In the garden of Gethsemane, we see a side of Jesus that is shocking! Through out the Gospels we always encounter Jesus as in control, and calm. Even when we see him angry in the temple or weeping for the family of Lazarus, we never sense that Jesus is emotionally distraught. But that is what we see in the garden. Jesus is so anxious and troubled that he falls to the ground and sweats drops of blood, and asks the father that if it were possible that the moment, he was born for, would pass from him. What is going on? Was Jesus terrified of torture and dying on a Roman cross? No! He was not afraid of what a human could do to him. He was troubled by the fact that he was about to experience the full weight of the wrath of God that we deserved. Jesus knew that God’s justice must be satisfied if we were to be saved. And he knew the only way for that to happen was for Him in his humanity to stand in our place and receive the justice we deserved. That is why he was so distraught. And this should give us a very real clue. If Jesus was terrified of the wrath of God the father, then how much more should we be?
