Was that why He sweat drops of blood - because that battle was one He might have lost?" "Was this a time of decision for Him?"
My first response was, "No, this wasn't a time of decision. The decision had already been made long before." So why was this battle so terrible? As my friend said, this battle was worse than the physical one on the cross. The thought occurs to me that the original decision, for Jesus to make such a sacrifice, was made long before He came into this world as that tiny Baby. It was made before He took on flesh, and became a part of our humanity, and before He had experienced all that meant.
But this battle was not a physical one. It was a spiritual one - where the enemy of God, and of our souls, was trying to prevent that Holy Sacrifice and the plan and work of salvation on our behalf. It was a battle none of us could have fought, and the sacrifice was one we could never have made.
Satan knew that, and his only hope of victory lay in the defeat of Jesus in that time of prayer that night. He knew that this night, this point in time, was the crucial time in his war against God, and the working out of God's plan for our salvation. He knew if he could not keep Jesus from going to that cross, his own doom was sealed. And so he attacked with all his strength.
But even in His perfect humanity, Jesus knew that His strength had to come from His full and perfect submission to the Father's will. He could not exert His own Deity and Authority, because He had laid aside all those rights before He came - that He might be fully human, as well as fully God. As a man He had to learn obedience to His Father, just as we do, by the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8.
There was another reason why Jesus suffered so in that prayer time. He knew what He was about to go through was more than a physical ordeal - Even worse was the knowledge that He would experience separation from the presence of God, His Father. And I believe that spiritual agony was the reason for his sweating of blood. Imagine for a minute what He was shrinking from - not just the crucifixion, but added to it was the weight of the world's sin on Him, and the fact that He would have to become sin, and that He would be utterly forsaken, even by His Father.
As I think about it, I see a parallel - in agony of spirit He sweat blood - in agony of body He gave His blood for us. All the way through the Bible we learn that "the life is in the blood". And always it was the sprinkling of blood that cleansed, and made the atonement possible. We might even stretch it further, and remember that when men go to war, it is ultimately the spilling of blood that decides who wins or loses. This battle Jesus was fighting was for man's soul. If He lost this battle, He'd lose us.
In this case the spilling of the blood of the only possible perfect sacrifice is the key to God's provision of salvation to all who accept such a costly gift. Costly not to us, but to Him Who suffered so, to purchase it for us.
It was not nails that held Him to that cross - it was love for us. How can we even think of refusing such a gift, given with so much love?
about the author
Esther Swyer was born in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. The eldest of eight children she married at twenty-one and promptly had six children. She became a Christian in October of 1958 at the age of twenty-five and was baptised in December of that year. She began teaching a Sunday School class of a dozen nine to ten year olds in 1961 or 1962 and has been teaching various age groups ever since.
Esther began teaching adults and leading Bible studies sometime in the seventies. She became involved in WMS in the late sixties and held various positions over the years, then in the early to mid-seventies she started serving on the Association Council. On top of all that she was involved for many years in ladies retreats serving as small groups director for around twenty years. Currently Esther is president of the WMS on the Association level, treasurer of her church, adult ladies class teacher, and is completing her third year as a church deacon.
Her first marriage ended after twenty-two years. She re-married thirteen years later in December 1988 and was widowed in June of 2000. She has eighteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Esther has just published a book about her spiritual journey.