Daily Manna – March 24, 2016
Topic: The night before
Reading: Luke 22
Scripture: And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44)
Note: The night before a presumed day of doom can predictably be very traumatic for the person or people involved. It’s especially so if someone is being prosecuted in a law court for a serious crime such as murder, rape or armed robbery and awaiting judgment the following day, or has been sentenced to death already awaiting execution the following day.
Such reality of an experience could set one thinking about so many possibilities. The mental torture and confusion, the stress, the loss of appetite, emotional turmoil, the sleeplessness one goes through, can be quite excruciating, making the transitional experience more difficult than the actual experience of being executed or knowing your fate as you listen to the ominous judgment.
Jesus Christ went through all the various phases of torments and torture that could possibly be experienced by any man, the night before his trial, crucifixion and death. What made Christ’s experience most difficult was the fact that he was going to be tried, tortured, brutalised, humiliated, beaten, stripped naked and sentenced for a crime he had not committed. He never sinned as a man. He hadn’t experienced separation from God through sin before. The thought of all these and the fact that he had the power to avert all these troubles by commanding troops of angels from heaven to his aid, made it all the more difficult for him.
Anyone that has truly committed a serious crime for which he’s being tried knows that he deserves what he’s going through. He could only hope for mercy from the judge.
Jesus went through the agony of Gethsemane the night before his arrest and subsequent death the following day. He experienced unimaginable torments as he agonised in prayer and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.
Most people aren’t surprisingly frightened by the thought of separation from God through sin. Are you one of them?
Food for thought: Jesus agonised in the garden knowing that he was going to carry the sin of humanity, and that was going to result in separation between him and the Father for the first time ever. The weight of the thought of separation from the fellowship of the Father was enough to cause him to sweat like blood.
Declaration: And said unto them, “Why sleep you? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46)
© Author: Rev Fred Aboe
