Saturday, February 18, 2012

Autopsy in Gethsemane

The faulty views[1] of Jesus in Gethsemane result from faulty views of the text.

Where do we get knowledge of Jesus? From the text.

We have the three Synoptic texts (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). We have the prophets that foretell the sufferings of Jesus. We have the Messianic Psalms that foretell the sufferings of Jesus. We have the apostolic epistles that tell the sufferings of Jesus. Whatever chance we stand of knowing Jesus is in the texts.

The critics look for a cause of fear. Then they ridicule Jesus for fear. That is a failure to observe the text.

The text says ekthambeo. The text says “sore amazed.” The text says “unto death” meaning dying here and now. The text says an angel strengthened his dying body. Had the angel not done, we would be looking at a corpse in a garden.

We are not looking for a cause of fear. We’re looking for a cause of death. Without the angel, we would be conducting an autopsy.

In ekthambeo, Jesus saw a horror suddenly assaulting him. The horror was killing him. That was the cause of death. What was that horror? What causes a Triune Person to die? What causes a Mediator to die?

________________________

No comments:

Post a Comment