He Did Not Spare His Son from Temptation or Death

First Sunday in Lent

February 22, 2015

Mark 1:12-13

He Did Not Spare His Son from Temptation or Death

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

He had to walk for days to get there. He brought others along, but in the end He was alone. And when He got there, He must have dreaded what He was going to have to do. And even in those last hours He prayed that His heavenly Father would intervene and would stop everything and let Him go. But His Father said that He was His beloved Son and so Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, just as He said He would.

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. . . . Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from Him. "Abba, Father," He said, "everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:32-33, 35-36)

It was the same and different for Abraham. He, too, walked for days to get to the place of sacrifice. He, too, must have dreaded what he was going to have to do. And in those last hours he must have hoped that his heavenly Father would intervene and would stop everything and let them go. And He did. He sent His Son—the angel of the Lord—to stop Abraham's knife. Abraham's son Isaac was spared.

Isaac was spared from death; Jesus was not. Why one and not the other? The answer for both was the Lord's great mercy: giving sinners the opposite of what we deserve. Life for sinful Isaac and Abraham and us; death for holy beloved Jesus.

Our dear Lord did not spare His Son from death because of His mercy. For the same reason He did not spare Him from temptation. The Letter to the Hebrews explains why the Father did not spare His Son from death or temptation.

Since the children [people of all ages] have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy Him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

Jesus suffered in death and temptation to help us.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

He suffered and was tempted in every way to help us. And note the specific reason He helps us—so that we can stand before God's holy throne with confidence, so that we may receive mercy, so that we find grace to help us in our time of need.

When Abraham was facing the last hours of Isaac's life, he held onto to one thing that he had been given from heaven: the Lord's promise of life through the coming Savior. Whether Abraham lived or died, whether Isaac lived or died, whether we live or die, what matters is that Christ Jesus died and lives. He drank the cup of suffering His Father sent Him to drink. Repent and trust this good news!

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Amen.