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Jesus said, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.  And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” -Mark 14:34-36

Passion

Do not minimize the suffering of the Son at the hands of the Father. “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Christ’s passion prayerfully flowed to the Father, hours before the cross. “Remove this cup from me.”

He pleaded to God the Father, knowing full this cup would be more bitter than any single drink we could measure. Swallowed it whole, fiery Gehenna, God’s rejection of the damned, a sour, eternal weeping and hateful gnashing of Hell.

Real, terrible, Jesus would bear the breadth, length, height, and depth, the full measure of punishment for those who trust in Christ.

So, we should be careful to take lightly the weight of the cross and what it meant to the Savior as He prayed in Gethsemane.

Submission

Do not minimize the power of the Son of God in submitting perfectly to the hand of the Father. “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” At the height of sorrow, and seeming weakness, Jesus persisted in perfect obedience.

He knew what the Father willed, and said, “Yes.”

His “Yes” to the Father is the greatest and most hopeful statement of obedience we will ever know. His “Yes” led to the height and depth of suffering, true passionate divine love and divine justice intermingled like a woven strand. His submissive “Yes” is the doorway for anyone who trusts in Jesus to fully know the breadth, length, height, and depth of the Love of God in Christ.

His passion. His submission. Your salvation.

What is the passion and submission of Christ calling you to?