DAY 3

Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Consider:

In God’s providence, the scene in Matthew 26:36-46 takes place in a garden. This garden scene causes us to harken back thousands of years prior to this moment when there was another Adam…also in a garden (Genesis 3). The “First Adam” (I Corinthians 15:45) faced the same battle that Christ, the “Last Adam” (I Corinthians 15:45) now faced: either believe the word of God and submit in perfect obedience to the Lord’s will or believe the lies of the evil one and reject the Father’s will through disobedience. We all know what the first Adam chose, which is precisely why Jesus, our Final Adam, bows in the battleground of the garden, wrestling to defeat this age-old temptation on our behalf.

The thought of bearing the wrath of his Father for the sins of man were perhaps more horrifying than we can understand. And despite clearly longing for another way, Jesus yields to the will of the Father knowing that obedience to the Father was not merely one of many options: it was the only option. Only perfect obedience could produce the perfect sacrifice for sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, our Last Adam, humbled himself and became obedient even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8) so that by his perfect sacrifice on the cross we could be saved.

Point to Ponder and for Prayer:

Perfect obedience was necessary to fulfill the Law’s demands. Jesus perfectly obeyed—even to the point of death—such that his death provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Nate BeVier