Jesus darkest moment

Coming out of Easter, many thoughts tend to flow as we reflect on what Jesus did on and through the cross, how he conquered death and the final results of restoring the relationship of God and man. As I have thought over the years, I have encouraged people that Jesus knows what it is like to be a human. His birth put him at the lowest of the low. Jesus was royalty but he was not born into it from a human perspective. He knows what it was like to be hungry. How do I know? The Bible tells us (Mark 11:12)! He got tired and needed sleep (Mark 4:38). He experienced the loss of a friend (John 11:35). It is not in the Bible, but I imagine that when Jesus was growing up, he fell and skinned a knee from time to time. He knows what it is like to be human.

Jesus' humanity leading up to his death is magnified in the Gospels. The focus of the last meal and his last time of hanging with his friends. Think about a prisoner who is on death rows and their last meal. They are not sharing with the closest of friends and I don't think a last meal is a time to be excited for. Jesus valued his disciples and saw the importance of spending a meal with them. In the garden, the sweat, the tears, the blood, the pain of talking with Father about his will. The kiss of betrayal. Many of us know how it feels to be betrayed by a friend or family member. It's tough, it hurts! The whips that pulled flesh from his body, the pulling of his beard, the insults, people gambling for his clothes, the nails in his hand and feet, a crown of thorns on his brow and being put on display.

Leading up to this point, I am sure that we as humans can relate with at least one thing if not many of the things that Jesus lived through. Granted, we are still not at Jesus' darkest moment! The pain, the loneliness and the rejection of man; but then came the darkest moment, the rejection of the Father. God being a holy God, cannot be part of sin and Jesus took the sins of the world on him separating him from the Father. Flesh being pulled off his body was minor compared to the relationship of the Father being separated from the Son. Jesus did this for me! He experienced a dark, lonely place that was without God; how in the world would I ever choose to reject God and want to ever experience hell! Jesus went through his darkest moment to give me an opportunity to have a relationship with the Father that I could have never obtained.