John 12:27-28 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
This passage, reminiscent of a later one in the garden of Gethsemane, brings up a lot of questions. Many will use these to try and counter Christ's divinity. If He was God, why does He struggle so much with the thought of dying. What both these passages point to is that Jesus sympathizes with our suffering, but suffered more than we could ever know, yet remained resolute and focused on God and His purpose.
He Sympathizes With Our Suffering
We do not serve a disconnected Savior. I know it is human nature to assume no one understands what we're going through. However, not only does the Bible teach that we all are tempted and struggle in similar ways (1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.), but that the very one who has forgiven our sins understands our suffering (Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.).
But Suffered More Than We Could Ever Know
Often it is brought up that Jesus didn't handle His death as well as others. There are martyrs that were burned at the stake while singing hymns. Jesus, however, was not a weakling. First, it is worth noting that He does not cry out here in the same manner as in Gathsemane. Nonetheless, He does admit to being troubled. Second, we must consider why He is troubled. Jesus is not only about to die. He is about to take the full curse of sin upon Himself, though He did not deserve it, for us. He was to endure the full wrath of God, a separation from self (as the trinity) that our minds could never comprehend. Sure, other people have died for God, and boldly so...and that by the grace and to the glory of God. But no one has ever or will ever endure what Jesus did.
Yet, Remained Resolute and Focused on God and His Purpose.
Even in the midst of this trouble, Jesus stood firm to the purpose of God (which we'll be addressing next week). His words here are not "take this away". They are 'I am troubled, but can't say 'take this away' because this is why I've come. Father Glorify Yourself.' This is amazing. He's not focused on His pain, He's focused on God's glory, the glory at will show itself to the world, the glory that is our salvation. (More on this next week, too.)
Application:
We do not have a Savior who does not understand. We have one who died for us. He did not consider Himself, but wholeheartedly served the one who matters. Let's do the same. Life get's rough. We won't always understand our sufferings. Look to the cross. Look to our Savior. Love and serve Him, not because your life will then be peachy, but because He has called us to love and serve Him. That's why we're here. That's why you're going through whatever you're going through. You don't really need more information than that.
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