This is the third in the series on Jesus’ tears, and these tears are perhaps even more wondrous than the previous ones. We read of these tears in Matthew 26:37ff.
The hour is late. Christ has left Jerusalem with his disciples. They leave the warmth of the house and make their way out into the cold night, down into the Kidron valley and start to ascend the Mount of Olives. At its foot lies a small grove of olive trees with a press for crushing the olives. Gethsemane was a peaceful place where Jesus had spent time in prayer.
Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him into the garden. He begins to pray and soon his face is marked once more with tears. Why is he weeping? In these tears Jesus displays for us the agony he went through to win our salvation.
Although we are not told of the tears in any of the gospel accounts, the writer to the Hebrew Christian makes it clear for us:
Hebrews 5:7 "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission."
Loud cries and tears.
And these perhaps are the most precious tears, because in these tears we see what we have been spared from. We see the depths of Jesus’ love for us, and we see the awful price he paid that we might be forgiven.
It is easy to lose sight of the immense personal cost that Jesus paid in winning our salvation. It is easy to stand in the garden on the resurrection morning and gaze at him standing majestically, but we also need to stand in the garden of Gethsemane and see him struggle in agony at the thought of the cost he was going to have to pay.
What do these tears tells us?
These tears speak of the intense sorrow Jesus felt
This was no usual sorrow. Jesus was a man of sorrows. The holy Son of God lived amongst sinful men and women. He saw behind their masks of decency. He lived a lifetime amongst the suffering caused by the fall. He was a man of sorrows. But this is unusually real and deep.
He was overwhelmed to the point of death, surrounded by grief and drowning in pain. Mark in his account says Jesus was “greatly distressed.” This word describes the sudden and horrifying alarm as some great terror approaches. Like a man seeing a colossal tidal wave just about to hit him. Luke calls it an ‘agony’. So intense is his sorrow that he feels just inches away from death. It wrings from him great drops of blood-soaked sweat in the chill of the evening.
Never before, and never again was there a man so utterly immersed in misery, sorrow, and agony. For us.
These tears speak of the awful suffering Jesus would bear
It was not the physical pain of the cross, immense though that was, which troubled Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane an awful prospect was set before him in a fresh light. What was it?
He is going to take the sins of his people on himself. In this moment it is as if all the sins he will have to bear crowd into his vision in the most glaring light. Is it any wonder that he looks on this and shudders in utter abhorrence? The awfulness of it swamps him. It sweeps over him like a relentless tide of raw sewage that keeps on coming and coming and coming. And he hasn’t got to Calvary yet where it actually happens, but this is just (if I can say just) this is just the realisation of the awfulness of it.
And that was not all. Not only is there our sin to bear, but there is something much worse: the wrath of his father. The gracious smile of the father was to be lost. And replaced with a face of holy judgement. Here is the garden we see Christ is deep and terrible distress. The awfulness of what awaits him crushes him and the thought of facing his beloved father and seeing the face he loved filled with holy anger against him squeezes rivers of silent tears from him. It is pictured in Matthew 26:39 as a cup full to the brim with the undiluted wrath of God against evil. This cup of unspeakable suffering is placed in Christ’s hands. The anguish it brings causes tears to run in rivers down his cheeks.
So then these tears speak to us on the unspeakable agony that our saviour faced on our behalf.
These tears speak to us of the thanks our Saviour deserves
In v39 Christ prays, as he lies prostrate on the ground, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Was he having second thoughts? Far from it. So awful was the prospect that in his sinless human nature he recoiled from the cup of wrath, from bearing the sin with every fibre of his being. As one would do if approached with a red hot poker. But there was no weakening of his obedience. In just a few moments he will say to the sword wielding Peter, “Shall I not drink the cup the father has given me?”.
And here is the grounds for our thanks. Although death and Hell were in that cup, although the prospect of it overwhelms him and leaves him gasping as the full brunt of it hits him, he will take that cup drink it down to the very dregs. In this moment we see Christ enduring our Hell so that we might be set free to enter his heaven. At unspeakable cost he will drink ‘the cup’ to the very last drop.
These tears tell us how much we owe our saviour, how much we must love him. There was a cup at our place but he sat in our seat and drank our cup and turned and gave up his. He drank the cup of sin so that we could drink the cup of salvation. He drank the cup of wrath so we could drink the cup of love and grace.
How thankful we should be.
Showing posts with label Jesus' Tears. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus' Tears. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2004
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Jesus’ Tears – No. 2
Tears are like a window to the heart. They show our deepest emotions. In Luke 19:41 we find the second occasion of Jesus weeping, this time over the city of Jerusalem. Why?
I want to paint two pictures. The first is found in Luke 19:28-38.
Jesus is approaching Jerusalem for the last time. It’s a sunny afternoon. Jesus rides on a donkey, at the centre of a great crowd. People from Bethany have accompanied him, shouting excitedly. They have watched him raise Lazarus from the dead. News has spread to Jerusalem, and people have thronged out of the city to see him, to sing his praises. Palm branches are being waved, people are throwing their cloaks down on the ground for the donkey to walk on. Slowly the donkey makes its way through the crowd. There is a majesty about the moment – like a royal procession. See the colours of the robes, the flashes of the afternoon sun, the vibrant green of the palm branches. Hear the excited, delirious, triumphant shouts of the welcoming crowd. Smiling, happy faces, full of hope and life and joy.
As he moves through this great crowd of welcoming people he comes to the brow of the Mount of Olives, and he has a magnificent view of the city. He is above it and looking down on it. The roof of the temple, covered over with gold, reflects the afternoon sun. It was a magnificent sight. He sees, not only the crowds behind, beside and in front of him, but also the great sprawling city of Jerusalem with all its teaming multitudes. It is a city rich in history, rich in culture, and above all rich beyond measure in the knowledge of God. And he can see all this and hear the roar of the crowd, and he loves this place, and all its people.
But as the Son of God looks, he can also see the future. It is a different scene. (He describes it briefly in v43,44, and the early historian Josephus confirms these events in much greater detail, here and here.)
In his mind’s eye he looks out over the majestic city, the same city. It is 40 years later. It is surrounded by Roman soldiers digging siege trenches, and stripping the land bare of trees to build their siege towers and great battering rams. He sees the Roman soldiers setting up fortifications circling the city to prevent any provisions getting through. The siege lasts for 9 months.
All hope of escaping is cut off for the Jews. Jesus sees the famine slowly taking hold. People die by whole houses and families; the upper rooms are full of starving, dying women and children, and the lanes of the city are full of the dead bodies of the elderly. He sees the countless thousands starve slowly to death.
He sees their bodies flung over the walls into the valley by their fellow citizens while the Romans watched. He sees the Roman general Titus doing his rounds along those valleys, seeing them full of dead bodies, and raising his hands to Heaven, calling God to witness that this was not his doing. He sees inside the city where the famine is so bad that people steal food out of one another's mouths. Women kill and eat their own babies.
He sees the Romans finally breaking into the city. He sees the slaughter of countless thousands. He sees the temple set on fire. He sees slaughter in the temple courts. No mercy is given. He sees Jerusalem ablaze, he sees the soldiers toppling the temple walls, he sees the city he loved razed. He sees the people that are currently greeting him so warmly, their corpses lying scattered throughout the city for the wild animals to scavenge.
And as he sees Jerusalem in front of him in mid afternoon glory, and as he sees in his minds eye the horror that it will become, he weeps. This is not quiet subdued weeping. The word describes bitter weeping, loud sobbing. “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.”
Now that you have those pictures in your head, we’ll be able to answer the question, “Why did Jesus weep?”
He wept because of the great opportunity that they had lost
v42 “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace.”
He was their only hope, but he knew that, despite all their religious show, they would want nothing to do with him. They could have had eternal peace with God. But they would reject it. And Jesus weeps for them as they lose their only opportunity.
Many today are doing the same thing. They have a great opportunity. They have been brought up in a country where the Bible, God’s word, is freely available, but they are living in danger of missing out. Are you rejecting the opportunity and choosing to die without Christ? If so Jesus weeps because of this.
He weeps not just because they were losing a great opportunity, but also because it was an opportunity for a great peace, a great bliss. He says to them, “What joys you might have had!” The delights of pardoned sin, the bliss of eternal safety, the joy of communion with God, the rapture of fellowship with Christ Jesus, the heavenly expectation of infinite glory, all might have been yours; but you have put them away from you.
See Jesus’ heart for the lost. Here is no cold heart, instead a heart moved by compassion. What sort of heart for the lost do we have?
He wept because of the destiny they faced
Jesus saw the future. In Luke 19:43-44 he predicts the awful events of AD70. Our Lord saw this coming; a city in flames, bodies heaped high, the rotting stench of carcases mixed with the bitter reek of smoke. Our Lord wept to think this would be so. Few events, if any, exceeded the horror of the siege of Jerusalem. But it is nothing compared to Hell. And Jesus wept here because he saw what happens when people reject God. Jesus sees the unspeakable horror and he weeps.
Here we see the judge weeping over the sentence he knows he has to deliver. It gives Jesus no joy to speak of judgement. But the doom must be pronounced. God’s justice and holiness demand it. But tears fall amid the thunders. It is no small matter to be sent to Hell. It grieves the very heart of Jesus himself.
Even though they were set against him, so awful was what they faced, so awful was the destiny they had chosen that he wept , he sobbed, his cryings were there to be heard.
If you are not a believer, Jesus sees what is in store for you and he weeps. You too need to weep, to come and seek forgiveness for all the years of rejecting him. As Christians does Hell bother us - it is real - and the thought of people being their should trouble us.
He wept because he loves sinners
Jesus knew that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going to execute him in a few days. Yet he wept for them. Jesus has a vast compassionate love which extends to every man, woman, boy, girl, backslider, atheist, everyone.
Surely this shows us the very heart of God - a God who is rich in mercy and love towards sinners. Friend if you haven’t put your trust in Jesus, let this encourage you. If you have any hesitation, look at these tears.
But do not count these tears as softness. Do not think that he will excuse your sin. He wept because he saw that there was no way that sin would be excused. Jesus’ love is balanced by his justice. In his love he has provided a way of escape. In his justice he will judge anyone who rejects it.
I want to paint two pictures. The first is found in Luke 19:28-38.
Jesus is approaching Jerusalem for the last time. It’s a sunny afternoon. Jesus rides on a donkey, at the centre of a great crowd. People from Bethany have accompanied him, shouting excitedly. They have watched him raise Lazarus from the dead. News has spread to Jerusalem, and people have thronged out of the city to see him, to sing his praises. Palm branches are being waved, people are throwing their cloaks down on the ground for the donkey to walk on. Slowly the donkey makes its way through the crowd. There is a majesty about the moment – like a royal procession. See the colours of the robes, the flashes of the afternoon sun, the vibrant green of the palm branches. Hear the excited, delirious, triumphant shouts of the welcoming crowd. Smiling, happy faces, full of hope and life and joy.
As he moves through this great crowd of welcoming people he comes to the brow of the Mount of Olives, and he has a magnificent view of the city. He is above it and looking down on it. The roof of the temple, covered over with gold, reflects the afternoon sun. It was a magnificent sight. He sees, not only the crowds behind, beside and in front of him, but also the great sprawling city of Jerusalem with all its teaming multitudes. It is a city rich in history, rich in culture, and above all rich beyond measure in the knowledge of God. And he can see all this and hear the roar of the crowd, and he loves this place, and all its people.
But as the Son of God looks, he can also see the future. It is a different scene. (He describes it briefly in v43,44, and the early historian Josephus confirms these events in much greater detail, here and here.)
In his mind’s eye he looks out over the majestic city, the same city. It is 40 years later. It is surrounded by Roman soldiers digging siege trenches, and stripping the land bare of trees to build their siege towers and great battering rams. He sees the Roman soldiers setting up fortifications circling the city to prevent any provisions getting through. The siege lasts for 9 months.
All hope of escaping is cut off for the Jews. Jesus sees the famine slowly taking hold. People die by whole houses and families; the upper rooms are full of starving, dying women and children, and the lanes of the city are full of the dead bodies of the elderly. He sees the countless thousands starve slowly to death.
He sees their bodies flung over the walls into the valley by their fellow citizens while the Romans watched. He sees the Roman general Titus doing his rounds along those valleys, seeing them full of dead bodies, and raising his hands to Heaven, calling God to witness that this was not his doing. He sees inside the city where the famine is so bad that people steal food out of one another's mouths. Women kill and eat their own babies.
He sees the Romans finally breaking into the city. He sees the slaughter of countless thousands. He sees the temple set on fire. He sees slaughter in the temple courts. No mercy is given. He sees Jerusalem ablaze, he sees the soldiers toppling the temple walls, he sees the city he loved razed. He sees the people that are currently greeting him so warmly, their corpses lying scattered throughout the city for the wild animals to scavenge.
And as he sees Jerusalem in front of him in mid afternoon glory, and as he sees in his minds eye the horror that it will become, he weeps. This is not quiet subdued weeping. The word describes bitter weeping, loud sobbing. “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.”
Now that you have those pictures in your head, we’ll be able to answer the question, “Why did Jesus weep?”
He wept because of the great opportunity that they had lost
v42 “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace.”
He was their only hope, but he knew that, despite all their religious show, they would want nothing to do with him. They could have had eternal peace with God. But they would reject it. And Jesus weeps for them as they lose their only opportunity.
Many today are doing the same thing. They have a great opportunity. They have been brought up in a country where the Bible, God’s word, is freely available, but they are living in danger of missing out. Are you rejecting the opportunity and choosing to die without Christ? If so Jesus weeps because of this.
He weeps not just because they were losing a great opportunity, but also because it was an opportunity for a great peace, a great bliss. He says to them, “What joys you might have had!” The delights of pardoned sin, the bliss of eternal safety, the joy of communion with God, the rapture of fellowship with Christ Jesus, the heavenly expectation of infinite glory, all might have been yours; but you have put them away from you.
See Jesus’ heart for the lost. Here is no cold heart, instead a heart moved by compassion. What sort of heart for the lost do we have?
He wept because of the destiny they faced
Jesus saw the future. In Luke 19:43-44 he predicts the awful events of AD70. Our Lord saw this coming; a city in flames, bodies heaped high, the rotting stench of carcases mixed with the bitter reek of smoke. Our Lord wept to think this would be so. Few events, if any, exceeded the horror of the siege of Jerusalem. But it is nothing compared to Hell. And Jesus wept here because he saw what happens when people reject God. Jesus sees the unspeakable horror and he weeps.
Here we see the judge weeping over the sentence he knows he has to deliver. It gives Jesus no joy to speak of judgement. But the doom must be pronounced. God’s justice and holiness demand it. But tears fall amid the thunders. It is no small matter to be sent to Hell. It grieves the very heart of Jesus himself.
Even though they were set against him, so awful was what they faced, so awful was the destiny they had chosen that he wept , he sobbed, his cryings were there to be heard.
If you are not a believer, Jesus sees what is in store for you and he weeps. You too need to weep, to come and seek forgiveness for all the years of rejecting him. As Christians does Hell bother us - it is real - and the thought of people being their should trouble us.
He wept because he loves sinners
Jesus knew that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going to execute him in a few days. Yet he wept for them. Jesus has a vast compassionate love which extends to every man, woman, boy, girl, backslider, atheist, everyone.
Surely this shows us the very heart of God - a God who is rich in mercy and love towards sinners. Friend if you haven’t put your trust in Jesus, let this encourage you. If you have any hesitation, look at these tears.
But do not count these tears as softness. Do not think that he will excuse your sin. He wept because he saw that there was no way that sin would be excused. Jesus’ love is balanced by his justice. In his love he has provided a way of escape. In his justice he will judge anyone who rejects it.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Jesus' Tears
There is something deeply moving about tears. We see someone weeping and it can have quite an effect on us. The stronger the person who weeps the more powerful the effect is upon us. We are more affected by seeing a man weeping than a child. And when the man is a strong emotionally stable man, with tears running down his face, it speaks volumes to us.
We are told of only three occasions when our Lord wept. I intend to look at each of them over the next number of days. This is not just at a great man weeping, that would be touching enough, but here we see the Son of God weeping.
Tears allow us to see what really matters to a person. And it is no different with Jesus.
In John 11:35 we come to the first instance of our Lord's tears. His close friend Lazarus has just died and Jesus has gone to see Lazarus' sisters.
'When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
"Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"'
(John 11:33-36)
The question we need answered is: "Why is Jesus weeping?"
Jesus is not weeping because Lazarus is dead. He knows that in just a few moments he will raise Lazarus from the dead. So why is he weeping? I suggest 2 reasons:
Jesus is weeping because he loves Mary & Martha
Have you ever had a moment when you've seen something and it moved you so much that your eyes filled and the tears ran in rivers down your cheeks? Jesus tears were not like the loud wailing of Mary and Martha, for a different word is used. Instead these were silent tears running down his face as he looked at the suffering his loved ones were going through.
The people around are struck by this. They react, "See how he loved him."
Our saviour is no cold conqueror who comes to dispatch the enemy and to free the prisoners. He is one who weeps as he sees what the enemy has done to his people. His heart is moved by our plight. When we are struggling he is not sitting watching impassively.
Jesus knew that in a few minutes Mary’s tears would be turned into inexpressible joy, that delight would wash away the memories of sadness. That in a few moments time Lazarus would be restored to them. But though he knew all this, still he weeps. He weeps for the pain caused, for the mess that sin has made of what was a perfect creation. He weeps at his loved ones having to suffer. There is no casual pat on the back, no glib “All things work together for good”, instead there is love made silent through tears. The quietness of sympathy.
The momentary sadness of his people matters to him. Here he weeps at his loved ones having to suffer.
Here we see the beauty of Christ's tenderness. Here we see Jesus' love for his people in the midst of suffering. The Saviour who offers himself to us is a most tender caring and feeling Saviour. He knows what you are going through and he cares. He wants us to bring our troubles to him.
Although he is not with us as he was with Mary and Martha, he hasn’t changed. He has still the same heart. And although he knew exactly where the body was, he shows his love to Mary when he asks, “Where have you laid him?” He wants her to take him, to show him, because he loves her. And he does the same with us, he invites us to tell him our problems, to take him to them. He comes gently to us.
What struck me here was how much my saviour enters into my feelings. Do I realise how much he loves me? As those who surrounded Jesus that day said, "See how he loved him", can you hear the angels say to each other in awed amazement, "See how he loves them"?
But these tears are not solely tears of sympathy.
Jesus is weeping because of his anger at sin
He sees two of his dear friends, Martha and Mary distraught at the death of their brother. He sees their grief and pain and suffering. And another emotion stirs in his heart. It is a surprising one. It is anger.
The phrase 'was deeply moved in spirit' (v33) might be better translated 'was deeply angered'. As Jesus sees the misery and pain that sin has brought to the world it angered him.
Jesus sees before him all that life was not meant to be. Pain, suffering, sadness and death only came into the world after Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus hates to see the suffering that sin causes. In Mary's grief Jesus sees the history of the whole human race. And he is angry.
But his anger is not wild and uncontrolled. It is focused. He approaches the grave of his friend, and we see in his tears a desire to reverse the situation. Sin will not triumph this day. Death will not win. Satan will not have the last say. Jesus did not come to leave sin and suffering reigning supreme. He came to defeat them.
His victory at the tomb of Lazarus is a foretaste of his victory at Calvary. And if he strode determinedly to the tomb to Lazarus to call him forth, how much more will he do the same for us, and call his people from the grave into an eternity of unending pleasure? Here is proof that Christ has defeated sin.
How joyful we should be.
Some men go to war not knowing the demands it will make. They go off full of high hopes of an easy victory, and an idealism of what it will be like. Not so this warrior. As Jesus approaches the tomb he knows what it will take to defeat sin, to free people from death. He knows that there is a price to be paid, a high price, the highest price. He knows the pain and the suffering that his own death will involve, but his desire to defeat sin and to free the hostages is greater. And watch here as he thanks his father for this opportunity (v41). He is glad to pay that price.
How grateful we should be.
We are told of only three occasions when our Lord wept. I intend to look at each of them over the next number of days. This is not just at a great man weeping, that would be touching enough, but here we see the Son of God weeping.
Tears allow us to see what really matters to a person. And it is no different with Jesus.
In John 11:35 we come to the first instance of our Lord's tears. His close friend Lazarus has just died and Jesus has gone to see Lazarus' sisters.
'When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
"Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"'
(John 11:33-36)
The question we need answered is: "Why is Jesus weeping?"
Jesus is not weeping because Lazarus is dead. He knows that in just a few moments he will raise Lazarus from the dead. So why is he weeping? I suggest 2 reasons:
Jesus is weeping because he loves Mary & Martha
Have you ever had a moment when you've seen something and it moved you so much that your eyes filled and the tears ran in rivers down your cheeks? Jesus tears were not like the loud wailing of Mary and Martha, for a different word is used. Instead these were silent tears running down his face as he looked at the suffering his loved ones were going through.
The people around are struck by this. They react, "See how he loved him."
Our saviour is no cold conqueror who comes to dispatch the enemy and to free the prisoners. He is one who weeps as he sees what the enemy has done to his people. His heart is moved by our plight. When we are struggling he is not sitting watching impassively.
Jesus knew that in a few minutes Mary’s tears would be turned into inexpressible joy, that delight would wash away the memories of sadness. That in a few moments time Lazarus would be restored to them. But though he knew all this, still he weeps. He weeps for the pain caused, for the mess that sin has made of what was a perfect creation. He weeps at his loved ones having to suffer. There is no casual pat on the back, no glib “All things work together for good”, instead there is love made silent through tears. The quietness of sympathy.
The momentary sadness of his people matters to him. Here he weeps at his loved ones having to suffer.
Here we see the beauty of Christ's tenderness. Here we see Jesus' love for his people in the midst of suffering. The Saviour who offers himself to us is a most tender caring and feeling Saviour. He knows what you are going through and he cares. He wants us to bring our troubles to him.
Although he is not with us as he was with Mary and Martha, he hasn’t changed. He has still the same heart. And although he knew exactly where the body was, he shows his love to Mary when he asks, “Where have you laid him?” He wants her to take him, to show him, because he loves her. And he does the same with us, he invites us to tell him our problems, to take him to them. He comes gently to us.
What struck me here was how much my saviour enters into my feelings. Do I realise how much he loves me? As those who surrounded Jesus that day said, "See how he loved him", can you hear the angels say to each other in awed amazement, "See how he loves them"?
But these tears are not solely tears of sympathy.
Jesus is weeping because of his anger at sin
He sees two of his dear friends, Martha and Mary distraught at the death of their brother. He sees their grief and pain and suffering. And another emotion stirs in his heart. It is a surprising one. It is anger.
The phrase 'was deeply moved in spirit' (v33) might be better translated 'was deeply angered'. As Jesus sees the misery and pain that sin has brought to the world it angered him.
Jesus sees before him all that life was not meant to be. Pain, suffering, sadness and death only came into the world after Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus hates to see the suffering that sin causes. In Mary's grief Jesus sees the history of the whole human race. And he is angry.
But his anger is not wild and uncontrolled. It is focused. He approaches the grave of his friend, and we see in his tears a desire to reverse the situation. Sin will not triumph this day. Death will not win. Satan will not have the last say. Jesus did not come to leave sin and suffering reigning supreme. He came to defeat them.
His victory at the tomb of Lazarus is a foretaste of his victory at Calvary. And if he strode determinedly to the tomb to Lazarus to call him forth, how much more will he do the same for us, and call his people from the grave into an eternity of unending pleasure? Here is proof that Christ has defeated sin.
How joyful we should be.
Some men go to war not knowing the demands it will make. They go off full of high hopes of an easy victory, and an idealism of what it will be like. Not so this warrior. As Jesus approaches the tomb he knows what it will take to defeat sin, to free people from death. He knows that there is a price to be paid, a high price, the highest price. He knows the pain and the suffering that his own death will involve, but his desire to defeat sin and to free the hostages is greater. And watch here as he thanks his father for this opportunity (v41). He is glad to pay that price.
How grateful we should be.
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