When Stephen was martyred, he went silent and closed his eyes.

When Deacon Lawrence was burned in the fire, he looked up and said, “Turn me over; I’m done on this side.”

Polycarp died without a whimper at the stake for not recounting his faith.

None cried out. None begged for mercy. And they certainly aren’t alone. For centuries, saints have died for their faith. And for centuries, they have done so courageously.

What then are we to make of Jesus Himself, who when facing his own death, anguished with so much worry that he sweat drops of blood. And when he was dying, he cried out that God has forsaken Him?

You could say that Jesus was a coward. That although He spent His life challenging authority, bucking the system, and facing down challenge and danger, when He finally came to the end he couldn’t bear it. If that’s true, then Jesus was a coward.

But if we say that we fail to recognize the greatest and ultimate horror of the crucifixion. Nod doubt the cross was full of physical pain. It’s the most cruel form of execution that the world has ever known. But that’s not the worst of it.

The worst of it was that God chose, in that moment, to inflict His wrath on His son. In those few short hours on the cross, an eternity of hell was poured on on the Son. 

In some cosmic way, the fellowship of the Trinity was broken. Jesus bore all of the wrath of God on our behalf. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.

Jesus was no coward. He, without protest, experienced the worst. We experience the best.