Psalm 17-22

Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I'll never comprehend them!
I couldn't even begin to count them— any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

In our small groups we've been reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This week's chapter was about the cross and thinking on it daily. Francis was talking about the Garden and the cross. It was so vivid. So powerful. But if I may, I would like to add a little something more to those thoughts.

Christ was in the garden praying. His prayer was intense.
No one ever living has prayed as earnestly as Jesus was in those hours.

But the plan was set. There was no other plan.

Here's the thing. I don't think it was the beating, the mocking, the whips, the crown of thorns or even the cross is what Jesus was most afraid of. Yes, these were horrible on a scale we can never imagine.

But there was something more. More horrible, more unbearable. Whatever it was was causing Him such anguish, such heartbreak, He was sweating blood.

Maybe for Jesus it was knowing He was going to be separated from His Father. He was going to have to face all this alone. The cross was bad enough, but the separation was too much. That was the tipping point. Maybe His Father forsaking Him was more than even He could stand.

We get a hint of this when Jesus scolds to His disciples after praying. "Could you not watch with Me one hour?" The tension was palpable.

Once the trial and crucifixion were fully underway, Jesus never uttered a word.

But with His dying words He cried out "My God, my God! Why have You abandoned me?" Even though His body was racked with pain. His throat parched and death so close. He summoned all His remaining strength to cry out in a LOUD voice.

Can't you just here the anguish in His voice?

Can I walk so closely with God that to be separated from Him would more traumatic than anything I could ever encounter? More painful than any event we would ever face? More difficult than even death itself?

RP