“By His Blood” (Detail), colored pencil drawing by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

His blood shed at Gethsemane – such a heavy weight Christ carried in knowing what was to be…

“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”  Luke 22:44

His Blood Shed at Gethsemane

His blood shed at Gethsemane

What it demonstrated to me,

Not the loneliness wrought by betrayal,

Nor the tortuous suffering at Calvary.

His blood shed at Gethsemane

It revealed something much deeper than that,

For there is no greater suffering, no other loss that can compare.

Yet, because of God’s deep love for us, His only Son’s life He did not spare.

His blood shed at Gethsemane

Such a heavy weight Christ carried in knowing what was to be;

The agony that stood before Him; the decision that He alone did make.

I praise Him and eternally thank Him, for the gift of salvation He made possible for you and me.

Felecia R. Weber 2016, OntheWingofaDove.com

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.’…”  Matthew 26:36-46

It always touches my heart intently when I think of the grief and agony that Jesus suffered that night in the garden called Gethsemane.  Can you imagine it?  He not only had to deal with the fact that He had already been so wrongly betrayed, but He also knew that those followers of whom He had lead and loved so intimately and for so long, appeared only to have a vague understanding of what this incredible night was to hold for them in the immediate future.  His love for them and the entire undeserving world was so great, yet He knew that what He must do would be more than He, at least in His humanness, seemingly could bear.

But wait, there is more…the thing that caused His greatest anguish is something that we cannot even comprehend.  For Jesus knew that in order to make that deep love for all of us who have ever lived, and those who will come after us, be real and to free us in a way that nothing else could do…He had to make a decision that would lead Him to a place where only He could go.

I imagine we’ve all experienced, to some degree, the destitution of feeling completely alone.  With nowhere , or no one to turn to.  A place where no light shines and where all hope seems to have slipped through our fingers.  Where when we cry out for help, all we hear is silence, or worse yet, only the echo of our own tear-strained voice.  A place that is void of all that is good, and the vibrancy of life and joy.  Now try to fathom that feeling to be a million times greater and real.  Even then we cannot come close to where Jesus was to go.  For He would be completely separated from God the Father and God would turn His back on His beloved Son.  There would be no response from God to Jesus’ cries to Him.  His desperate tears would fall silently and God would not hear.

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  Matthew 26:39

For me, His blood shed at Gethsemane symbolizes the level of intensity of how much Jesus’ love is for us.  That, although He pleaded with God the Father to take that utterly bitter cup from Him, He chose to take it on, for our sake. Indeed, there is no greater love than that.

May you take the time today, Maundy Thursday, to ponder the decision that Jesus made on that agonizing night He spent in the garden called Gethsemane, and may it move you to take a step of faith and place your trust, your life in Him, who is the Light and the Life.

Peace and love,

Felecia