Gethsemane

Easter is coming and I have been reading the final events of the Savior’s life. I am deeply touched every time I read these stories and am again impressed with how very much He loves us.

In Mark’s account of the events in Gethsemane (a word which means Oil Press), he tells us that as Jesus began to take upon himself the sins of the world He “began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (Mark 14:33). A closer look at the Greek words tells us that a better translation of “sore amazed” would be “terrified surprise or astonishment.”

The Savior knew he would suffer for all of our sins, but being sinless He had never ever tasted the consequences of sin. While he knew intellectually what He was about, He—even with His extraordinary ability—had no idea how horrendous this would be and it surprised Him with its intensity and terror. But despite the terror, despite the horrendous surprise Jesus persisted so that you and I could escape that very terror. He took on the terror of our sins—He became like us, so that we could become like Him. In those horrendous hours in Gethsemane our sins were transferred to Him and His perfections was transferred to us.

He paid a tremendous price to save us. If we now remember that we are His, that we are bought with a price, we can be perfected in Him. It is difficult to even comprehend the love that would motivate such an act. But it is real and it is ours.

Picture: "Gethsemane" by James Christiansen