Abba, Father,’ He cried out, ‘everything is possible for You. Please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine (Mark 14:36).’”
Praying on the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus anxiously cried out these words to His Father. It has been believed this was in response to prospect of dying. However, what He expressed had deeper significance.
Jesus, God in human flesh, once said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19).” Throughout His three year ministry, Jesus gave life to those dying, such as beloved friend, Lazarus (John 11:1-44) and a young girl at the request of her distraught father (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43). With the ability to resurrect and with the power over death itself, mortality is not what frightened Him. If not death, then what could have driven such fear into the heart of God? What frightened Him was disconnection.
He craved connection particularly this evening as He pleaded with His disciples, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me (Mark 14:34).” While He was afraid of His friends’ withdrawal, what scared Him even more, however, was separation from His Father.
Jesus and His Father have always shared a bond even before time. At the creation of humanity, their attachment was evident as He said, “‘Let Us make human beings in Our image, to be like Us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’ So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).”
The Gospel of John talks of the oneness between Jesus and His Father, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2).” Jesus Himself spoke of His close relationship, “The Father and I are one. Don’t believe Me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do His work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe Me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father (John 10:30, 37-38).”
The work Jesus alludes to is to ultimately offer Himself in death as a substitute to pay for the redemption of humanity from eternal punishment for our rebellion. While dying upon a cross, Jesus bore the brunt of the Father’s wrath for our sin. The Father could not look upon His Son and turned away from Him, causing what Jesus dreaded the most. At that moment, “darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’” which means ‘My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me (Mark 15:33-34)?’”
Yet, Jesus understood His death, temporary rift from the Father and resurrection was essential to bring the opportunity for an eternal relationship with Him and “because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame (Hebrews 12:2b).” With the task of salvation accomplished, Jesus said to His Father, “I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. Now, Father, bring Me into the glory We shared before the world began (John 17:4-5).”
If the Lord Himself recognized the need for constant relationship with the Father and with others, how much more should we. Emmanuel indeed is here in each of us. He wants our lives to be intertwined to feel and give out His love to one another continually.
(All biblical references are taken from the New Living Translation)
