When I watched the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," the scene that affected me the most was Gethsemane.  I was thinking about this during Passion Week, and when I read the following words by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, it set me to contemplating my Lord's time in the Garden.  I finally took the time to put my thoughts down...

It Required Gethsemane 

“It should stir us to our very core to see just how outrageously costly the forgiveness of our sins was to God.  Our redemption hurt Him more deeply than any human has ever suffered.  It drew blood.  It required Calvary.”  -Nancy Leigh DeMoss 

I am so very thankful for Calvary!  But before Calvary there was Gethsemane. 

I have no doubt that all the forces of Hell were present there, in the Garden, battling with all their evil strength to take Christ down.  After all, if The Plan could be stopped there…  The anguish of soul was beyond our comprehension.  “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” (Matthew 26:38) 

The battle between spirit and flesh raged at Gethsemane.  “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) 

The disciples, though they boasted of their loyalty, had already defected.  While Christ toiled in prayer, they slept, completely disengaged from their Friend’s pain.  (Matthew 26:40)  Luke states that an angel from Heaven appeared and strengthened Him, but the walk on that lonely road of suffering had begun in earnest.

I have known true anguish only a few times in my life.  It hasn’t been because of physical pain, but it has had a fierceness to it that has made me physically ill.  It has always involved broken or damaged relationships.  It has always involved sin – mine and/or someone else’s.  And not just anyone else’s… Only people we love dearly can cause us the deepest anguish.

Christ’s anguish in Gethsemane, I believe, was like that – only infinitely greater.  It involved a broken relationship with One He loved dearly.  It involved sin, not his own, but of ones He loved dearly.  It made Him physically ill.  It drew blood! (Luke 22:44)  While His physical suffering truly was horrific, the agony of soul was infinitely more piercing.  Words fail…

“…though some may insist you need to ‘forgive and forget,’ the truth is, forgiveness at its best requires that you face how badly you’ve been hurt.” –NLD   Gethsemane is forgiveness at its best!  Though the words were not uttered until Calvary, it was at Gethsemane that the hurt was faced and the choice was made.

Yes, our redemption hurt Christ more deeply than any human has ever suffered.  It drew blood.  Both at Calvary and at Gethsemane!