For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
This month is our Month of Substitution; Christ has become our Passover Lamb and it is important to x-ray the events leading to Golgotha, the place of the skull or Calvary as it is known in Latin. For too long, we have focused on the cross as the most critical part of Jesus’ passion and assignment. While we should never downplay the importance of the cross in our shared faith, we should never forget that there would have been no Golgotha without Gethsemane. Jesus made it to the cross only because he travailed and prevailed at Gethsemane. Gethsemane, it was that stood between him and the offering of himself on that old rugged cross that has now become the symbol of our atonement and redemption, the bridge between man and God.
Putting the love of God in perspective will require not just telling the story of how God created man and how man fell. It will require going back in time to understand how that God in His omniscience saw ahead of time the disappointment that man was going to become, and in spite of that, made plans early enough to redeem man. The fall of man did not take God by surprise. Christ is set forth in scriptures as the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). We are further told that God chose us in Christ before the world began for the salvation that we now enjoy (Ephesians 1:4).
The immediate events in the garden of Eden following the fall of man are a clear testament of the love of God, as also is the giving of His only begotten son (John 3:16). The first atonement sacrifice, howbeit before the law was offered in Eden. In covering man’s nakedness before sending him out of Eden, God had to shed the blood of an innocent animal to obtain skin so he could cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. The covering of skin, howbeit better than the covering of leaves, was not in any way sufficient to take away the guilt and sin-consciousness that had become man’s companion. Through the intervening period between Eden and Calvary, man was to continue with the periodic atonement rituals. God gave the first animal, but man must continue, year upon year, with the blood of goats and bulls as temporary covering for sin, until the time be ripe for God to offer again by Himself, the last and final sacrifice; this time the sacrifice of Himself. It was to this final moment that Abraham prophetically referred when he said, “ the LORD shall provide Himself a lamb” (Genesis 22:8).
The scripture is clear that none of those sacrifices offered by man could actually take away the sins of the people. On the contrary, they reminded the people of their sins and made them increasingly sin-conscious year upon year. But not so was the offering of Christ. Christ offered himself once and for all and through that offering purchased eternal salvation for all who would believe. All other priests looked for what to offer but Christ offered himself (Hebrews 9:11-14). All men come into the world to live, but Jesus’ ultimate mission was to die. Jesus knew that wilfully abdicating his position as God and coming down from heaven, (humbling as that might was) was only one-half of what was required. He knew that a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat (John 12:24, CEV). He understood that the increase was not in falling to the ground, it was in dying. He was unmistaken about the fact that falling to the ground was only a necessary first step to dying.
For Jesus, it was more than just dying to self, it was going all the way to the cross. He had left all the glory behind in heaven with an assurance from the Father that he would get all of that glory back (John 17:5). But how was he going to get all that glory back? – Through dying. Jesus wouldn’t have gotten the glory back if he refused to die. He knew he had to go all the way if he was ever to regain all of the glory. Again, it wasn’t just about dying. It was also about why He died and how He died. The irony of the cross is that Jesus died for those who rejected him. He came unto his own and his own received him not (John 1:11). Once when Pilate was willing to release him having found no fault in him (John 19:6), his own people cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” (John 19:15). They chose rather that a criminal be released to them in his stead. The innocent Son of God bore our sins so that the sinful sons of men could become the sin-free sons of God. Truly, God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Not only did Jesus Christ carry the sins of mankind and died, he died on the cross (Philippians 2:8). Paul, writing in Galatians 3:13, opened our eyes to why it was expedient that Jesus died the way he did. In dying on the cross, he became a curse, thus setting us up for the blessings of Abraham. What a substitution indeed! The death of Christ on the cross saved us not only from the consequences of sin, but also from the dominion of sin, for since Christ died and liberated us into the grace of God, sin no longer has dominion over us (Romans 6:14).
The path to the cross will not be complete without the event of Gethsemane. Gethsemane represents the wrestle between doing the will of God and submitting to the flesh. The hallmark of the christian walk is in our obedience to God to go the way we would never have gone, perhaps painfully so, and only in the hope by faith that some glory lies ahead. The man who is thoroughly sold out to the LORD must tread paths that many times are uninviting to the natural man. We all wish that we escape certain paths in life, but just like Jesus, we all must go through our Gethsemane, then our Golgotha before we get the glory. There is always a necessary road for each and every one of us. Of Jesus we are told, that he needed to go through Samaria at some point (John 4:4). It is part of the love of God that He often boxes us in that corner where there are no options but one, no alternative but to do His bidding. We are reminded of how that Jesus constrained his disciples to enter into the ship even when he knew that the devil would Waylay them at mid-sea (Matthew 14:22). Unfortunately, there are still many who wonder if the devil could ever be found on the path prescribed by God. The experience of the disciples in Matthew 14 should settle that once and for all times. The idea that whenever God is involved, Satan backs off is nowhere found in the Bible. On the contrary, Satan is interested in whatever God is interested in.
A careful study of Jesus’ experience at Gethsemane as recorded in Matthew 26:36-56 reveals how tough Gethsemane could be. Gethsemane is where we try to negotiate with God to spare us all the trouble because for a moment, we lose sight of the glory that lies ahead (Hebrews 12:1-2). It is at Gethsemane that we plead with God to adjust the plan or exempt us from going through because the flesh tries hard to come in the way of what God is doing in our lives (Matthew 26:41). The devil always waits for men at Gethsemane, and only one thing delivers us at Gethsemane – genuine prayers that come truly from the heart. It is at Gethsemane that we are prepared for the cross. It is the place not many can go with us to. There we must be separated from the crowd and come face to face with the LORD. At Gethsemane, we hate to be alone and yet we must be left alone to face it all by ourselves. It is there we finally make up our minds to face the cross. It is there that close associates run away and the depth of our conviction is frontally tested. It is there that our sentiment is tested for substance, and for the first time, we are face to face with reality. It is there that the things we once detested begin to look attractive to us. We should never forget that Jesus who at Gethsemane was praying earnestly that the cup of shameful death pass away from him had once sharply rebuked Peter for trying to suggest so (Matthew 16:21-23).
A vast majority of people never get past their Gethsemane. It is imperative to state that deciding to die is far more difficult than dying and that the pains at Gethsemane may far outweigh that on the cross. As we spend the rest of the month reflecting on how Christ took our place and gave us his righteousness, let us never downplay the agony of Gethsemane or lose its relevance to the glory of the cross. Good morning and Happy Easter.
