Leviticus 16:20-22 NIV
[20] “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. [21] He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. [22] The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
The night Jesus was betrayed, He and His disciples went up to the Mount of Olives. He asked the eight to stay there, but He took Peter James and John with him to pray a bit farther away. Then Matthew says He began to be sorrowful and troubled (Matthew 26:37). Then He tells these three disciples
My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.
Matthew 26:28
Then He went a throw away from them and prayed (Luke 22:40-42). Luke records that Jesus prayed earnestly til His sweat became like drops of blood on His head (Luke 22:44).
Now, Jesus has already faced the flogging, crown of thorns, and cross. I want you to understand that no matter how hard His mission was on this earth, that wasn’t what He was sweating blood over asking His Father to let pass from Him if possible. Think about it for a second. There’s Christians that have been skinned alive. Others have been impaled on a pole, covered in tar, and set on fire, all still while being alive. There’s others who have been ripped to shreds by wild animals. Christians have suffered much over the years. His own disciples have been boiled alive in burning oil, yet someone survived (John the Beloved).
Jesus would not expect us to carry a burden that He Himself tried to get out of. That He Himself sweat blood over. No. Jesus was sweating blood over fulfilling (well partly fulfilling) the Day of Atonement, which was to take the sin of the world upon Himself and carry it away to Azazel. Away from the presence of God.
There’s only one place in the afterlife described in such a way, Hell. Jesus was sweating blood because of Hell. He had to endure those flames of Hell itself in order to take away the sin of the world from us. So, the LORD Himself has to go to eternity outside of time and carry such a great sin away. This eternity didn’t feel like a set time but like eternity. Christ’s sacrifice didn’t end on the cross. His work wasn’t finished. He still had to carry away the sin of the world.
Dear LORD, thank You for taking my sin away from me. Thank You for freeing me from such a cruel slave master, such as sin. Thank You for loving me enough to sacrifice Yourself for me. Thank You, God, for Your never-ending love for me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.