It was because Jesus was made to be sin, and bear God’s judgment on sin, that he trembled in the garden, and because he was actually bearing that judgment that he declared himself forsaken of God on the cross.
–J. I. Packer
Perhaps you have wondered about Jesus’ anguish in the garden before going to the cross, and you thought (like I once did) that it was all about the physical pain that He was about to endure. I have heard it preached that way in the past, and have even said it myself from the pulpit. But then we encounter various Christian martyrs who did not seem to flinch at the prospect of enduring pain and/or cruel, torturous deaths for their belief in Jesus. So were they more courageous than Jesus? No, of course not.
So it must have been something else that Jesus was in anguish over… such as the fact that for the first time in all of eternity, His unity with the Father would be severed for a time while He was made to be sin and bear God’s judgment on that sin… my sin.
My sin should have separated me from God. Instead, Jesus chose my punishment. And it was that punishment of being separated from God that caused him to tremble in the garden and declare Himself forsaken of God on the cross.
Thank you Jesus for loving me so much that you would endure that cruel, torturous separation from the Father in my place.