Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

To me, no other passage of Scripture shows both the true humanity and true deity of Jesus more clearly than the verses cited in the question.

Having been truly, fully God from eternity past gave Jesus a greater understanding than any human could ever have of the depth of human sin and the degree of punishment that was required to satisfy God's righteous judgment of it.

Yet, as someone who was also truly, fully human, Jesus was aware of the unique degree of physical pain that enduring that judgment -- and doing so undeservedly (since He Himself was sinless) -- would entail, and especially doing so not merely with respect to Himself as an individual, but on behalf of all of mankind from the beginning to the end of time.

It was that awareness that was so intense that Jesus' human side shrank from it (to the point where He sweated blood), causing Him to ask God the Father to let it pass from Him if it were possible.

But He also showed that this was not a sinful shirking of His mission by ultimately and freely submitting Himself to God the Father's will (Matthew 26:42).

(The late author Jim Bishop included an excellent exposition of this in his book The Day Christ Died -- an hour-by-hour account of the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.)

February 20 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report