Mark Palmer

I will never forget standing in the Garden of Gethsemane when I visited Israel, imagining the pain and agony Jesus Christ was anticipating as he contemplated crucifixion. Amazingly, Psalm 22 prophetically foreshadows Christ's crucifixion 1,000 years before His death and many years before the invention of crucifixion: "they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment." Christ knew this is what He faced, which is why He prayed so hard that He sweat drops of blood, asking God to "take this cup from Me" but ultimately saying "yet not My will, but Yours be done." He willingly chose to die because that is how much He loves YOU! His death paved the way for our salvation, completely justifying our imperfections to an all perfect God. The Garden of Gethsemane represents the ultimate place of suffering, but the incredible part is that from the Garden you can see the Mount of Olives -- the place where scripture tells us that Jesus will one day triumphantly return. In other words, from the place of ultimate suffering (the Garden), you see the place of ultimate redemption (the Mount)! Today, on Good Friday, we contemplate Jesus' incomprehensible sacrifice, but we do it with the knowledge that Sunday is just ahead. We will soon say, "He is Risen!" 🙏