Jesus Kneels in Anguish Near the TempleBible World
12:50Luke 12:50
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
He spoke of a baptism still ahead of Him, the final ordeal of suffering and death in Gethsemane and on the cross where He would drink the cup of wrath and give Himself as the true Passover lamb, and He was pressed and weighed down with anguish at what His humanity must bear yet yearning until it was accomplished. He had freely pledged Himself by covenant to give His life as humanity's Substitute, Surety and ransom, so that salvation and everlasting life might be possible for every repentant sinner. As that Substitute He bore the sins of the world upon His innocent soul, enduring the curse of the law and separation from His Father, and by so bearing sin He vindicated God's justice and showed His law unchangeable while revealing His love. His death met what the sacrificial offerings and the Passover lamb foreshadowed, and though innocent and recoiling from shame and agony He submitted to the Father's will for the joy set before Him of winning the world back to pardon, restoration and everlasting life. His followers are therefore called to lift the cross and bear it after Him with that same self-sacrificing spirit, even drinking a cup of suffering and enduring trial until God's will is fulfilled.
Baptism of Suffering Explained
The baptism is the coming ordeal of suffering and death awaiting Him at Gethsemane and the cross. It is His final baptism of blood, in which He is soon to drink the cup of wrath and be sacrificed as the true Passover lamb. In that death the sacrificial offerings meet their fulfillment, for the Passover lamb's type meets its antitype in His death for the sins of the world. He called that suffering He was about to endure a baptism He had yet to undergo.
To be straitened is to be pressed and constrained until it is accomplished. It means to be weighed down by agony and inwardly burdened, pressed with anguish and dread at the strain His humanity must bear. Yet at the same time it is longing and yearning until the work is accomplished.
He speaks of this baptism as still future and appointed, approaching but not yet undergone. It had to be accomplished, and He had come for that very purpose. His suffering would be completed in the sacrifice He was about to undergo, culminating in His death.
Purpose of His Sacrifice
The baptism He looked toward was voluntarily taken up, for He had bound Himself by covenant to give His life as Substitute and Surety and ransom for a fallen world, offering the sacrifice that opens salvation and everlasting life to every repentant sinner. He had come for that very purpose, and though He felt pressed until it should be accomplished, He freely chose to undergo it in order to save the world. In that united plan the Father and the Son acted together, so that His giving of Himself was at once the provision of a ransom and the expression of divine love.
As Substitute He took upon His innocent soul the weighing burden of the sins of the world and bore the penalty due to transgression. That bearing included enduring the curse of the law and the punishment for sin, even separation from His Father. By so bearing sin He vindicated the justice of God and upheld the law as unchangeable, settling the controversy over its character. At the same time His death on the cross revealed God as both holy and loving, justice and love meeting in the one sacrifice.
His death was what the sacrificial offerings had symbolized, and at the final Passover the type of the Passover lamb met its fulfillment in His being sacrificed as the true Passover lamb, soon to drink the cup of wrath for the sins of the world. Though innocent, He accepted this baptism of blood and the curse due to the guilty, recoiling from humiliation and agony yet choosing to endure it at any cost to Himself. He did so because He saw the ruin wrought by sin and the inability of perishing humanity to save itself. He feared separation from God, and faced the full cost of saving humanity, yet submitted to the Father's will.
He was cheered in His life of toil and sacrifice by the thought that His travail would not be for nothing, but would win the world back to its loyalty to God. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross and despised the shame. Without His willing suffering and death the guilty would perish, but through it those facing death because of sin may receive pardon, restoration to God's image, and everlasting life.
Call to Follow Him
Those who have been blessed with great light are to put their whole heart into the service of Christ with earnest religious interest rather than striving in a tame, listless way. That earnestness is to be maintained through daily prayer and watchfulness. He longed for the baptism of blood He would undergo in giving His life to save souls, and was wholly devoted to completing that saving work. He yearned for the suffering He was to endure on the cross, which He described as a baptism, and was inwardly burdened until that suffering was accomplished, and His followers are called to lift the cross and bear it after Him, striving for that same devoted, self-sacrificing spirit. Baptism here means an ordeal of suffering that must be endured before it is accomplished, and the faithful must likewise drink the cup and undergo such trial. Though they earnestly plead for deliverance from enemies who threaten them with death, God's will must be fulfilled before they are delivered.
He spoke of a baptism still ahead of Him, the final ordeal of suffering and death in Gethsemane and on the cross where He would drink the cup of wrath and give Himself as the true Passover lamb, and He was pressed and weighed down with anguish at what His humanity must bear yet yearning until it was accomplished.
He had freely pledged Himself by covenant to give His life as humanity's Substitute, Surety and ransom, so that salvation and everlasting life might be possible for every repentant sinner.
As that Substitute He bore the sins of the world upon His innocent soul, enduring the curse of the law and separation from His Father, and by so bearing sin He vindicated God's justice and showed His law unchangeable while revealing His love.
His death met what the sacrificial offerings and the Passover lamb foreshadowed, and though innocent and recoiling from shame and agony He submitted to the Father's will for the joy set before Him of winning the world back to pardon, restoration and everlasting life.
His followers are therefore called to lift the cross and bear it after Him with that same self-sacrificing spirit, even drinking a cup of suffering and enduring trial until God's will is fulfilled.
Baptism of Suffering Explained
The baptism is the coming ordeal of suffering and death awaiting Him at Gethsemane and the cross. It is His final baptism of blood, in which He is soon to drink the cup of wrath and be sacrificed as the true Passover lamb. In that death the sacrificial offerings meet their fulfillment, for the Passover lamb's type meets its antitype in His death for the sins of the world. He called that suffering He was about to endure a baptism He had yet to undergo.
To be straitened is to be pressed and constrained until it is accomplished. It means to be weighed down by agony and inwardly burdened, pressed with anguish and dread at the strain His humanity must bear. Yet at the same time it is longing and yearning until the work is accomplished.
He speaks of this baptism as still future and appointed, approaching but not yet undergone. It had to be accomplished, and He had come for that very purpose. His suffering would be completed in the sacrifice He was about to undergo, culminating in His death.
Purpose of His Sacrifice
The baptism He looked toward was voluntarily taken up, for He had bound Himself by covenant to give His life as Substitute and Surety and ransom for a fallen world, offering the sacrifice that opens salvation and everlasting life to every repentant sinner. He had come for that very purpose, and though He felt pressed until it should be accomplished, He freely chose to undergo it in order to save the world. In that united plan the Father and the Son acted together, so that His giving of Himself was at once the provision of a ransom and the expression of divine love.
As Substitute He took upon His innocent soul the weighing burden of the sins of the world and bore the penalty due to transgression. That bearing included enduring the curse of the law and the punishment for sin, even separation from His Father. By so bearing sin He vindicated the justice of God and upheld the law as unchangeable, settling the controversy over its character. At the same time His death on the cross revealed God as both holy and loving, justice and love meeting in the one sacrifice.
His death was what the sacrificial offerings had symbolized, and at the final Passover the type of the Passover lamb met its fulfillment in His being sacrificed as the true Passover lamb, soon to drink the cup of wrath for the sins of the world. Though innocent, He accepted this baptism of blood and the curse due to the guilty, recoiling from humiliation and agony yet choosing to endure it at any cost to Himself. He did so because He saw the ruin wrought by sin and the inability of perishing humanity to save itself. He feared separation from God, and faced the full cost of saving humanity, yet submitted to the Father's will.
He was cheered in His life of toil and sacrifice by the thought that His travail would not be for nothing, but would win the world back to its loyalty to God. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross and despised the shame. Without His willing suffering and death the guilty would perish, but through it those facing death because of sin may receive pardon, restoration to God's image, and everlasting life.
Call to Follow Him
Those who have been blessed with great light are to put their whole heart into the service of Christ with earnest religious interest rather than striving in a tame, listless way. That earnestness is to be maintained through daily prayer and watchfulness. He longed for the baptism of blood He would undergo in giving His life to save souls, and was wholly devoted to completing that saving work. He yearned for the suffering He was to endure on the cross, which He described as a baptism, and was inwardly burdened until that suffering was accomplished, and His followers are called to lift the cross and bear it after Him, striving for that same devoted, self-sacrificing spirit. Baptism here means an ordeal of suffering that must be endured before it is accomplished, and the faithful must likewise drink the cup and undergo such trial. Though they earnestly plead for deliverance from enemies who threaten them with death, God's will must be fulfilled before they are delivered.