Skip to content ↓

The Cross He Bore – Prayerful Submission

Articles Collection cover image

This is day two of our thirteen-day trek through Frederick Leahy’s The Cross He Bore. Today Leahy looks to Jesus’ words of submission to the Father. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will” (Matt 26:39).

Here is a favorite quote:


How clearly the true humanity of Christ is seen in Gethsemane, more so than in much of our standard dogmatics! For evangelicals are so concerned to defend the deity of Christ, and rightly so, that often they hardly know how to handle his humanity! Here, in Gethsemane, we see the sinless, finite humanity of Christ in deep and terrible distress. Calvin said that Christ had horror at the prospect of death because “he had before his eyes the dreadful tribunal of God, and the judge himself armed with inconceivable vengeance; and because our sins, the load of which was laid upon him, pressed him down with their enormous weight. There is no reason to wonder, therefore, if the dreadful abyss of destruction tormented him grievously with fear and anguish.” Yes, fear and anguish; but, unlike the experience of all others, it was fear untainted by sin. It was Ambrose who said, “He grieved for me, who had no cause of grief for himself; and, laying aside the delights of the eternal Godhead, he experiences the affliction of my weakness.”

In Gethsemane it was never a question whether the Saviour would obey or disobey. In Eden God asked, “Adam, where are you?” In a sense the question was repeated in Gethsemane and this Adam did not try to hide; he had no need to; his whole response was clearly, “Here am I!”


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 8)

    A La Carte: 15 ways to discern false teaching / The queering of history / The best part of my day / 6 kinds of hearers of God’s Word / Countering Muslim attacks on the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Wonder of the Human Face

    The Wonder of the Human Face

    Then there are the wonders of human ingenuity: the machines, the inventions, the works of art. One lifetime is not nearly enough to explore or appreciate even the smallest fraction of them all.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 7)

    A La Carte: A Christian patriot and his wayward nation / Outprinting the prosperity gospel / The organic church / A stranger in my homeland / Friendship’s faithful wounds / Sharing the gospel with someone who keeps rejecting it / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pray Until You Feel Like It

    It is wise to set aside a time and place to pray—to build the habit and to then maintain it. But creating the habit may not always create the desire.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (July 5)

    A La Carte: Let’s not rush to roles / Before you go to the nations / Children are not adults / Lia Thomas and a dark chapter for women’s athletics / No pit so deep / The first five years / and more.