Trusting Christ’s Sacrifice - Gardens: Evergreen Faith in a Trustworthy God

“Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” (Matthew 26:36-38, NLT)

We love to glamorize “the royals”—whether they carry a scepter or not. Books about Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, and their children regularly top bestseller lists. The Crown was a wildly popular show. We’re obsessed with consuming content about royalty’s every move.

In Bible times, royal dynasties were a topic of interest too. People in the ancient world clamored to have kings and queens. Even though God warned his people that a monarch would turn out to be unjust and oppressive, they still begged for a king, and he granted their request. This is the backdrop against which Matthew, the former tax collector turned Gospel writer, sets his historical narrative.

Matthew is on a mission: He is going to prove that Jesus is King.

Matthew opens his Gospel account with a lineage tracing the royalty of Israel and Jesus’ connection to all the “greats” in the Old Testament. Jesus’ human bloodline confirms his kingship.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is the new Moses on the new mountain with the new law leading the new Exodus for a new Passover. But he’s also the long-awaited Jewish King and Messiah. Jesus isn’t born in a palace, but the whole earth is his kingdom. His coronation is with a crown of thorns. He doesn’t rule with might or threats, but his power is unrivaled.

He’s unlike any king the world has ever seen or will ever see. And he is a king who prays with agony in the garden of Gethsemane.

Maybe, like me, you forget that Jesus is human. He is 100 percent God, no doubt. But he is also 100 percent human. We tend to make similar mistakes when we think about our cultural royalty, princes and pop stars alike. If we’re not careful, we can idolize celebrities and commodify their humanness for our own entertainment. As we read the garden of Gethsemane story, it’s vital that we remember that Jesus is fully God and fully human. As he processes his impending crucifixion, Jesus suffers something like a panic attack. His friends fail him. He is betrayed, lonely, and still willing to die on our behalf.

In the garden of Gethsemane, the soil is bloody and tear soaked. This is a King who embodies self-sacrifice. What we find in this garden is a good King willing to die to bring the gardens of our souls back to life.

Read: Matthew 26

Prayer:

Dear God, how can we ever thank you for the sacrifice of your son? In him we find help and hope and the compassion of one who knows the depths of sorrow and anxiety. His love for us is our lifeline. In Jesus’ name, Amen.