There are two major Garden stories in Scripture, and they have a lot in common. As we approach the Passover/Firstfruits season, and many people prepare to celebrate Easter, I thought it was a good time to discuss the Hebraic picture we are given in the Gardens.
Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, which is described in the Hebrew with Temple language, including the presence of the Trees in the Holy of Holies (in the middle of the Garden). They were charged with “worshipping and serving”, using language that we find to describe the functions of the Levitical Priests in the Tabernacle/Temple. And when given a choice between aligning with God’s instructions and choosing for themselves what they thought was best, well, we know what choice they made. When their unity with God was broken and they found themselves exposed and vulnerable before God, they had to be removed from the Garden for their own protection. They could no longer stand in the presence of God, and God put a plan in motion to correct this before they did something that would cause them to have to remain in that state forever. That plan involved their redemption, and that leads us to the second Garden.
Yeshua in the Garden of Gethsemene is a story that is taught at this time of year. A friend and member of our congregation recently summed up the story as she had learned it over the years.
The standard re-telling of the Easter story: Jesus goes to garden and is overcome with sorrow and grief and asks God to take the cup from Him because it’s too much for Him and He’d like a way out. HIs friends let him down. He sweats blood. Even though He doesn’t want to do it, He submits Himself to God’s will. The worst part of the garden is *knowing* that when He takes on the sins of the world, He will be separated from God for the first time ever and that’s why he’s so sorrowful, that’s what he wants God to take from Him. And not only will being separate from God hurt Jesus, but it will also hurt God to turn His face away from Him for the 3 days Jesus spends in the grave.
This is not at all what I believe happened.
To put it simply, I believe that Paul teaches us that Yeshua, as the Bridegroom, was entering into an engagement with the disciples who represent the Bride. At the “Last Supper”, or the Passover seder where Yeshua was teaching his disciples about the prophetic messages in the seder that pointed to Him and what He was about to do, Yeshua shared a glass of wine with His disciples. This is part of a traditional engagement ceremony according to Jewish custom.
This is important to note because of what Yeshua says in the Garden. In a traditional engagement ceremony, the step before the brideprice was paid was for the Son to turn to the Father and declare, “If it be your will, let this cup (the shared cup of engagement) pass from my hand. Not my will, but thine be done.” This was a declaration that if the Father did not agree with the terms of the engagement, did not approve of the brideprice, or for some reason did not approve of the bride, the Son would not go forward with the union. When the Father did not remove the cup, the Son would complete the covenant ceremony and pay the brideprice. Adonai approved of the union between the Son and the Bride, and He went on to pay the brideprice for redeeming the Bride.
Yes, Yeshua’s friends let him down. They showed their frailty, they acted in a way that reflected their need for redemption. “Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44). Apparently this is something that happens to people sometimes when they face extreme stress. It may be related to Hematadrosis. Regardless, I do believe his body showed the signs of the extreme reality of what was about to occur. I do believe there was great anguish involved in the reality of what was going to happen. I don’t think Yeshua skipped to the cross, but I do believe He went willingly and laid down His life as Scripture says.
I believe the most dangerous aspect of the traditional Easter teaching is the idea that Yeshua was separated from God. This is rooted in the idea that “God cannot be in the presence of sin, so when Yeshua took all sin upon Himself, God had to look away.” This is completely unbiblical! God can absolutely be in the presence of sin. There is nowhere God cannot be, and sin is not His kryptonite. Rather, it is sin that cannot be in the presence of God! The reason for this is that God is a Holy Fire and when sin enters the presence of the Refiner’s Fire, it is burned up. It is sin that is destroyed in the presence of God. And this creates a dilemma for man! If we were to attempt to stand in the presence of God while still clothed in our sin, it would burn up, and we would burn up with it. This is the state of nakedness in which Adam and Eve found themselves - they were no longer clothed in righteousness. This is why we have a need for redemption.
Likewise, the words Yeshua spoke on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” is typically used to support the idea that God turned His face from Yeshua and was separate from Him in that moment. But, that is not the case at all! To those who stood around the cross, the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” would have brought to mind the Psalm that it is quoted from. The practice of speaking a line from Scripture and trusting that your audience knew the text (or would seek it out to understand what you were saying) was common in Yeshua’s day. Yeshua’s words would have brought to mind the entire text of Psalm 22:
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?Why are You so far from helping Me,And from the words of My groaning?2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;And in the night season, and am not silent.3 But You are holy,Enthroned in the praises of Israel.4 Our fathers trusted in You;They trusted, and You delivered them.5 They cried to You, and were delivered;They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.6 But I am a worm, and no man;A reproach of men, and despised by the people.7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,8 “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.10 I was cast upon You from birth.From My mother’s wombYou have been My God.11 Be not far from Me,For trouble is near;For there is none to help.12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.13 They gape at Me with their mouths,Like a raging and roaring lion.14 I am poured out like water,And all My bones are out of joint;My heart is like wax;It has melted within Me.15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,And My tongue clings to My jaws;You have brought Me to the dust of death.16 For dogs have surrounded Me;The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.They pierced My hands and My feet;17 I can count all My bones.They look and stare at Me.18 They divide My garments among them,And for My clothing they cast lots.19 But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me;O My Strength, hasten to help Me!20 Deliver Me from the sword,My precious life from the power of the dog.21 Save Me from the lion’s mouthAnd from the horns of the wild oxen!You have answered Me.22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him!All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;Nor has He hidden His face from Him;But when He cried to Him, He heard.25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.Let your heart live forever!27 All the ends of the worldShall remember and turn to the LORD,And all the families of the nationsShall worship before You.28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s,And He rules over the nations.29 All the prosperous of the earthShall eat and worship;All those who go down to the dustShall bow before Him,Even he who cannot keep himself alive.30 A posterity shall serve Him.It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,That He has done this.
This Psalm speaks to the reality of what Yeshua was enduring. Just as the author of the Psalm is not expressing the idea that God has literally forsaken him, neither is Yeshua suggesting that this has occurred. Rather, this entire Psalm is being fulfilled in the presence of those witnessing Yeshua’s suffering. I know that the audience present did not imagine that Yeshua was saying God had literally forsaken Him because in Matthew 27:47 the response of someone present was this, “When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘He’s calling Elijah.’”
Yeshua, without His own sin, was able to take our sins upon Himself and stand in the presence of God, the Holy Fire, without burning up. The sin was burned up in the fire, but Yeshua remained, unscathed, and became the Firstfruits of the Resurrection. As we accept that our sin was carried before the Lord by Him, we come to understand that we can be clothed in His righteousness. We can be given the white garments of righteousness that are spoken of in Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Revelation. We can move towards God with such love and devotion that we can enter boldly into the throneroom of God and stand in His presence without fear of the Refiner’s Fire. It will not destroy us.
During the 3 days that Yeshua was in the grave He accomplished several things. He went to the abode of the dead, Abraham’s Bosom, and took the souls of the righteous, who had been awaiting Him, with Him to be in the presence of the Father. And He sat down on the Throne of God with the Father. Paul speaks of Him sitting at the Right Hand, but this speaks to His role as the Right Arm of God, the extension of Mercy to the world. In Revelation we learn that He is seated ON the throne WITH His Father. (See Rev. 3:21) And because He was in the ground for a Sabbath, we know that He joined the Father in Rest - that Sabbath Rest we are invited to join them in.
We all await the Wedding Supper of the Lamb - The day that Yeshua spoke of often in parables about weddings. The day that we finally realize what our own marriages are supposed to be a picture of according to Paul in Ephesians - the union of “Messiah and the Bride.”
We do not worship a God of limitations who had to look away while his son was murdered in order to appease some debt that could only be appeased through blood lust. We worship a multi-faceted God who began a plan for the redemption of mankind that involved laying down His own life, by dwelling among mankind in the form of Yeshua, who, like Isaac, was willing to be sacrificed for the redemption of mankind. He took upon Himself our sins. He stood in the presence of God’s Holy Fire and He withstood the burning of our sins. He came out not smelling like fire and He became the Firstfruits of the Resurrection of the Flesh. Because of Him we are redeemed. Because of what He did we are able to move from the state of Adam and Eve, naked and ashamed without garments of righteousness, and be clothed in the white garments that are reserved for the saints. We can walk boldly into the Throneroom of God because we are able to stand in the presence of the Lord without burning up.
This is what happened with the Second Adam stood in the Garden and made the right choice. THIS is Good News! This is the story of Redemption.
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