Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born.” (NET)

Jesus had.come into the world to show forth His love for us and for His creation. He came with this purpose. He came with a Love which is of God and that love bears all things. What must He bear for us?

John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (KJV)

Do any of us fully understand just what God’s love has done for them/ or us? Jesus had the power over life and death. He raised both men an women from the dead with just His words. But He came with a purpose that He had only begun to reveal in those miracles : it was not just to die, and to come back to life. No all men would die; thousands of men would die on a cruel Roman cross. This was not what had set Him apart from His creation as its savior.

So there was something else (something more) at work here, which when coupled with the cross as the cruel instrument created by man for the death of man, it would result in life eternal for all men of all millennia, who would come to understand, and believe (see foot note 1), who would look upon this Messiah and His cross, and receive what was completed upon it. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” But even before that: The Mt of Olives had a part to play in Easter’s message:

Matthew 26:30 After they sang a hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will abandon me tonight. Scripture says, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep in the flock will be scattered. 32 “But after I am brought back to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.” (GOD’S WORD)

Jesus came with the ultimate purpose to lay down His life for His sheep. “No man takes my life”. So what was transpiring at Gethsemane as He prayed alone? The Lamb of God would carry the sins of the entire world (mine and yours) to the cross. There at Gethsemane is where His sacrifice began:

Matthew 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye hear, and watch with me. (KJV)

Don’t overlook this. At this time Jesus’ very soul was under attack, but how and why? This was a different battle, different from the death of His flesh on the cross. This battle was for His soul (the soul of God’s Son). Do you understand? His Soul could and would never die. But here as the cross was before Him it was His Soul that was near to death. Consider:

Matthew 26:39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (KJV)

He was physically feeling the effects of this attack from sin on His very soul. Was Jesus fearing the cross that He had come to die upon? Was it the fear of the cross and His imminent fleshly death which He knowingly came to accomplish that caused Him to cry out to the Father: if it be Thy will take this cup? No, He was already under the attack from our sin, which He must carry to that cross. He could not die under sins weight before he could accomplish His Purpose.

Luke 22:44 And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground}. (NASB2020)

What Jesus was experiencing could not be from the fear of the cross which would bring the death of the flesh. Fear is of the Devil, it is not of God. So this must have been a present cup in this His moment. A moment of its suffering that He was right then experiencing?

Jesus would be taking the sins of the entire world upon and with Him to the cross. Was it not this cup of our sins, which was causing His present anguish: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death”? I believe we need to understand His mission. We cannot neglect the fact that what makes Jesus crucification different from the thousands that Rome was putting to death was the tremendous impact of our sins upon Him, who as God was without sin. His very soul was in anguish. Let us not forget our sins role in the crucifixion. Our sin which will destroy our soul if Christ’s sacrifice is not properly understood, was at that very time attacking the very soul of God’s only begotten Son, our savior. The Father would destroy this cup and cast it away as far as the East is from the west, and Jesus only then announced on the cross: “it is finished”.

The fear of the cross was not this cup, but the sin of every man was upon Him as He carried the weight of it to His cross in order to eradicate it and cast it as far as the East is to the west.

Footnotes:

1: if you want to know how the dead O.T. Saints were added to Christ read this post:

https://raptureonline.blog/2023/11/09/the-church-and-the-rapture/