If you think Jesus suffered throughout His 33 years while living on this earth, that is nothing compared to what He faced in his last hours before his execution on the cross.

We are concluding our examination of the Life of Christ and others from the perspective of Living in a Crucible. 

It is my hope that you now understand that symbolically that a crucible is the fiery trials we experience as we grow and develop.

And though Crucibles are painful, although they are uncomfortable, and they do hurt, they are beneficial in developing our character.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 3: Sabbath.School

See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School

Inviting the Holy Spirit’s Presence

Father, we complain about the most minor things. Yet our suffering does not compare to the suffering Jesus experienced just before his death. Help us appreciate what he did for us.

In Jesus Name Amen.

Whatever pain Jesus suffered in His 33 years here on earth, cannot by no means compared to the pain He suffered in His final hours before His execution on the cross.

The plan for Jesus to sacrifice himself as an offering for the sins of us humans was made before the world was created and before sin entered this world.

Now as Jesus was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane the plan was being realized.

The following text helps us see that God’s plan to offer his son Jesus to save us was made before the world was created.

Ephesians 1:1-4 lets us know this plan was instituted before the foundation of the world.

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (Ephesians 1:1-4)

II Timothy 1:8-9 indicates that this plan was devised before time began.

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, (II Timothy 1:8-9)

And Titus 1:1-2 also reveals that this plan was developed before time began.

1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,

2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, (Titus 1:1-2)

The following Bible verses allow us to see the fulfilling of God’s plan to save us, and it allows us to see just what it took to resolve the problem of sin. It give us a better appreciation and understanding of Jesus suffering in the Garden of in Gethsemane just before his execution, known as the hours before his crucifixion.

God sacrificed himself in His Son to save us.

Matthew 26:39

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Mark 14:33-36

33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.

34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.

36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:33-36)

Luke 22:41-44

41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-44)

Such mental agony, pain, suffering.

It says in the Desire of Ages: “He went a little distance from them—not so far but that they could both see and hear Him—and fell prostrate upon the ground. He felt that by sin He was being separated from His Father. The gulf was so broad, so black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it. This agony He must not exert His divine power to escape. As man He must suffer the consequences of man’s sin. As man He must endure the wrath of God against transgression.

“Christ was now standing in a different attitude from that in which He had ever stood before. His suffering can best be described in the words of the prophet, ‘Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.’ Zech. 13:7. As the substitute and surety for sinful man, Christ was suffering under divine justice. He saw what justice meant. 

Before this, He had been as an intercessor for others; now He longed to have an intercessor for Himself.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 686.

Further describing Jesus’ suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane This Day with God says:

When in the garden of Gethsemane, the cup of suffering was placed in the Saviour’s hand, the thought came to Him, Should He drink it or should He leave the world to perish in sin? His suffering was too great for human comprehension. As the agony of soul came upon Him, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). The mysterious cup trembled in His hand.

In this awful crisis, when everything was at stake, the mighty angel who stands in God’s presence, came to the side of Christ, not to take the cup from His hand, but to strengthen Him to drink it, with the assurance of the Father’s love.

Christ drank of the cup, and this is the reason that sinners can come to God and find pardon and grace. But those who share in Christ’s glory must share also in His suffering. . . .

Shall we take up the cross, and intelligently understand what it means to follow Christ, practicing self-denial at every step?—This Day With God, p. 49.

Can you imagine what would have happen to us if Jesus had chosen not to drink the cup?

Picture in your mind the scene at the Garden of Gethsemane. See Jesus bowed before the Father with great drops of sweat like blood falling from his face. God had already started laying on Jesus the sins of every human being. No one that has ever lived on this earth or ever will live on this earth will have to go through what Jesus experienced. He did not do this for himself, He was without sin. He never sinned. He instead did it all for you and for me. Oh, what a love the Father has for us!

During the time of Jesus execution hang on a cross was considered the most horrific way to dye. Yet, much more was going on beside Jesus’ death. What was it? Find out in Day 5: The Crucified God.