Inspirational article from Joanne Lowe

THE AGONY OF THE CROSS

“And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 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. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?”

Matthew 26: 37 – 40 King James Version

There have been countless sermons preached about the crucifixion of our Saviour, but I have never heard a sermon focusing only on the emotional agony of Jesus in the garden and the emotional agony He suffered while hanging on the cross. He had asked His disciples to watch with Him while He prayed yet when He returned to them they were sleeping. I’m sure the heart of our precious Saviour was broken and He felt all alone as He faced the horror and agony of the cross.

He had been ridiculed and criticized all of His life and all He was doing was giving love to the people. Even today, He is ridiculed and criticized by people as He extends His love, mercy, forgiveness and grace to us. As long as everything is going smoothly in our lives, He is wonderful. There are times, however when we face obstacles and heartaches in our life and sometimes we blame Him. Yet often we are the ones who have made poor choices, choices that we know are against His commandments.

I think if we would ever grasp even a fingernail of the horror and agony of the emotional trauma that Jesus suffered for us, we would stop treating Him and our families, loved ones and friends so harshly. If we were to love others as He has commanded us to love them, we would have less heartaches. Our families would be a lot nicer to us if we would stop being critical, sarcastic and judgmental to them. If we were to hug every member of our family every day, I believe we would have a happiness, peace and joy that we have never known. We would make the heart of our Saviour to rejoice.

I don’t know what heartaches and trials you are facing in your life, but I do know the one who understands and cares and His name is Jesus. He sees the tears in your heart and He gently kisses them away with His understanding, tenderness and love. If today you are hurting, lonely, depressed and feel like you can’t take another step or give another smile, climb up on the lap of Jesus and allow Him to comfort and encourage you. He really does understand how you feel because He endured an emotional agony that nobody will ever experience.

Joanne Lowe

November 30, 2006

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