The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 349

Christ. Even after entering upon His earthly mission, the Saviour,
wearied with the stubbornness and ingratitude of men, might have drawn
back from the sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe
trembled in His hand. He might even then have wiped the blood-sweat
from His brow and have left the guilty race to perish in their iniquity.
Had He done this, there could have been no redemption for fallen men.
But when the Saviour yielded up His life, and with His expiring breath
cried out, “It is finished,” then the fulfillment of the plan of redemption
was assured. The promise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden
was ratified. The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by the
promise of God, was then established.
Thus the death of Christ—the very event which the disciples had
looked upon as the final destruction of their hope—was that which made
it forever sure. While it had brought them a cruel disappointment, it was
the climax of proof that their belief had been correct. The event that had
filled them with mourning and despair was that which opened the door
of hope to every child of Adam, and in which centered the future life and
eternal happiness of all God’s faithful ones in all the ages.
Purposes of infinite mercy were reaching their fulfillment, even
through the disappointment of the disciples. While their hearts had been
won by the divine grace and power of His teaching, who “spake as never
man spake,” yet intermingled with the pure gold of their love for Jesus,
was the base alloy of worldly pride and selfish ambitions. Even in the
Passover chamber, at that solemn hour when their Master was already
entering the shadow of Gethsemane, there was “a strife among them,
which of them should be accounted the greatest.” Luke 22:24. Their
vision was filled with the throne, the crown, and the glory, while just
before them lay the shame and agony of the garden, the judgment hall,
the cross of Calvary. It was their pride of heart, their thirst for worldly

348