Jesus’s anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane

While Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was in anguish to the point of even asking the Father if there was any other way it could be done. In a sermon I was listening to from my pastor, he brought up something interesting about this. He said that Jesus wasn’t in anguish over the fact that he knew how much physical and emotional pain he was going to have to go through, it was because he knew he was going to (for the first time in eternity) have his fellowship with the Father severed. Knowing that, was almost too much for him to endure. Even though he knew that severing of fellowship from God was going to be brief, it was a pain he could not fathom and did not want to have to experience if there were any other way to save all mankind. Jesus’ biggest fear was evident when the first recorded statement of his from the cross was “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Out of all the pain and torture he went through physically, God turning His face from Jesus was the only thing that made him cry out.

This passage also shows that our sins sever our fellowship with God. If we have unrepented sins in our lives, each of those severs our relationship with God more and more. That’s why repentance of each individual sin the Holy Spirit convicts you of is so important. Repenting of those sins breaks down those walls our sins have placed before God and God’s glory can fully shine through in our lives. It’s important to repent of each individual sin, not just say “God can you forgive my sins”…He wants us to admit each one as it is brought to our consciousness. The severing of fellowship with God that sin brings was never so clear as it was on the cross. As the sins of the world came upon Jesus, God turned His face away, severing fellowship with His son, causing Jesus to cry out in anguish.

Let us be conscious of a severed fellowship with God and repent of those roadblocks in our lives which prevent us from growing in our relationship with Christ!