Since Nicaea, the deity of Christ has more or less been settled doctrine. We believe the Son is “God from God, light from light, very God from very God.” We have a harder time with the humanity of Christ. Though we say he is “God made man”, we struggle with what that really means.
When the scriptures say that Christ ”took the form of a servant” and was “found in human form” (Phil 2:7-8 ESV, NRSV), it means he added a real human nature to his divine nature. That means he added all the weaknesses of our finite nature to his own. He could get tired. He could get hungry. He could get scared.
Which brings us to something often labeled a contradiction in the scriptures. In John 12, Jesus again teaches the disciples that he must die. Then he says, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (v27-28). He is ready to face his fate bravely.
Why then do the synoptic gospels record him in the garden pleading, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me” (Matt 26:39)?
There’s no contradiction. Quite simply, his fear got to him. On Sunday, he’s ready to face the cross. On Thursday night, he dreads what the morning will bring. It was a very human response.
What was he so afraid of? Crucifixion is a horrible way to die, but was that really what he was scared of? It was only going to be a few hours. Then he would be in paradise. The length of time he was going to be dead could be measured in hours. Then he would, as he had predicted, rise from the dead.
Did Jesus really, as some skeptics have mockingly said, just give up his weekend for our sins?
Why was he so afraid of his death when countless martyrs — Christian and not — have faced their fates stoically?
It wasn’t the death. It was the wrath.
“God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us ...” (2Cor 5:21) “so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26). God requires justice for our sins. A rebellious sinner who dies in his sin will spend forever experiencing the wrath he is due. A few hours of pain, even a few days of death do not satisfy the wrath our rebellion warrants. In the few hours he was on the cross, Christ somehow experienced all the wrath we all deserve. The LORD laid on him the iniquity of us all (Is 53:6).
What would it be like if you could suffer all the pain from all the burns anyone has ever received at once? Can you imagine that kind of suffering? And if you could feel every lash of a wip or blow with a fist anyone has ever lived through? Every time someone has been stabbed or shot or suffocated or crushed, you got to experience that, too. We don’t know exactly what Christ suffered through in those hours when the sun went dark and his Father forsook him, but know “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31), and Christ Jesus did just that times billions.
It was this wrath that filled Christ with dread such that “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44). But still he prayed “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). He did not call down those legions of angels. He did not, as they taunted, come down off that cross. Instead he bore the wrath of God for me and for you.
And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?1
1 "And Can It Be?" by Charles Wesley
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