For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, – Hebrews 12.2, CSB
Alone in a garden, a few hours before he was crucified, Jesus prayed these words, “’ Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation ‘” (John 17.24, CSB). His agony of soul was overwhelming as his body experienced hematohidrosis. In her article, “The Science of the Crucifixion,” Dr. Cahleen Shrier explains what Jesus physically and emotionally experienced in the garden because of this condition.
There is a rare medical condition called hematohidrosis, during which the capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands break down. Blood released from the vessels mixes with the sweat; therefore, the body sweats drops of blood. This condition results from mental anguish or high anxiety, a state Jesus expresses by praying “my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Hematohidrosis makes the skin tender, so Jesus’ physical condition worsens slightly.*
Jesus knew what was coming. Jesus knew the mocking and false accusations that would be thrown at him. He knew that he would be rejected by his people, who desired the release of a murderer in exchange for Jesus being crucified. Jesus knew the physical abuse and torturous flogging that he would experience before he was crucified. Jesus knew the crown of thorns that would be forced onto his head by a blow from a Roman soldier with a rod. He knew that he would be crucified, attached to a cross in shame, while onlookers hurled insults at him. And he knew that he would die.
But with all that Jesus had to endure physically, there was one part of this whole horrific ordeal that terrified him the most. From the cross, Jesus cried out these words: ’ Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?’ which is translated, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’” (Mark 15.34, CSB). Paul explains the gracious and unfair exchange that happened to Jesus while he was on the cross. “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5.21, CSB). The Bible tells us that Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for our sin (1 John 2.2; 4.10). Jesus, the incarnate, perfect, and sinless Son of God, took on the full and complete wrath of God because of us and for us (Isaiah 53.5; 1 Peter 2.24). He experienced what we should have experienced. But why? Why would Jesus do all of this?
“For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame.”
And what was that joy?
Us. Us. His joy was us.
My brother and sister in Jesus, take a breath and let that truth settle in. Allow the grace and mercy of God to minister to your soul as you realize that Jesus wants you. Be freed and released from the self-condemnation you experience as you gratefully receive the complete forgiveness of Jesus. Walk in freedom knowing God’s desire for you was not based on your conduct. Instead, it was based on his grace—that same grace that we are saved by through faith in the resurrected Jesus (Ephesians 2.8-9). Be overwhelmed knowing that God is not against you, but for you (Romans 8.31). And find peace and rest, amid life’s storms and uncertainties, knowing that God is with you to help you and will never leave you (Deuteronomy 31.6; Isaiah 41.10).
“For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame.”
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. – John 3.16-18, CSB
* Shrier, Cahleen. “The Science of the Crucifixion.” Www.apu.edu, 1 Mar. 2002, http://www.apu.edu/articles/the-science-of-the-crucifixion/.
Brian J Holland 
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