Jesus’ mind must have been filled with every detail of this plan. From the manger to the cross, the scriptures were His guide. They traced out the purpose of His birth and the implications of His death. We often read words like these in the gospels, “now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying . . .” (Matthew 1:22). It was the Word of God He made Himself subject to—it was that which contained the will of God for Him, the definite plan of redemption.

It is amazing to see how faithful Jesus was to this plan; how careful He was not to go faster than the providence of God would take Him. Yet He walked in step with the perfect timing of prophecy and moved fast enough to keep outside of the reach of evil men and angels bent upon destroying Him before His work was done.

When Jesus healed people early on in His ministry, He usually told them not to spread the news of their healing. He did this to avoid premature attention. It was for this same reason that He charged His disciples, “that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ” (Matthew 16:20). Similarly, when He cast out demons, “he suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him” (Mark 1:34).

When Jesus knew that the Pharisees were plotting His death, He avoided going to those places. It was not yet His time. His capture and His death, later in His ministry, were not an accident or a failure of the plan—they were part of the plan. Christ was always in full control of what happened to Him. He said, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17, 18).

After Christ’s ascension, Peter told the Jews, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:22, 23). In verse 23 the English Standard Version reads, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV, emphasis added).

But while Christ was with them, this was a point the disciples were slow to learn. The very first time that Jesus sought to relate the reality of His suffering to His disciples, He was met with a surprising reaction.“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” (Matthew 16:21, 22).

What is more remarkable is Christ’s response, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou are an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23).

Christ then introduced His disciples to the nature of His ministry, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (verse 24).

The cross was ever before Christ. It was the reason He was born and the waymark that shaped His life. Often we see Him mention His suffering and the crucifixion when in conversation with His disciples or the believers—and it’s as though nobody heard Him. They just carried on as though nothing was said. Sometimes they were too afraid to ask Him what He meant in case they might realize the unwelcome reality of the cross. An example of this is found in Mark 9:8–10 just after Jesus was transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John.

“And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean” (Mark 9:8–10, emphasis added).

But Jesus kept familiarizing them with His suffering, especially as they neared Jerusalem.

“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him” (Mark 9:30–32).

Jesus was not dissuaded. It seems that the closer He came to the cross, the more determined He was to go through with it. Look at this amazing verse: “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

Mark tells us, “they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him” (Mark 10:32).

As Jesus approached the final Passover with His disciples, He again predicted His death. But this time He was even more specific with regard to the timing, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2).

After this He made five references to His death all found within chapter 26 of Matthew:

1. When Mary Magdalene anointed Him with an alabaster box of precious ointment, Jesus said, “For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial” (Matthew 26:12).

2. When Jesus tells His disciples to go into the city, “to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples” (Matthew 26:18).

3. At the passover, when He dipped His hand in the dish with Judas, He said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him” (Matthew 26:24).

4. As He instituted the Lord’s Supper as a memorial of His death.

5. And finally as He said these words after supper, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad” (Matthew 26:31).

It becomes clear that Jesus was consciously following the definite plan of God for Him, as written out in the holy scriptures. He saw it all before it happened, and although the multitudes did not understand it, and His own disciples had other plans, He pressed forward—with each step, taking on more of the guilt of the world upon His shoulders. He was doing it for them. He pressed forward, until He came to the garden of Gethsemane. It was from here to the crucifixion that His soul was to be tortured by the dreadful nature of sin and its consequences. His soul was now being made an offering for sin.

It was Jesus’ custom to go to this garden and pray, but this night He chose this garden for you and me. Notice the reason why: “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples” (John 18:1, 2, emphasis added).

It was because Judas was going to find Him there that Jesus went there. Nothing reveals the love of Jesus to me like the victory He gained for the human race this night at the garden. Our eternal destiny hung by a thread with Jesus, and He decided to cast His lot with us—but not without a dreadful struggle! We will never fully know.

Prostrate, tormented, Jesus had lain praying while pressed against the dark cold soil moistened by His own tears, His own blood.

Everything Christ had done from infancy to manhood, He did to get to this point—and it was here, at the garden of Gethsemane that the destiny of the human race trembled in His hands. Three times He cried out in agony.

The first time He said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). The second time, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42). He said similar words the third time He prayed. And then, the scriptures contain this curious account of what He did:

“Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people” (Matthew 26:45–47, emphasis added).

Christ now alerts His disciples and says, “Let us be going,” but where? Was He now running away from Judas? No! No! He had already struggled with laying down His life as a sacrifice for sin, but now, having made up His mind to go through with it, where does He go? Notice these words in the gospel according to John:

“Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek Ye?” (John 18:3, 4, emphasis added). What courage! This was not a small crowd. A band of Roman soldiers was made up of at least hundreds of men. But there was no fear with Jesus. The cup of shame and suffering had already trembled in His hand, but He had decided to drink it. He “went forth,” confidently, fearlessly to meet His enemies, and to selflessly embrace His cross.

The definite plan of God for Christ included you and me. Let us be faithful, as Jesus was, in submission to God’s will written out for us in the Scriptures.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18–20).