The third record of Jesus’ tears appears in a passage in Hebrews describing the very humanness of His suffering. In the garden…the olive grove…the place of “the press”…Jesus felt the weight of the cross so powerfully that He cried out to the Father with the hot tears of human anguish, that the suffering be avoided. 

What was it that pressed down on Him with such agonising weight?

It was Peter who gave us the clue. Why Peter? Let’s examine this episode with microscopic precision. 

First, Hebrews takes us to the nature of Jesus’ suffering…not the things that His enemies would do to Him…the flogging, the nails, the agony of hanging for hours in the hot sun, the thirst, the unbearable pain, being unable to breathe…all so very real but…what His reaction would be. 

“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Very clear…very specific! Four words…” He suffered being tempted!” The spotlight was on His suffering in the temptation!

Again, Peter understood where the most vulnerable part of Jesus’ humanity would be touched…His flesh…the part of His nature that most resembled the “first Adam”…created innocent…but able both to sin and not to sin. 

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Do you get the picture? 

Jesus was born with the nature of the first Adam, innocent, without sin, but vulnerable because He had the power to choose…exactly as Adam had. Paul called Jesus “the last Adam”. 

When Adam sinned, he retaliated by refusing to accept responsibility for his disobedience. He blamed God and his wife. 

“The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What did Jesus suffer? He suffered being tempted, specifically because temptation forced Him to make a choice…to please God or to please Himself. To please Himself would have meant death! 

Why was His suffering in what He was tempted to do? To please Himself would have meant doing what His flesh demanded…fight back against injustice because He knew He was innocent of the charges. 

Everything that people did to Jesus was the outcome of the worst, most heinous, most unforgivable injustice. His enemies had decided His fate before He was ever brought to trial. They cancelled Him first…they condemned Him because of who they were, not because of who He was. 

The most reasonable human response would be self-preservation…push back…retaliate…defend! 

Jesus knew that if He did that, He would lose the battle. Self would rule Him. The outcome would be failure…death to Himself and all mankind. 

So…

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Again, do you get the picture? Rather than retaliate, Jesus absorbed into Himself the worst that humanity could do to Him. He chose the Father’s will above His own…and the cost to Him was physical death. 

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, at the peak of His temptation, Jesus wept. 

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now, let’s see what Peter had to say…

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus won His battle in the garden, not on the cross…in prayer…in His reverent submission to the Father’s will. His was not a once-off prayer…but a day-by-day attitude to the Father, culminating in His submission to the Father’s will in Gethsemane. 

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ tears were the ultimate expression of submission…giving Himself over, utterly and completely, to the will of the Father.