Was It Possible?

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Matthew 26:39

Was it possible that God would let the cup, which Jesus would soon drink, pass from Him? Yes, I suppose, but only for that evening. However, I would say His death was inevitable. Why? Because God’s Word is true; immutable. The Messiah was prophetically spoken of, foretold and promised. His given name was Jesus, who would save His people from their sins. For these reasons, and a multitude of others, Jesus had to die on the cross. However, could the cup have been withheld  that night?  I think it was possible because of what Jesus told his disciples a few minutes later, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” Consequently, I believe that His capture that evening, the trials and crucifixion might have been delayed if Jesus had summoned those legions. But could God have changed His mind? Was it possible? What if, at the last moment, God said, ‘No! He is My only begotten Son! I repent that I ever sent Him!”

Is the idea of God repenting unthinkable? No; not in reading Genesis 6: 5,6: “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” We read again in Exodus 32:14, “And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”  In both instances, the meaning of ‘repent’ (nakham in Hebrew) is to be sorry; moved to pity; or to have compassion. I have no doubt that God was sorry and had compassion for His Son. However, for God ‘to repent’ would not have made Jesus’ request permanent regardless how great and infinite God’s compassion and love for His Son. Why? Because we also know from John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He sent His Son. Even as God knew the names of His elect before the foundation of the earth was laid, God knew the price of His elect. In actuality, the verses in Genesis and Exodus provide us incredible insight into why it was impossible for God to withhold the cup from His Son that night. Why? Because God is true to His:

• Elect. From Genesis we read how God repented for creating man after He saw the evil that was on earth. While most were ultimately drowned, we find that God did spare Noah and his family. What this tells us is that God is true to His elect. In Noah’s case God spared the eight souls that were in his family. While that is not many considering the potential thousands of people that died, this passage equally proves that despite God’s pity and compassion for sinful man, that His judgment and justice will also be done.

• Name. In the passage in Exodus, God was angry with the children of Israel for their worship of the golden calf; this in willful violation of what they had been told and after witnessing the great things God had done in their deliverance from Egypt. However, in verse 12, what did Moses remind his friend? “Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.”   Again, we find God holding true to His promise to the elect, but in this case, he held true for his namesake, which answers the question of ‘why his immutability?’ 

I can’t imagine any father sending his son into harm’s way, especially if he knew that sending him would end in his son’s death. However, that is what Jesus’ Father did, and although God knew His Son would be shortly resurrected, I can’t believe that that pending and glorious victory would have swept under any eternal rug the cry of Jesus,  “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  If anything, that cry alone, resounding throughout eternity, is the basis for Christ’s intercession on our behalf!  I just thank God that He is true to His name and to His elect.