Soul sufferings of Jesus?

Yes!

In Gethsemane, Jesus told His Disciples … “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.” Mark 14:34, this sure sounds like suffering to me, Anguish untold! He did NOT say “body!”

Add John 12:27 … “Now is my soul troubled,” where “tarasso” at least means “disturbed, disquieted, restless!”

And on the Cross itself, according to Isaiah, “It pleased the LORD (God the Father) to bruise him (Jesus); he hath put him to grief: when thou (God the Father) shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed ….” Isaiah 53:10 (parentheses added for clarity). Yes, any sin offering suffered!

In Isaiah 53:11 Jesus is said to be in “travail” of soul! a noun indicating “pain, misery, toil, grief!” Still the idea, the very fact of Jesus’ suffering in soul!

And one verse further, Isaiah 53:12, we learn that at Calvary Jesus “poured out” His soul unto death! Perhaps Isaiah links this Suffering with Jesus being “numbered with transgressors” and “bearing the sin of many” … to help explicate the grueling experience!

And of course, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4 leaves no doubt.

Jesus bore our sin there on Golgotha’s Hill! He died my death there! Actually, He suffered my Hell there!

Has your “soul” been saved?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Oh, what a Saviour!

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I have been wondering something. If we are going to seek to learn about the “soul sufferings” of Jesus on the Cross … must we not at least attempt to consider the sufferings of God the Father as well?

Did God suffer that Day?

Is God the Father capable of suffering? Well, no doubt He has feelings. We are made (created) in His Image and we sure do have them!

Did God the Father “hurt” when He “gave” His only begotten Son to die for our sins? (John 3:16 … “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”)

Did God the Father “wince” when He turned His Head from His precious Son as Jesus paid our sin debt? Matthew 27:46 describes Jesus asking from Calvary … “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Did God “hesitate” when He made Jesus to be SIN for us? Jesus Who knew no sin! (2 Corinthians 5:21 … “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”)

Did God the Father “dread” the torturous Death His Son would face on the old, rugged Tree? He knew it millennia ahead, apparently! (Revelation 13:8 … “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”)

While we are in “deep waters” here, I strongly suggest that in some way, the Godhead (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) did agonize as Redemption was provided for lost sinners like us!

Maybe in eternity future we can learn these things!

Salvation is a Gift … but the Price our Salvation cost Almighty God is incomprehensible!

Of that I am sure.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Our Salvation, a Trinitarian Effort!

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The more I ponder this aspect of our Lord’s agony on the Cross, the more I realize how ineffable our Subject really is! (“Ineffable” means, using Latin as its base, “not” plus “utterable!” Beyond words!)

But I sure am thankful that Matthew, under the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, tells us this much: Jesus’ Soul was “exceeding sorrowful” while at Gethsemane. Matthew 26:38 … “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”

The Greek expression “exceeding sorrowful” is the meaning of one single adjective. Spelled “perilupos,” it’s a blend of two different words. “Peri” means overflowing and “all around” you. “Lupos” is cognate to “lupe,” the noun for “pain, grief, affliction, mourning.”

Soul suffering … for He has not yet been nailed to the Cross or scourged by Pilate’s lictors … spiritual pain over some area of His upcoming Atoning Sacrifice for sin!

We might just have to say this … beyond his physical torture, and there was plenty of that … Jesus suffered mentally, emotionally, internally and yes SPIRITUALLY … to a greater degree than we will ever know. That is, until we get to Glory!

Then Mark adds this nugget: that Jesus was “sore amazed“ in the Garden of Gethsemane as well. (Mark 14:33) This is another “loaded” Greek expression. “Ekthambeo,” It means “astonished, stunned,” maybe even (according to some scholars) “rendered immoveable!”

Again I mention … before the Cross itself!

While I cannot understand it all … I can “stand amazed” in His Presence, as I behold and adore and worship Him by faith!

More than every I say … WHAT A SAVIOUR!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Thank Him for what He underwent, all because He loved the lost and came to save them.

That included me!

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Soul sufferings?

Is this thought even Biblical?

Let me show you some vocabulary words that will help us answer that important question.

We are going to John chapter 10, a critical Body of Information on Jesus’ Life and Death.

There in verse 10 (of John 10) Jesus claims one of His great Titles. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Of course He here has the Cross at Calvary on His Mind. But let me share with you the word, the noun, Jesus used for His “LIFE.” It is the Greek word “psuche.” It is pronounced psoo-khay’ and is found 105 times in the New Testament. What does it mean? Over half of those occurrences “psuche” is translated (in our King James Bibles) “soul!”

Yes, He gave His Life for us old sinners. But here the primary emphasis is His SOUL. Now granted, “psuche” can also be translated “life” and indeed is a total of 40 times in Scripture. It is also rendered “mind” 3 times and “heart” 1 time.

The same Truth is presented in John 10:15 … “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life (psuche) for the sheep.”

Need more examples? “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life (psuche), that I might take it again.” John 10:17

No one (among Christians anyway) is doubting the Fact Jesus DIED on the Cross, gave His Body, His Life in that sense. I am just going further, deeper, and saying He suffered in His “soul” as well.That may be the area where His greatest Sufferings occurred!

(Frankly, I suspect on the Cross Jesus suffered in His soul, in His spirit, the equivalent of all my anguish and pain I would have faced in an eternal Hell. Had I not been saved! In other words, He paid my sin debt! Add to that the sufferings for all the lost world for whom Jesus died! Which I believe is everyone! Surely, we can never even imagine the tonnage of such weight on our dear Saviour. Soul sufferings indescribable.)

Likely, and I will return to this again and again in this series of lessons, the apex of Jesus’ soul sufferings occurred as He uttered these Words: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, quoting Psalm 22:1.

Let’s ponder these verses a couple of days. Then we will meet again and I’ll write more. There’s a lot to learn here. In fact, these Sufferings of our Lord are neglected today by too many believers.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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I read this line preparing for our lesson today. “God’s Wrath in the soul is the soul of suffering.”

Another Preacher believes that these Words of Jesus, spoken from the Cross, epitomize the very depths of His “soul-suffering.” Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 both carefully record them: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Is that WHY (or one of the reasons anyway) the Father “forsook” His Son that Day? The verb “to forsake” used here is powerful, compound, unique! It is a blend of two prepositions and a verb … “en” plus “kata” plus “leipo.” It means “to leave” or even (ghastly) “to fail” someone! And the two prefixes strongly intensify the action!

What’s that possible reason, Preacher?

I truly believe this. God’s fierce Wrath being poured out on sweet Jesus those Hours on the Cross!

And if so, I can already sense some degree (anyway) of the spiritual or soul suffering our Lord must have endured!

I do know this. God’s Wrath is abiding on every sinner on earth this very second! “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36

And logically, if (and He did) Jesus took our place on Golgotha’s Hill, God’s Wrath must have necessarily rested on the Saviour!

A thought perhaps beyond our comprehension!

God turned His Face from His Son … when Jesus became our sin-bearer!

When Jesus faced God’s Judgment (Wrath) in our place!

When we speak of Jesus being the “Propitiation” for our sins (1 John 2:2 … “And He is the propitiation for our sins.”) … we are saying that Jesus appeased (placated, satisfied) God’s Righteous Anger on Calvary!

Soul suffering?

Absolutely no doubt!

And I suspect the MORE we understand His Spiritual Agony, the more we will love Him.

Isaiah 53:6 is so right … “The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

What a Saviour!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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