You would never have planned it this way, but there he was. You happened to be strolling through the park one evening when you saw him, kneeling in intense prayer a little ways off. There was something striking about this man that drew you closer and as you watched his lips move you wondered what could be weighing on this man’s heart. You could see the beads of sweat forming around his forehead and dropping to the ground. What was going through his mind? What was he struggling with that he came to the Lord with such fervent prayers?

It wasn’t until several days later, when Jerusalem was abuzz with excitement about the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth that you realized you had the honor of witnessing the prayers of Jesus hours before he was put to death.

We owe a debt of thanks to the writers of the gospels because through them we were with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and we know exactly what was going through his mind when he fell to the ground, crushed by the burden of what he was about to do. We know how he opened his mouth to plead before his Father that the cup of wrath he was about the drink would be taken away from him. We know how he suffered! We know the great tribulation our Good Shepherd passed through to earn us forgiveness.

Christ was no stranger to tribulation, and neither are we. We may not carry the weight of God’s punishment against sin on our shoulders, but we encounter our own things that press us down, that squeeze us until we wonder if we can take it anymore. The question is: how are we going to handle it? Where does our courage come from? Well it doesn’t come from inside of us. It comes from a tomb which does not contain a dead Jesus but is a living witness to the reality of what Jesus did. We can overcome those things that press and squeeze and crush by trusting in our Good Shepherd.

We are crushed…but never destroyed. It’s important to know that our tribulations, our sins, our denials, do not change our status. The Good Shepherd came to save sinners. The Good Shepherd came to dip our souls in his blood and make them clean. The Good Shepherd came so that we could repent of our sins. The Good Shepherd has saved you, so your sins are forgiven. You wear the white robe of Christ’s perfect life.

Each of you probably looks up to a person whom you view as a strong Christian. And what are they doing to stay strong? Chances are they have a found a way to have God’s Word frequently in their life. They confess their sins regularly to God and they make their way to the Lord’s Supper frequently. They take time for fervent and frequent prayer.

The more we dip into God’s Word, the more we whiten our robes in the blood of the Good Shepherd for the strength to endure. And the great tribulation is overcome by our great Good Shepherd.