Sunday School

INTRODUCTION. As we consider our LORD’s ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane, we must realize that He was confronted with an infinitely more difficult situation. The eternal salvation of the people He loved so much depended on Him; yet the death that He had to die would go beyond loathing or terror. It would be a death for sin—a death that would require the sinless One to become “sin for us” (see II Corinthians 5:21). However, the incarnate Son realized that He had to take on this most repugnant death Himself to secure our redemption. Jesus willingly took our sin upon Himself but not without a struggle. This week’s lesson details some of the anguish He experienced in anticipation of that awful event.