Did Jesus “NOT” Want To Go To The Cross?

I have heard many sermons about the desire of Jesus with regards to going to the cross, as he was in the garden of Gethsemane just before the cross. The topic explores his obedience to God’s will in that it was even hard for Jesus to do the Father’s will in this case.  Did Jesus have second thoughts about his purpose for coming to earth as a sacrifice?

In my mind, any time we speculate about Jesus’ intentions or his desire to fulfill the Father’s will it is pure laziness on the part of the speaker or pastor. It is so easy to read scripture and come to wrong conclusions because we fail to do the heavy lifting of using investigative reason and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I am reminded of the apostle Peter’s words about Paul’s writing and how many of his words are often misunderstood because people ignorantly distort scripture.

2 Peter 3:16

Paul in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

With this in mind, let’s look at the main occasion that Jesus reportedly said he didn’t want to go to the cross. First, I will bring up the passage of Jesus going to the garden of Gethsemane and then explain how this account is misread and why.

Matthew 26:36-38 

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

So, Jesus goes to Gethsemane with his disciples for the purpose of prayer after the last supper. In the discussion of the last supper, Jesus lays out the plan of the Father God to be betrayed and crucified, thus giving his life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. In this passage in Matthew 26, Jesus explains he is so grieved by what is about to happen that he is at the point of death. This is important to understand what Jesus is saying and what he is not saying. Again, it is so easy to read at face value a verse of scripture and come to the wrong conclusion of the meaning purely because we fail to take into consideration both what Jesus has already said about going to the cross and whether he is now changing his mind.  One thing we know is that, throughout his 3-1/2 years of public ministry, he declared that he, as John the Baptist declared, is the “Lamb of God” that will take away our sin.

John 10:18

No one has taken it ( my life ) away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Secondly, Jesus was no stranger to facing pain and difficulty.  He started out his ministry by going into the wilderness for 40 day and 40 nights. This was to weaken him in the flesh in order to prove his resolve to do the will of his heavenly Father when fighting Satan. In the garden, he had the knowledge of what was to come but was not yet put to the test of doing the will of God.

Matthew 4:1-2

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

Back to the garden where Jesus is at the point of death.  In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus goes back and forth three times to motivate the disciples to pray for him and then three times prays the same thing, that if it is God’s will he could remove this “CUP” from him but may the Father’s will be done. In this whole exchange, Jesus wants to do the will of God, which is to go to the cross. Why now would he ask not to do what he ultimately came to earth for which was to be the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world?

In dealing with his intentions to go to the cross, look at what Jesus says to Peter when Peter says he will never go to the cross if he can help it. Jesus knew who gave Peter this idea and it was not God.  Nor was it Peter’s love for Jesus. It was Satan trying to subvert the will of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. We often overlook what a huge rebuke this was because Satan wanted to weaken Jesus’ resolve to be the lamb of God.

Matthew 16:22-23 

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Look at what the gospel of Luke reveals about the same story, with a few more details about this account. Again, we must learn to search the word of God to get the whole intent of scripture lest we come up with the wrong conclusions.

Luke 22:42-44

Saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.

Luke’s perspective includes the details that explain what’s going on at this critical juncture in the garden. Matthew reveals that Jesus is in such a stressful state that his blood vessels start to rupture. Here is one person’s medical explanation regarding how this type of stress can affect a person. Keep in mind it is rare but it does happen.

Sweating blood, also known as hematidrosis, is a rare condition where blood is mixed with sweat. While the exact cause isn’t fully understood, it’s generally believed to be related to extreme stress or fear, potentially causing tiny blood vessels near sweat glands to rupture. In some cases, it may be a symptom of an underlying medical condition.

Notice what Luke says about Jesus’ prayer. He is not asking for the will of God to change but for him to have the strength to make it to the cross and not die before hand. Luke says that an angel came to his aid and “STRENGTHENED” him! So, Jesus is basically in a state where he doesn’t know if he can make it to the cross so he asks the Father for strength.

When we read all that Jesus said about going to the cross throughout his human life we can’t possibly believe Jesus is chickening out in the garden but rather he is seeking God for help to get through the great stress of becoming the sacrifice of God. Could it also possibly be that Jesus was at this point in time sensing the presence of the Father departing as he is becoming that sacrifice? The prophet Isaiah said the Messiah was wounded for our transgression. This started at the inquisition with the elders and the Romans.

Please consider the words of Jesus as he deals with the seven churches in the book of Revelation. He says we are either  hot or cold or we get spit out. Jesus could not say this if, at the garden experience, he wanted to back out of the purpose of God in going to the Cross.

Revelation 3:15-16 

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

Questions:

1) Have you started to realize that some things you have been taught are not biblical even though they seemed right at the time? Searching the scripture for yourself is important so you don’t accept what any teacher tells you.

2) Do you allow the Holy Spirit access to your reasoning process instead of just using logic? The Holy Spirit is the one that can lead you into all truth and explain all that Jesus said.

May the Holy Spirit equip us to discern the word of God as we were meant to do,

Pastor Dale