"And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, 'Sit here while I pray.' And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, '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.'"
Matthew 4:32-36
With Easter coming up, I wanted to post about what it means to me and why I feel like it is so important that we each grasp this idea of Jesus coming down and dying on the cross for our sins. Some of you may think this is crazy, but I promise it's not.
When we look back in the Bible to Isaiah 53, we see a prophecy being told, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." This prophecy was given way before Jesus was born, and with Jesus' death, this prophecy was fulfilled. To me, this is why I really believe. I believe because of all the prophecies foretold and all the prophecies that were fulfilled many, many years later. Yes, I believe because of faith as well and because of the truth I have learned over the many years of following Christ, but initially, it was because I saw proof in the Bible. It doesn't just have these random crazy stories, it has fulfilled prophecy. That means something.
So, we see that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy when he was sent to the cross, but he didn't just go through that to fulfill a prophecy, he went through what he did so that we could have eternal life with him. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." If you read in context, this verse is talking about Jesus being the Word. With this in mind, we can see why it was so hard for Jesus to want to go through with what he knew he had to go through with. You see, when Jesus was dying on that cross, he had the weight on his shoulders of all of our sins we have committed and will ever commit. This means that Jesus had to endure a time where he was completely separated from God which would have been the first time ever and incredibly hard to bare. (Hence in the verse above where he says, "I am very sorrowful, even to death," Jesus was very sorrowful knowing he was about to be completely separated from God.)
Let's imagine a couple who has been married since they were 17 and they're about 80 now. That would mean they have been married for about 63 years. Say the wife dies and that leaves the husband alone now. After 63 years with his wife, he feels complete separation and is devastated. I know this may not be the best comparison, but that was sort of how it was for Jesus only like 100 times worse. He was one with God and the Holy Spirit since forever and now he had to endure complete separation to take on all of our sins. That's a lot of pressure. Not only that, but if he didn't raise from the dead, then no prophecy would be fulfilled and no sins would be taken away because if he didn't raise from the dead, he would've just been a fake and it wouldn't have been Jesus. But he did endure the pain and separation and he did, three days later, raise from the dead.
I don't know where you stand on this. I don't know if you believe in God or if you believe that Jesus was just some lunatic. But my hope is that what ever you believe, you came to that conclusion on your own based on stuff you researched and based on what you read not because someone told you to believe that way. This goes for Christians to, especially Christians. Make your faith, YOUR faith. Choose to believe because of what you have learned and read and came to know not because someone else told you to believe. And, for non-Christians, I hope you don't just not believe because some Christian who failed to act like Jesus turned you away from Christ. I hope it also isn't just because your parents said Christians are horrible people. I hope you trust in God and what he did with sending Jesus to earth to save us from our sins. But if you don't, I ask that you look into it. Look into it not just by reading other people's blogs or posts, but read the Bible. Find the prophecies and find the fulfillment of those in the Bible. Research it for yourself. If, at the end, you still don't believe, I'm fine with that. I just want you to try.
Matthew 4:32-36
With Easter coming up, I wanted to post about what it means to me and why I feel like it is so important that we each grasp this idea of Jesus coming down and dying on the cross for our sins. Some of you may think this is crazy, but I promise it's not.
When we look back in the Bible to Isaiah 53, we see a prophecy being told, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." This prophecy was given way before Jesus was born, and with Jesus' death, this prophecy was fulfilled. To me, this is why I really believe. I believe because of all the prophecies foretold and all the prophecies that were fulfilled many, many years later. Yes, I believe because of faith as well and because of the truth I have learned over the many years of following Christ, but initially, it was because I saw proof in the Bible. It doesn't just have these random crazy stories, it has fulfilled prophecy. That means something.
So, we see that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy when he was sent to the cross, but he didn't just go through that to fulfill a prophecy, he went through what he did so that we could have eternal life with him. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." If you read in context, this verse is talking about Jesus being the Word. With this in mind, we can see why it was so hard for Jesus to want to go through with what he knew he had to go through with. You see, when Jesus was dying on that cross, he had the weight on his shoulders of all of our sins we have committed and will ever commit. This means that Jesus had to endure a time where he was completely separated from God which would have been the first time ever and incredibly hard to bare. (Hence in the verse above where he says, "I am very sorrowful, even to death," Jesus was very sorrowful knowing he was about to be completely separated from God.)
Let's imagine a couple who has been married since they were 17 and they're about 80 now. That would mean they have been married for about 63 years. Say the wife dies and that leaves the husband alone now. After 63 years with his wife, he feels complete separation and is devastated. I know this may not be the best comparison, but that was sort of how it was for Jesus only like 100 times worse. He was one with God and the Holy Spirit since forever and now he had to endure complete separation to take on all of our sins. That's a lot of pressure. Not only that, but if he didn't raise from the dead, then no prophecy would be fulfilled and no sins would be taken away because if he didn't raise from the dead, he would've just been a fake and it wouldn't have been Jesus. But he did endure the pain and separation and he did, three days later, raise from the dead.
I don't know where you stand on this. I don't know if you believe in God or if you believe that Jesus was just some lunatic. But my hope is that what ever you believe, you came to that conclusion on your own based on stuff you researched and based on what you read not because someone told you to believe that way. This goes for Christians to, especially Christians. Make your faith, YOUR faith. Choose to believe because of what you have learned and read and came to know not because someone else told you to believe. And, for non-Christians, I hope you don't just not believe because some Christian who failed to act like Jesus turned you away from Christ. I hope it also isn't just because your parents said Christians are horrible people. I hope you trust in God and what he did with sending Jesus to earth to save us from our sins. But if you don't, I ask that you look into it. Look into it not just by reading other people's blogs or posts, but read the Bible. Find the prophecies and find the fulfillment of those in the Bible. Research it for yourself. If, at the end, you still don't believe, I'm fine with that. I just want you to try.