Two Gardens and SufferingSample

We know that he was talking about the God-Man who would come to earth to fix the sin problem. The Old Testament prophets spoke of His coming and what He would do: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:4–6). This is the glorious gospel! God the Son came to suffer for our sin and to die for us. All of us are sinners and desperately need that wonderful news. If you’re reading this book and you’ve never asked Him to be your Savior, I beg you to do that. You can pray a very simple prayer: “Lord, I am a sinner. I believe that You died for my sins, and that You offer me eternal life. I accept You as my Savior. Please show me how to live for You.” If you prayed that prayer sincerely, you are now a child of God. Jesus is your Savior, and He will show you how to live for Him.

Jesus lived without sin, and at the end of His earthly life we find Him in another garden—the Garden of Gethsemane—before He was taken away and crucified. “Gethsemane means ‘oil press,’ ” and it “was located at the foot of the Mount of Olives,” outside of the walls that enclosed and protected Jerusalem. The pressure that Jesus was under on that night in Gethsemane was unspeakable. Sweat dripped like great drops of blood as He was squeezed like an olive in an oil press. He was in agony as He drew His disciples into His suffering, asking them to pray for Him. His soul was burdened and overwhelmed with sorrow. This was the garden where sin and suffering met their match. Jesus, knowing all that was to come, declared, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39), as He submitted to His Father’s plan and paid the price for our sin. What happened in the first garden is being reversed in the second garden. Disobedience reigned in the first garden. Obedience reigned in the second garden.