At the Cross...

[Of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane] Why was he trembling in that garden, weeping and full of anguish? We can rest assured that he was not a coward about to face Roman soldiers. Instead he was a Savior about to endure divine wrath.

Listen to his words: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." The "cup" is not a reference to a wooden cross; it is a reference to divine judgment. It is the cup of God's wrath.

This is what Jesus is recoiling from in the garden. All God's holy wrath and hatred toward sin and sinners, stored up since the beginning of the world, is about to be poured out on him, and he is sweating blood at the thought of it.

What happened at the Cross was not primarily about nails being thrust into Jesus' hands and feet but about the wrath due your sin and my sin being thrust upon his soul. In that holy moment, all the righteous wrath and justice of God due us came rushing down like a torrent on Christ himself. Some say, "God looked down and could not bear to see the suffering that the soldiers were inflicting on Jesus, so he turned away." But this is not true. God turned away because he could not bear to see your sin and my sin on his Son.

One preacher described it as if you and I were standing a short hundred yards away from a dam of water ten thousand miles high and ten thousand miles wide. All of a sudden that dam was breached, and a torrential flood of water came crashing toward us. Right before it reached our feet, the ground in front of us opened up and swallowed it all. At the Cross, Christ drank the full cup of the wrath of God, and when he had downed the last drop, he turned the cup over and cried out, "It is finished."

This is the gospel. The just and loving Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his Son, God in the flesh, to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the Resurrection so that all who trust in him will be reconciled to God forever.

- an excerpt Radical, by David Platt

Happy Birthday, Dad!

...belated birthday, that is. I have been a terrible blog updater! A few weeks ago, Adam and I were able to enjoy another visit from Mom and Dad Samu, this time for Dad's birthday! We had a great time exploring our surroundings, hanging out in the City, and just enjoying the company of family.
We went into NYC on a beautifully sunny (but still a little chilly) day, and decided to make Central Park our first stop, since we only caught it at night last time. The food trucks parked on the Green made for a perfect little lunch.
Then, after taking in the beautiful surroundings of the park and wishing we could go
bouldering on all the sweet rocks (ok, maybe that was just me) we made our way through the City. We had to make a stop at FAO Schwarz to see if anything caught our eye for our little and brand new (!)nephews, but a certain someone else got a little more joy out of it than we all anticipated. Adam gave new meaning to the phrase, "like a kid in a candy store." With teddy bears as big as he is and a ginormous selection of the freshest sour gummies around, I'd say he was a
happy camper.














Next we made our way into a hat store, where our studly men strutted their stuff, and then headed towards an old pizza spot my dad had seen on TV. Patsy's Pizzeria: a New York original, producing giant, fresh, coal-fired pizzas. It was delicious, and we had no problem scarfing it down after our day of walking.

This cake, on the other hand, we did not have as much room for. For Dad's birthday we got dinner at one of our favorite Indian spots in Stamford, Tawa. Unfortunately there were no awkward belly dancers this time, but we did enjoy some delicious food, and managed to save room for homemade German chocolate cake.

Happy Birthday, Dad! So glad you guys came!

(!) And on the birthday note, congratulations to Chad and Lindsay!! We are so stoked for the arrival of our new nephew, Asher!