Today… the day we remember the horribly good… Good Friday…
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame…
Hebrews 12:2 NIV
God in two gardens…
Eden…
Gethsemane…
Each a beginning…
And an end…
In Eden our relationship with God began… we naked and unashamed… sin-less… walked with God… enjoyed His company… worked His garden entrusted to us…
The end of Eden came with a new relationship… a liar in the garden seduced us from God… enticed us to rebel… call God a liar…
For our own good… God escorted us from Eden… from His presence… covering us with the hide of animals… sacrificed for our protection…
Eden… the beginning of sin and death… the end of intimate… uncomplicated… relationship with God… and man…
[Photo by Peter Mason on Unsplash]
Fast forward several thousand years… the garden of Gethsemane… Jesus… God in the flesh… seeking solace… from God the Father…
In Gethsemane… the consequences of what happened in Eden… all come to a head…
Crushing the head of the enemy… requires God’s own crushing… spiritually… emotionally… physically…
God wrestling in prayer… while His followers sleep… instead of being watch-full as He instructed…
The failures of man… lead to the death of God… Jesus… the Lamb of God…
But His crushing… a grace… for us who rebelled…
Gethsemane marks the end of the reign of sin… the beginning of life eternal…
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:10-12 NRSV
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