The Lord and His apostles sought the beautiful quiet of the garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus began His infinite atonement. Praying to the Father and suffering the pains of sin, He ultimately took upon Himself the sins of all mankind.
21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
22 And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day.
Through the act of His atonement, Jesus declared His belief in each of us. All of us can change. All of us can choose to follow Him. Through repentance, we can begin each day to follow our Savior, faithfully keeping His commandments, and doing good.
In the deep of the night, Judas came to the garden with the soldiers, chief priests and Pharisees. Jesus stepped forward and asked, “Whom seek ye?” They answered “Jesus of Nazareth.” Then Jesus answered, “I am he.”
As soon as He answered, “I am he,” they went backward and fell to the ground.(John 18:6) Why? Was it His majesty? His purity? His glory? Writers don’t explain, but something about Jesus made these men fall to the ground.
Peter defends Jesus with a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus lightly reprimands Peter, and miraculously restores the servant’s ear. Miracles from God further harden the hearts of the chief priests. These men were so jealous they were past feeling. They wanted His blood, and to their everlasting sorrow they got it.
Fortunately, the machinations of evil men will never be enough to stop God, the Father, and Jesus Christ from accomplishing their great and marvelous work of bringing salvation to all mankind.
He is Risen!
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