The Horror of the Cross — Seeing the Cross Through the Eyes of JesusSample

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:1-4)

In the first two days we’ve considered two things that would have caused Jesus to be terrified of what was ahead of Him in His final hours. Those two things were the horrific thought of the pure and holy Jesus being made sin and the fact that He who had only ever known the perfect love of the Father would now come under the full measure of His Father’s wrath.

In this final consideration, we want to look at what could have made Jesus so overwhelmed with grief that He would plead with the Father to keep Him from having to go through with the cross.

The third thing that I believe would overwhelm and cause Jesus to recoil in horror in this moment is the very thought that He—the author of life—would taste death. As we see in the passage above,

In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

From eternity, Jesus had only ever known and given life. As the eternal Word, as God, everything that had come into being came through Him. And, now, to fulfill the will of the Father and destroy sin and death, He would have to have that life taken from Him.

As much as God hates sin, He also hates what sin produces, which is death. Even more, this is all the handiwork of the devil, who Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). The very thing Jesus came to destroy would first take His life.

This thought that He would suffer death, I believe, was an unbearable thought to the author of life. Death represented the chief desire of the devil and his ultimate goal—to kill all that God created.

So you can understand Jesus’ despondency. Not only would He be made sin and come under the full weight of the Father’s wrath, He would have to experience the very thing He came to overcome, death.

Why? Why would Jesus be willing to suffer beyond anything one could imagine?

Love. Unfathomable love.

This is the essence of John 3:16,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

In fact, Jesus’ love was so deep that it produced a joy in that moment (Hebrews 12:2), knowing that Satan would ultimately be defeated, sin overcome, and death vanquished. All for one reason, and that is to reconcile you and I back to the Father.

This is why Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-7:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

This is the incredible love that drove Jesus to the cross despite knowing the horror He would suffer. Being made sin. Suffering the crushing wrath of His Father. And experiencing death… the very author of life.

Never doubt just how deeply you are always loved.

Reflection: As you celebrate this Easter season, celebrate the depth of the love God has for you as demonstrated in His willingness to suffer so profoundly for you. And allow Him to embrace you in His loving arms.

We would like to thank Rick Dunham for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://www.dunhamandcompany.com/youversion-plans/