His Agony and Our Access

Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples . . . . ’Stay here and watch with Me’ —Matthew 26:36, 38

We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique— they are the gateway into life for us.

It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane. In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man. He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God— Satan could not touch Him there. But Satan’s assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man. If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15). Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation— “. . . the devil . . . departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan’s final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.

The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.

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他的痛苦與我們的相交

耶穌同門徒來到一個地方，名叫客西馬尼，就對他們說……你們在這裡等候，和我一同儆醒。 （太二十六36、38）

縱然我們無法體會主在客西馬尼的痛苦，但我們也不要誤解。這是神人一體面對罪惡的痛苦。因此就我們個人的經歷，是無法體會的。客西馬尼與各各他，是耶穌所專有的，叫我們得生命的門。

耶穌在客西馬尼，並不是因十架的死亡而恐懼；他曾強調說，他是為死而來的。他所恐懼的是不能以[人子]的身分過這一關。作為神子，耶穌絕對可以過關，撒但不能碰他分毫；但撒但要毀滅的，是他以一個孤獨的個體過這一關；就是說，使他不能成為救主。試以主受試探的情景去讀客西馬尼痛苦的禱告：[魔鬼暫時離開耶穌。 ]在客西馬尼，撒但最後向主以人子身份所施的襲擊，是在客西馬尼。

客西馬尼的痛苦，是神子為要完成他作世人救主的使命所忍受的痛苦。幔子裂開，顯示他付出何等的代價，為叫我們可以成為神的兒子。我們如此容易得救，是基於他的痛苦。基督的十字架，是人子的勝利。這不但表明我們的主已經得勝，而且帶來人類的拯救。如今人人可以來到神面前，完全因為[人子]所​​經歷的痛苦。

祈禱◆主啊，我對你的救贖和完全的救恩，是何其缺乏欣賞。主啊，驅使我產生豐富的感恩；讓我對主耶穌基督懷著永遠的愛。