TDR: 9 January ‘Gethsemane’ (Matthew 26:36)

‘Gethsemane’ (MATTHEW 26:36)

This was a garden at the foot of Mount Olivet. Here Jesus, as the SUBSTITUTE of His people, received the cup of wrath from the hand of His offended Father. It was the wrath of God, all we had deserved, the punishment we must have endured; the Son of God in our nature, in our stead, for our salvation, was punished by divine justice.

No human hand touched Him, no human voice spoke to Him, when He sweat great drops of blood falling down to the ground. It was the baptism He expected, and oh, how great was His love! The baptism He longed to undergo.

See the wonderful sufferer, hear His dreadful groans, listen to His heart-breaking sighs; heaven and hell are astonished, only humanity remains unaffected. Beloved, it is our SURETY; He is purchasing our debt, redeeming our souls, purchasing our happiness, and making our peace.

He went to GETHSEMANE that we might not go to hell; He was punished that we might be glorified. Often, very often, visit this sacred spot; here have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings by faith. O my soul, I charge thee to visit Gethsemane, and to visit it often, for fellowship with Jesus!

The Father heard – and angels there
Sustained the Son of God in prayer,
In sad Gethsemane.
He drank the dreadful cup of pain,
Then rose to joy and life again.

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘I have of late felt renewed in the spirit of my mind, and enjoyed a little reviving in my bondage. The spirit of prayer is again realized, and I always look upon this as a good sign. This is like life from the dead.

I want now to live wholly out of self, and wholly on Christ, who is the bread of eternal life. I want daily to see what I am in Jesus, and what I am, consequently in the eyes of the Father, who never beholds me but in Him, nor deals with me, but in Him.’