I Was Wrong

Jesus going to the cross.

Seems simple enough. You don't have to set foot in a church to get the main concept. Up to this point, I thought I had a decent grasp on those pre-resurrection hours. I have to admit, I was not only missing a huge part, I was flat out incorrect about the biggest factor! Embarrassing.  

Just to (very minimally) set the scene:

• Jesus and the disciplines went to the Garden of Gethsemane.
• Jesus prayed.
• Jesus was scared about what was to come.

In a simple synapsis; Jesus was about to be crucified, and he was scared. Sounds reasonable to me. I am ready to sweat blood every time I am driving in Portland, and that doesn’t exactly compare.

He dules death, takes on all of evil and we think; ‘Gotcha, moving on.’

However, I was missing a very important factor. You see, Jesus is 100% God and 100% human.

So when we say that Jesus took on 'the wrath of God', the truth is that He is the only human to fully understand the extent and power of that wrath. It is His own burning anger.

God is powerful and loves us powerfully. He sees sin rip us apart, and he is pissed, yet has to come to our level to save us because He is the only one who actually can; there is nothing even close to as big as Him, but Him. He gives the term 'mother bear' a knew meaning. He is the ultimate defender. The horrific things on the news, our loved ones getting cancer, things that wrench your gut-how your feel towards that kind of pain is maybe a minute fraction of the emotion and empathy He feels. The homeless woman you drove past-that’s his daughter. The little boy with leukemia -His son. When we fall into various forms of love, be it romantically, parental or brotherly we assume there is nothing stronger or more consuming, yet The Author not only invented love, He IS love in its more concentrated form. The only reason we are capable of feeling it at all is because we were created in His image.

Jesus was a human, facing that anger from the God who made the sun by opening his mouth! Not the guy you want to tango with. He was facing more than torture, for every martyr has done that. He was facing more than sin’s destroying effect and hoplesslness and darkness, and separation from God, because even we experience that. He was going to experience the wrath of God, full force. 

If you are going to fear, fear God, because He is greater and more powerful than ANYTHING. Even Chuck Norris.

I admit, in my head I basically had a Jesus vs sin battle going on in this historical account. That is  giving sin too much credit and God not nearly enough. Jesus doesn't look at sin and sweat blood. He tells me, to not be fearful when I experience earthly struggles and circumstances, and he is no hypocrite. He, the right and perfect example, looks at the Father and drops to his knees crying out, HELP! This is too big! Jesus wasn't freaking out because of physical pain (although I’m sure he wasn't too stoked about it), he wasn't freaking out because of the power of sin, for He has authority over all things- even the demons. Jesus sees that he is taking on the anger of God against what is hurting his babies, and deems that worthy of fear.

I realize this, and I too, feel the need to drop to my knees. My God is so big.
Jesus is the only one that could save me, and He did. Better grasping this moment of pain and sacrifice swells me with gratitude and adoration. Funny how glimpsing Jesus always brings about those emotions. 

And unfortunately, I will always be wrong about Jesus. I will never give Him the credit He deserves. God spoke the galaxies into existence. I can't even comprehend His greatness! And I'm thankful for that. I am thankful for a God far greater than myself and my intellect. Please refrain from inserting blonde jokes here.

The wrath of God against all pain and sickness, cruelty and perversion was knowingly taken out on Jesus, and willingly taken on by him, all so that we would be freed of it. I’d be wrong to ignore it.