They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Struggling before GodJesus’ prayer in the garden is one of the most humbling pieces of Scripture in the whole of the Bible. The Son of God is pleading with God for strength, support and even relief from the task ahead of him. Jesus prays “I want your will to be done not mine.” We do not think of this often, but Jesus is admitting his will, his desire is for something other than what God has for him.
For some of us this thought is close to blasphemy. Jesus and God are one, how could he desire, even will something other than what God desires and wills. We speak of Jesus’ will and God’s will as synonymous and interchangeable. How can Jesus want something other than God’s will? Isn’t that sin?
Paul assures us Jesus did not sin. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians. 5:21) What we find in Christ’s prayer in the garden is not sin, but the honest struggle we also face in life: Exchanging our will for the will of God. The words of Christ are not the secret language us prayer, they convey the real and difficult language of surrender.
Jesus does not sin, for he surrenders his will for that of God. Jesus knew God’s will, he was there with God when it was decided he would come into the world as a baby to eventually die for our sins. Yet in his humanity, he still struggles with the choice in the garden.
We should not be surprised when we struggle with surrendering to God’s will for our life. Just as Christ struggled so will we, but we have an example of to struggle without falling into sin. Laying our struggle out before God with honesty and pleading is not sin. God welcomes our struggle and desires to strengthen us to be able with Christ to say yes to his will and no to our own.
Father of strength and patience who listens to my struggle, I am forever grateful for the example of Christ who came before you honestly in his time of struggle and found strength to follow your will. Help me to find the same strength in my struggle to submit to your will in my life. - Dan Jones
When friends failOur closest friends aren’t supposed to fail us in our hour of deepest need! When they do, the hurt shoots into the soul with such forcefulness that forgiveness comes very slowly, if it comes at all. I cannot imagine the pain in Jesus’ voice when he asks Peter, “Simon, are you asleep?”
Remember, Peter, James and John were the three closest disciples to Jesus. Jesus included them in experiences that the other 9 did not share. In fact, James and John were his cousins. John and Jesus enjoyed an especially affectionate friendship. But in his darkest they failed him.
Even those who profess undying love and loyalty, think Peter, fail miserably. This is not just an issue of others failing me. This is about me and my friendship with Jesus. If these three can fail the greatest Friend ever known, than so can I.
When I should be tuned into his heart and mind I can be clueless. When I should be fully in his presence, my mind and heart wander. When time together should have developed a deep understanding of what makes him tick, I remain perplexed by his words and tears. Still he is my friend that sticks closer than a brother to me; one who never fails me.
Goodnes! If the One I so easily fail responds with faithfulness, then surely, if I merge my heart and mind with his, I too can respond to my friends failures with the same faithfulness.
Jesus, I want to be a better friend to you. Still, even when I fail you, thank you for your amazing faithfulness. Grant me to live so fully in your presence and connect with your mind and heart that I too can return faithfulness with my friends fail me. - Mike Leamon
2 comments:
I have heard many Theologians disagree with this passage of Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.
I believe that it wasn't the suffering on the cross that Jesus was crying out about at Gethsemane, but the fact He would be separated from His Father.
The sins of the world upon him while on the cross would mean, first time and only time, of separation.
Jesus was and is God's will.
I think Istehlik is on to something. Most exegetes connect this passage to Psalm 22 and other Psalms of lament...traditional Christian reading of these texts subscribe them to the suffering of a righteous person and their expressions of deep anguish because of the feelings of seperation from God. These of course were typological to Christ's actual seperation from God the Father on the cross, and the foresakeness he withstood as a propitiation for our sin. BTW, is Dan Jones the author of this blog? If so, please give us a detailed descriptive essay on Dr. Spock as analogous to Christians imitating the mind of Christ...this should be good!
Steve Aguzzi
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