"Now my soul has become troubled." Jesus—the one who healed diseases, cast out demons, controlled the weather—is troubled. The one who told His disciples "Do not let your hearts be troubled" has a heart full of trouble, full of anguish.
Scripture Focus: John 12:27; Mark 14:34
"Now my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour."
"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death."
I want you just to think with me how often we depreciate and diminish the cost of our salvation.
Jesus says, "My soul is troubled." And D.A. Carson notes that this verb is a strong one. It signifies revulsion, horror, anxiety, and agitation. It was a troubling, distressing, and harassing thought.
Was it just His forthcoming crucifixion? Was it simply the cross that He had in mind?
Think with me. There have been martyrs throughout church history that have faced their deaths singing triumphant hymns as they were slaughtered. Stephen the first martyr is being stoned—boulders crushing his bones—and his eyes are looking up, praying and thanking God, praying for his executioners.
Polycarp, a disciple of John, said at the end of his life: "86 years I have served Him. And has He done me no wrong? How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" And while he was burned alive, he sang hymns.
William Tyndale was composed and resolute. He prayed as he was executed. He glorified God in the moments of his death and sang out loud as the flames engulfed him.
Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer were burned at the stake. Ridley encouraged Latimer saying, "Be of good cheer, Mr. Latimer, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle with our bodies by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out." And they sang and prayed out loud as they were burned alive.
These were mere mortals and they faced their death with great praise. Paul says, "Whether I live or whether I die, I'm the Lord's. To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain."
So think with me. If Jesus being God was troubled, what was His trouble all about? Was it the scourgings? The beatings? The bruisings? The nails? The thorns?
I think it was something else.
The greatest of horrors that Jesus faced on the cross was the separation that He was going to endure from the Father and the just judgment as He stood in our place. It was the fact that He was going to be forsaken by the Father. It was the fact that He was going to take on your sin.
He was troubled because He was bearing yours. All of the trouble we have in life is as a result of our own sin, as a result of being a sinner in a sinful world. His trouble was because He was going to bear your sin. Take on your guilt.
And it was in the garden, when Jesus was praying and sweating drops of blood - it was the thought of bearing the guilt and shame of your sin and mine. This thought "troubled" the God of all peace.
1. Do you depreciate and diminish the cost of your salvation? Have you grown casual about what Jesus bore for you?
2. What was troubling Jesus more than the physical suffering—and do you understand what that means for you?
3. All of your trouble in life is a result of sin. Jesus's trouble was because He bore your sin. Does that change how you view the cross?
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