Did Jesus shy away from the cross?

A lot of us have heard our Lord's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane told as if Jesus hesitated in going to the cross. Christ's words, "Father, if it is possible, take this cup from Me, nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be done", are taken to mean Jesus was imploring God to keep Him from the cross, and further insinuating that Father's will was somehow different to Jesus' will. This is something I was taught, but today I certainly do not believe the scripture teaches this. When Christ said, "not my will, but Thy will be done", He was not displaying disharmony with Father's will, instead He was stating that Father's will was His priority, as that was the model life He lived for all of us. The Bible does mention that Jesus had begun to sweat "like great drops of blood" while agoning in The Garden, Luke 22:44. Profuse perspiration can be a medical sign of life-threatening shock, when the body becomes so traumatized that it cannot control basic life sustaining functions, and instead, shuts down in preparation for death. Furthermore, theologians agree that it is likely that Jesus had developed a medical condition known as "hematidrosis", where blood and sweat is excreted through the skin pores, caused by extreme anguish and emotional and/or physical suffering. The Gospels note, "He (Jesus) began to be sorrowful and troubled." Then Jesus said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death", Mt. 26:37-38, Mk. 14:33-34. Jesus sought The Father three different times in prayer while in the garden, and it appears was concerned that He might die in Gethsemane, and be unable to make it to the cross which was His life goal. Jesus, afraid He would perish before He could make it to the cross, beckoned God for help in this life and death situation. Consequently, God answered the prayers of Jesus affirmatively by sending an angel to strengthen Him, Luke 22:43. Jesus, getting past His battle in Gethsemane, prepared Himself for His life mission of dying for humanity. What some fail to consider is that "Christ incarnate" (God in flesh) had the power to sustain or revive Himself, but as in all things, Jesus lived by the Father's power and not His own. John 10:18, NASV, "No one has taken it away (my life) from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." Jesus was submissive to Father's will, but that doesn't infer Jesus had a contrary will; He Did Not. It's interesting to note that among the twenty-three different verses in scripture where Jesus was raised from the dead, twenty of them state that The Father raised Jesus from the dead, Acts 2:4, 2:32, 3:15, 3:26, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:10, 17:31, Rom. 4:24, 8:11, 10:9, Gal. 1:1, Col. 2:12, 2 Cor. 4:14, 1 Thess. 1:10, 2 Tim. 2:8, Heb. 13:20, Eph. 1:10, 1 Peter 1:21. One verse states that The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, 1 Peter 3:18. And two verses show that Jesus raised Himself from the dead, John 2:9, 10:17-18. They are all accurate, for The Three are all the same, One and Only God. As Man, Jesus was raised by Father. As God, Jesus raised Himself. The Trinity is both fascinating and corroborating the nature of God continually and consistently. Which further points out that God did not forsake His Son on the cross. Jesus, by His own power, could have come down from the cross. Instead, He chose not to as He condescended, even to the very point of death, limiting Himself as a human, always in submission to Father's will. And now we see, it was not the nails in the hands and feet of Jesus that held Him on the cross. IT WAS HIS LOVE FOR YOU! He wasn't about to come down until He secured your pardon from hell! Now don't be a fool, living your life as if there's no hell to shun, and no heaven to gain! Go For God! Related Article