Jesus Fulfilled His Promise
One evening, while looking forward to relaxing with a book, I realized I’d finished the last book in my lineup of new ones. Determined to carry out my plan, I strolled into my den and began perusing my bookshelf of completed books. My final selection of a book I’d read many years ago seemed casual, but it turned out to be God’s choice for me.
Toward the middle of the book, one of the chapters drew me into an intimate discovery of how Jesus felt as He headed toward the cross.
God not only chose that chapter for me; He also timed my reading to fall on Holy Week, when I could focus on the death of Jesus on Good Friday and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Nancy Stafford, the author of the book, opened my eyes to see more clearly the agony Jesus went through during this time. Her descriptions caused me to feel closer to Jesus than I ever have before.
As you prepare for Holy Week, may the following words remind you that Jesus fulfilled His promise to die in your place that you may live forever.
“Jesus’ trips into the desert prepared Him for the final desert experience, His own dark night of the soul—the cross.
“I believe He understood the excruciating agony that awaited Him when the sins of all men of all times would bear down on Him. But even more agonizing, He knew He would be separated from His Father.
“For the first time in all of eternity, the godhead would be split, as the sinless Son became sin for us, and in His own body carried our guilt and shame so we would not have to.
“He sacrificed His body through an excruciating death. Unspeakable agony, anguish…and loss. I think that the loss of His Father’s presence was Jesus’ greatest sacrifice.
“That night in Gethsemane, ‘Jesus prayed a prayer that enabled Him to stay the course and take the way of the cross. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” He cried, drops of sweat falling like blood to the ground. “Abba, Father, take this cup from me. Yet not what I will but what you will” (Mark 14:34,36).
“It was one night—just one—but it changed everything.
“To pay the price, the Father would abandon the Son, and the Son would be separated from the Father.
“And utter silence echoed in response to the anguished cries of both.
“One man’s desert led to our salvation. The Savior walked through the darkest wasteland imaginable, and through His death fully experienced death in every person’s place.
“His dark night of the soul was the dawn of our victory.”
Nancy Stafford, Beauty by the Book (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 2002), excerpts from 130, 131.