DESPONDENT BUT DETERMINED
Kendra Intihar
Today's Scripture: "And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, 'Sit here while I pray.'" Mark 14:32, ESV
Theme: When Jesus was facing the most difficult task of His life, He invited His friends into His sorrow and into the strength He gained from His Father.
JESUS AGONIZED
After the Lord’s Supper, the disciples went with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. After bidding the disciples to sit “while I go over there and pray,” the Lord took Peter, James, and John further along. He said to His friends, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38b, NIV). A mere stone’s throw away from them, He began to agonize in prayer to the Father: “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39b, NIV).
This is the moment when it is clearest to me that Jesus was fully God and fully man. He wasn’t a demigod, or a man with God-powers, or a lowercase “g” god who was dressed up like a human. He was God. He was man. We see it in His anguish as He prays to the Father that, if it were possible, God’s wrath be expended in a different way. Jesus, praying desperately and sweating drops of blood, chose God’s will.
Jesus knew that the cup of God’s wrath had to be poured out against the sin and evil that had corrupted His beautiful creation, including His image-bearing creatures. God loves us so much. Because Jesus accepted this cup, we are redeemed.
EXHAUSTED FROM SORROW
“When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation’” (Luke 22:45-46, NIV).
Jesus knew that, though tempted, He would never abandon God’s will. He knew His friends would suffer temptation, though, which is why He asked them to pray. And He was right. In fact, moments later, Peter would be rebuked by Jesus for drawing his sword to cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the Jewish High Priest. Killing even the enemies of the Lord was not God’s will, but Peter fell prey to that temptation – and others – as the night wore on.
JESUS IS FAITHFUL
Jesus chastised Peter, James, and John for falling asleep – exhausted from sorrow – while they were supposed to be keeping watch. Any person who cries when they grieve can tell you: tears of grief will wear you out. The disciples had seen Jesus stand stalwart in the face of opposition dozens (if not hundreds!) of times. They had even seen Him prophesy His own death and Resurrection many times during His ministry. But they had never seen Him sorrowful to the point of death.
Once, when my son was five, he and I got trapped in a train car in the middle of the night – all alone. I panicked and began to cry. He was not used to seeing me that out of sorts. As you can imagine, my reaction to the situation informed his reaction, and we were both reduced to panicked tears. I think maybe it was the same for the disciples. Seeing the Messiah in despondency would make me despondent, too! The difference between their sorrow and His was this: The disciples were sorrowful because they didn’t understand what was happening to their would-be King. Their sorrow was borne of fear. But Jesus was sorrowful because He was willingly resigning Himself to experience the sin of the world. His sorrow was borne of love.
Make it Personal: I am Peter, James, and John in that garden. I call Jesus my Friend but still struggle to follow Him. Like Peter, James, and John, I’m so embarrassed by my failures that I “[don’t even] know what to say to Him” (Mark 14:40b, CSB). But Jesus knows us and loves us. Even when we are not faithful, He is. Jesus is always where He is supposed to be—inside the will of God. Jesus used the flawed-but-beautiful hearts of Peter, James, and John to spread the Good News of God’s Kingdom after His death and Resurrection. Despite their failures, God saw them as instruments of His work and ambassadors of His promise, and He sees us that way, too! You and I can bring what we have to God, as imperfect as it is, and He can use it for Kingdom good.
Pray: Lord, You knew what was coming, and You said “yes” to it. Thank You for hating the world’s brokenness and loving me so completely. You chose to rescue me from everything that ensnares me, making me free in You. You are so faithful, God, even when I’m not. In the Name of Jesus, I count my gifts as Yours to use for Your glory. Amen.
Read: Ezekiel 34:11-12; Colossians 1:13-14; Isaiah 41:10; Acts 2:14, 36
Weekly Memory Verse: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4, ESV