Matthew 26:36-37 “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane…and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.”
Gethsemane means “an oil press.” When the olives are harvested, they are squeezed under an enormous revolving stone that mashes the fruit to pulp and recovers the valuable oil.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the wheel of humiliation and death would squeeze Jesus to the point of His greatest agony, so He pleaded with His Father for release–but only if it were the Almighty’s will.
God did not grant release, for there was no other way for our just and loving God to deal with our sins. Sin must have a price. If God were simply to forgive our sins without judging them, then there would be no justice, no accountability for wrongdoing. God would not be truly holy and just.
But if God were simply to judge us for our sins as we deserve, there would be no hope of salvation for any of us. His love would have failed to provide what we need.
The cross was the only way to resolve the problem of sin. At the cross God’s love and justice came together. Jesus took the judgement we deserved, and now we are clothed in His perfect righteousness.
Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
I will sing to my Lord as long as I live, I will sing
praise to my God while I have my being.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life”. John 3:16
On this Good Friday let us remember that our savior sacrificed himself for our salvation. He was God’s son, the Word who created us. He became the human Jesus to bear our sins, was tortured and crucified by us. Yet God resurrected him to save us and to leave God’s Holy Spirit in us to counsel us, guide us and advocate for us in heaven.
Father, give us eyes to see this Advocate’s guidance, ears to hear its wise counsel, courage to seek its counsel and strength to live according to its will. Then we can “celebrate” his sacrifice and rise with him on Easter to live with him in the Eden he created here and forever in heaven.
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Taking up his cross,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 