0405 祂的痛苦和我們的通路
耶穌同門徒來到一個地方，名叫客西馬尼，就對他們說，「你們在這裡等候，和我一起警醒。」《馬太福音 26:36, 38》
我們永遠無法完全理解基督在客西馬尼園的痛苦，但至少我們不必誤解它。這是神與人在一個位格中的痛苦，與罪面對面的痛苦。我們無法通過個人經歷來理解客西馬尼園，客西馬尼園和加略山代表着完全獨特的事物——它們是我們進入生命的大門。
耶穌在客西馬尼園的痛苦並不是十字架上的死亡。事實上，祂非常強調祂來的目的就是受死。這裡祂擔心的是，祂可能作為人子無法通過這掙扎；祂有信心能夠作為神的兒子度過這掙扎——撒但無法在那裡觸碰祂。但撒旦的攻擊，是我們的主將只能以人子的身份為我們度過。如果耶穌那樣做了，祂就不能成為我們的救主（見希伯來書 9:11-15）。讀祂在客西馬尼園痛苦的記載，思考祂早先在曠野受試探——「魔鬼用完了各樣的試探，就暫時離開耶穌」（路加福音 4:13）。在客西馬尼園，撒旦又來了，並再次被推翻。撒但對我們的主作為人子的最後攻擊是在客西馬尼園。
在客西馬尼園的痛苦，是神的兒子履行祂作為世界救主的命定的痛苦。幔子在這裡被拉開，以揭示祂為了使我們能夠成為神的兒子而付出的一切代價；祂的痛苦是我們得救簡樸的基礎。基督的十字架是人子的勝利；這不僅是我們的主已經獲勝的標誌，而且也是祂已勝利地拯救人類。因為人子所經歷的，每個人都得到進入神面前的通路。
來自章伯斯的智慧
要謹防孤立；提防你必須獨自發展聖潔生活的想法，獨自發展聖潔生活是不可能的；你會變得古怪和奇特，與神要你所是的樣子完全不同。靈性發展唯一之道就是進入神兒女的社會裡，你很快就會發現神如何改變你的布景。神不會違背我們的社會本能；祂改變它們。《聖經心理學》
0405 His Agony and Our Access
Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples….”Stay here and watch with Me.” —Matthew 26:36, 38
We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique— they are the gateway into life for us.
It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane. In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man. He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God— Satan could not touch Him there. But Satan’s assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man. If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15). Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation— “…the devil…departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan’s final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.
The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. –Biblical Psychology, 189 L