The first time that I watched "The Passion of the Christ" I was deeply disturbed at how afraid Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Through the eyes of an infant in my walk with the Lord, I felt hopeless because if He was afraid of death and dying than I should be very scared. But after reading what Oswald Chambers said in "My Utmost for His Highest"...
April 6
The Collision of God and Sin
. . . who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree . . . —1 Peter 2:24
The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.
The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" ( Revelation 13:8 ). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating "God was manifested in the flesh . . ." from ". . . He made Him . . . to be sin for us . . ." ( 1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21 ). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.
The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.
The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.
And re-watching "The Passion..." I was finally able to grasp things more clearly. That He wasn't afraid of death, dying or even the physical pain he was too endure; instead He was terrified of taking on the sins of the world. That His pure, sinless soul that is full of light would have to feel the disgust of our dirty sins. All of the darkeness of the world would pass through Him and He would have to wear all of our transgressions so that we may be free from sin. Even though I am finally grasping it I am having a hard time putting it into words. I am just so glad that I can now comprehend the true sacrifice that Jesus endured for the forgiveness of my sins, just in time for Easter! If anyone has some more insight on this and can further my comprehension of it...I would really love that!
