Hebrews 12:4 (LSB) You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He flogs every son whom He receives.”

What is the most difficult thing anyone has ever done? Perhaps you think of those who have conquered kingdoms, captured cities, built skyscrapers, made lots of money, become the best ever at what they have done, climbed Mt. Everest, plunged to the bottom of the Mariana Trench,

What is the most difficult thing you have ever done? Perhaps it was learning a new language, raising children, becoming a champion in high school, getting a perfect score on your final. 

Whatever difficult thing you or anyone else has ever done, it pales in comparison to what Christ did in Gethsemene. 

Proverbs 16:32 (LSB) tells us this:

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And he who rules his own spirit, than he who captures a city.

There is no one who rules his own spirit the way Jesus Christ did. He spent His entire childhood never once committing a sin. Even when He stayed behind in Jerusalem, He was not disobedient to His parents. Making it through childhood without sinning is difficult enough. Then; when tempted with bread when starving, all the kingdoms of the world for submitting to Satan, and casting Himself from the top of the temple for showmanship; He did not once submit to the temptations. Throughout His ministry, He was presented with multiple opportunities to become sinfully angry with those who tested and resisted Him at every turn.

When He was about to be captured by the Roman soldiers, He could have called down a company of angels. But He didn't. Why not?

Because He had resisted the greatest sin conceivable: not submitting to the Father to accomplish the very thing they had created the world to do: going to the cross. Jesus' greatest temptation was in Gethsemene when He had the chance to flee. He pled. He begged the Father. He implored His Father with Whom He had always co-existed in perfect covenantal love and holiness: "Take this cup from Me!" Luke tells us that His sweat was as drops of blood.

No one before or since has faced a greater trial: bearing the infinite wrath of God for innumerable sinners to become saints. No one before or since has resisted so great a sin: autonomy from God for the sake of self-preservation. 

Jesus is the author and the perfecter of faith. We should consider Him, ponder Him deeply, and then consider our own ways. How often do we (myself included) think, "Oh. It doesn't matter." Scriptures tell us that God puts us through the ringer in order to make us stronger by depending more completely upon Him. Have you resisted sin to the point of shedding your blood on behalf of others, bearing willingly the shame, the scoffing, and the wrath of God? 

I didn't think so. I haven't either.

Thanks be to God Who has given us the gift of Christ's righteousness by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. He is in the business of strengthening His saints. Trust Him in the midst of life's difficulties. Oh! Will it be worth the trials and the discipline!

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