In Gethsemane, we see Jesus laboring in prayer as the time of His sacrificial death drew near. Alistair Begg calls us to an experiential grasp of the compassion and grace that motivated the Savior to die in our place. When we consider all that the Lord Jesus did in becoming sin for us, our hearts are stirred with awe and with the desire to take the good news to a needy world.
39And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.7 45And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Who is Jesus? Can ordinary people understand His identity, or do you need a seminary education? In Jesus 101, Alistair Begg emphasizes that the search for the real Jesus must always lead us to the Scriptures. Only in the Bible do we meet the Man Who is God, the living Word Who is Prophet, Priest, and King; only there do we learn of the Lamb sacrificed to bring salvation to a lost and dying world, the majestic Ruler of a kingdom that will last for all eternity. When we have a solid biblical grasp of who the Savior is, and of what He accomplished on our behalf in His life and atoning death, our hearts are filled with awe and adoration at the mention of His name, “Jesus.”