With willing dread, Jesus accepted a cup of judgment so awful that if there were any other way for God’s purpose of redeeming His people to be achieved without doing so, He would have preferred not to. He accepted it so that we would not have to.
We’ll prepare for worship singing Never Alone and then begin with Jesus Shall Reign Where’er The Sun. Our prayer of adoration and confession will bring to mind the righteousness and holiness of God, and express faith in the Lord Jesus who was righteous in our place and received the full weight of God’s just punishment for our sins.
Before The Throne Of God Above will give voice to our belief in God’s acceptance of us, and our continued reception as righteous in His sight because of Jesus’ constant intercession for us. The Nicene Creed will be our corporate confession of faith after which we’ll sing Now To Him Who Loved Us.
In God’s Word, Jeremiah 17 continues to express the sin of Judah, further reminding us that God is aware of all that His people do, and that what we do matters to Him. Our hope will come in the acknowledgment of God’s forgiving mercy as we sing from Psalm 32 What Blessedness Belongs To Him.
Continuing in Matthew 26, verses 31 to 46, Jesus again warns the disciples of what will happen to Him and the effect it will have on them. Peter, speaking for the disciples tells Jesus they know better. Jesus tells Peter that he doesn’t know better. In the garden Jesus struggles with something that seems far greater than the bare situation. His dread speaks of a reality far deeper than first appears. He accepts something terrible, so we never have to. It also speaks of a love that we can never earn or deserve, but can only simply receive with thanks and gratitude.
After singing When I See What You Can See we’ll receive God’s grace through the Lord’s Supper, be led in our prayers of thanksgiving and for the needs of others and then conclude our worship with a rousing rendition of O For A Thousand Tongues. We won’t have a thousand tongues (maybe a hundred), but we’ll sing as if we did.
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