For heaven's sake, He sweat blood for you!

First things first, Jesus' greatest desire is to save all of humanity. He longs to bring each and every soul on the face of this earth back home, and YES that includes you who are reading it right now! He values each soul as though that particular soul were the only one on the face of the earth. His whole passion, death and Resurrection proves it but the reality is this most, if not all of us have given in to the prejudice of familiarity. We get so used to hearing phrases, homilies and talks that essentially tells us that God loves us, wants us, thirsts for our Salvation so much so we tend to get numb to it. It is as though all these messages hit against a wall and fall flat to the ground before they reach us. If we do nothing about it, we will become lukewarm and that is the last thing we would want to become as Revelations 3:16 says ,'But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth'

Friends, the purpose of this article is to help you snap out of that numbness and lukewarmness. Jesus really loves you and longs to save you, to save your soul! Let's take a look at Luke 22:44, 'In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground'. Sweat that is like drops of blood is a rare medical condition known as Hematidrosis which actually only happens under extreme physical conditions and when the person is under extreme stress. What happens is tiny blood vessels burst and cause blood to exit the body through the sweat glands. The context of Luke 22:44 was not one in which Jesus was undergoing extreme physical exertion. On the contrary, He was merely kneeling. So, what was so stressful about kneeling?

Theologians hold that it was in this moment that Jesus beheld a vision of the faces each and every soul that existed before, during and was to exist after His time on earth as man. He saw you and He saw me. He saw the weight of our sins and He knew the cost of our Salvation. He willingly and readily took it up, He carried the burden of our sins and cost of our Salvation on His shoulders. Beholding the face of each human being(alongside the weight of our sins) that ever existed and was to exist was just too overwhelming for his body.

Friends, I could go on and on and cite more breath-taking examples of His Love for you and His thirst for your salvation but let's just let Luke 22:44 SINK IN! He saw your face at the agony in the garden and He said you are worth dying for ! All you have to do is open up your heart, let Him pour out His love for you and love Him in return. You are loved, you are made worthy, you are precious and you are His beloved child.

I pray that your heart was moved and if it was moved indeed, now it is time for you to get up and move. Run to confession, run to adoration, run to Mass to remove any numbness left towards His love and put aside hindrances so that you can better accept and experience His love which He pours out for you always. May we fall in love more and more each day with the one who loves us the most perfectly.