The following is a brief devotional inspired by Luke 22:39-44, when Jesus agonizes in prayer prior to being crucified.

Has the phrase “Jesus loves you” ever sounded cheap to you? In the daily grind of our lives, the problems and grief we experience tempt us to harden ourselves to this crown jewel of truth. We struggle to embrace this statement with our hearts because of the brokenness in and around us.

The enemy sees the downtrodden soul and whispers lies to it.

“If God really loved you, you wouldn’t be going through this.”

“It’s time you start looking out for yourself, this following Christ thing isn’t working.”

“This is hopeless and is only going to get worse.”

Yet, we are shown that it is through His own agony that Jesus’ love for sinners is most clearly seen.

Agony. The God Man was so troubled that He was in agōnia – a form of suffering so great that His capillary blood vessels burst and blood dropped from his skin to the earth. The suffering servant cried out to the Father as He anticipated the wrath He was about to endure.

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”

This “cup,” the cup often spoken of by the Old Testament prophets, was filled with the full force of God’s hatred and judgement of sin. The sins of the world, as John would later write.

In this request, we are shown the magnitude of our sin and the even greater substance of Christ’s infinite love for sinners. As the “Good Shepherd,” Jesus willingly lays down His life for the sheep by submitting Himself to the will of God the Father, finishing the work He was sent to do. We are told that it’s by the fact of Christ’s death on the cross for us that we know God loves us.

Has anyone suffered for you like Jesus? Has anyone triumphed for you like Jesus? Consider the Messiah’s wounds when your heart is tempted to harden and you’ll come away counting your own ways of defining love as the cheap thing.