Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden. Notice what sin did, how it disrupted man, and how it brought a curse upon the whole human race, as referred to in Romans 5:12. You see, sin brought shame. Before sin came, there was no such a thing as shame. Read Genesis 2:25. And now after sin came, there was shame, Genesis 3:10, and it was sin that brought that shame.

Well, the Bible says that Jesus was made “to be sin” for us. That means He apparently became a spectacle of shame, because there was “shame” connected to that cross in Hebrews 12, verses 2 and following. Had Jesus not become “shame” for us, then we would be doomed for eternity. But sin brought shame. Jesus was made a spectacle, you see? Whoever heard of wearing around the neck on a golden chain an electric chair as an ornament? Whoever heard of wearing around the neck on a golden chain a symbol of the gallows?—or a symbol or ornament of the gas chamber?—or a symbol of that “lethal weapon” that is now used in some states? Nobody had ever thought of glory on a cross, until Jesus died. A cross was not a thing to glory in, and yet Paul said he had no “glory, save [except] in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Galatians 6:14. Why did Paul glory in the cross of Christ?—because our Lord Jesus Christ was made “to be sin” for us on that cross. He’d given God complete obedience, total surrender, had never sinned, and had never deviated. He said that He wanted to do God’s Will, and He taught His disciples to pray, “Thy Will be done,” Matthew 6:10. In the garden that night, He said, “not My Will, but Thine be done,” Luke 22:42 [and see Matthew 26:39].

But, also, sin brought “sorrow,” Genesis 3:16. In Isaiah 53, verses 3 and 4,the Bible says that Jesus was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”A “man of sorrows”? That doesn’t mean He was pessimistic. That doesn’t mean He was disgruntled or soured on life. No, not that at all! He was “a man of sorrows,” meaning that He felt all of the weight of the sins of the world with all of the conscience of God.

Well, in the Garden of Gethsemane that night, Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 26:38 and 39, (whom He later left about a stone’s throw away), “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.” Originally, that meant overwhelmed with sorrow. Why?—because He was made “to be sin” for us. Sin brought shame—He was a spectacle of shame. Sin brought sorrows—He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

But sin also brought on a curse, Genesis 3:17. And in Galatians 3:13, the Bible says that He was made to be “a curse for us.” What does that mean? Well, sin brought a curse, and Jesus became a curse because He was made “to be sin” for us, that we might be otherwise [that we might not stand sinful; that we might stand sinless] before the Almighty.

But sin also brought on separation. Read Genesis 3, verses 18 to 24. Sin drove man from his paradise. It striped him of his Eden. It separated him from God. Why? That’s what sin does!

On the cross, Jesus uttered some words that for a long, long time have puzzled me. How many times have we wrestled with Matthew 27:46, when on that cross Jesus said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” If somebody had asked you, “Did God ever forsake His Son?” you would probably quickly say, “No!” But you’d be wrong! You would be wrong! He didn’t say, “Have You forsaken Me?” No, He said, “Why did You do it?” And Jesus never miscalculated—He never misjudged. How do you account for God forsaking His Son? Was it on the grounds that sin did that because He was made “to be sin” for us? Yes.

Sin separates man from God. Our Lord allowed Himself to be separated from the Almighty, so you and I might not have to be separated from Him throughout all the world to come. “Thanks be unto God,” Paul said, “for His unspeakable gift,” 2 Corinthians 9:15. Again, notice what Paul said, that he had no “glory,” except it be “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” [Galatians 6:14].

Another passage that has bothered me very much is Matthew 26:39. When in the Garden of Gethsemane that night, down on His face, as Luke tells us in Luke 22, verses 42-44, in such “agony” that perspiration fell from His brow as if it were “drops of blood,” He said, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” What? Was He referring to His death on the cross? Didn’t He speak of that death on the cross in Matthew 16, verses 22 and 23? He did! And in the next chapter, Matthew 17, verses 22 and following, He spoke of it again. Three chapters later, in Matthew 20, verses 17 and following, He spoke of it again! In Luke 9:51, “He steadfastly set His face” toward “Jerusalem,” knowing that plans had been made to kill Him! If He knew all along at the end of that journey that there was that cross, and He knew what it meant to die on a cross—He knew the agony—then how do you account for the prayer that night in the Garden? Well, a lot depends upon what you see in Jesus that night, down on His face in such agony, really crying unto His Father. Hebrews 5:7 says “cryings” that could be heard echoing through those valleys—the Kidron Valley and the Tyropoeon Valley, and even another valley that’s been covered up now.

Well, if you see [think of] Jesus that night only as a man, suffering at the hands of men, He must have been a coward! But He was no coward! At no time—at no time!—was He ever a pitiful victim, but at all times He was a princely victor! If you see Jesus down on His face that night, standing at the gate of hell and about to bear the wrath of God, then you know that it’s no wonder He shuttered that night when He prayed, “if it be possible, let this cup pass.”It wasn’t that He was afraid to die, knowing in three days He would rise again. That wasn’t it! He wasn’t afraid of what man could take—He’d take anything that man could inflict! No, that wasn’t it!