Currently I am reading very slowly through Frederick Leahy's book "The Cross He Bore: Meditations on the Sufferings of teh Redeemer." I strongly recommend it to you as a supplement to your daily devotions. While the chapters are relatively short, it guides you through the last twenty four hours of Jesus' life with amazing insight. Here is an extended quote from his chapter "Prayerful Submission," examining Jesus' prayer 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will' (Matt. 26:39):
As we meditate on Christ's prayerful submission in Gethsemane, we should realise that there, as Philip E. Hughes puts it, 'we see him enduing our hell so that we might be set free to enter his heaven'. And so at unspeakable cost he drank 'the cup' to the very last drop. 'Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? (John 18:11). What obedience! What love! What mystery! ...
Now he gives to his people 'the cup of salvation' (Psalm 116:13). These two cups, one so bitter, the other so sweet, stand side by side: the one cup necessitated the other. One cup was emptied that the other might be filled to overflowing. The first cup guaranteed the second. Both cups are precious and bear the hallmark of sovereign grace. 'What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will life up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord (Psa. 116:12,13).
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2 comments:
John, these are good. Keep it up. Uncle Tag
John, I am actually reading the same book right now and it is truly a great book. I feel that I understand the heart of my savior more clearly through this book. Thanks John. Jamie.
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