Image via Wikipedia
Luke 22:39-46
Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not be overcome by temptation.”
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” 43Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.£ 45At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked. “Get up and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you.”Jesus asked the disciples to pray that they would not fall into temptation because he knew that he would soon be leaving them. Jesus also knew that they would need extra strength to face the temptations ahead—temptations to run away or to deny their relationship with him.
Was Jesus trying to get out of his mission? No. It is never wrong to express our true feelings to God.
Jesus was in extreme agony, but he did not give up or give in. He went ahead with the mission for which he had come.
How tragic it is that many Christians act as if they are sound asleep when it comes to devotion to Christ and service for him. I need not to be found insensitive to or unprepared for Christ’s work.
Jesus was determined to obey his father and to die in our place for our sins.
Jesus. The Man. The bronzed Galilean who spoke with such thunderous authority and loved with childlike humility.
The God. The one who claimed to be older than time and greater than death.
Gone is the pomp of religion; dissipated is the fog of theology. Momentarily lifted is the opaque curtain of controversy and opinion. Erased are our own blinding errors and egotism. And there he stands.
Jesus. Have you seen him? Those who first did were never the same.
“My Lord and my God!” cried Thomas.
“I have seen the Lord,” exclaimed Mary Magdalene.
“We have seen his glory,” declared John.
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked? rejoiced the two Emmaus bound disciples.
But Peter said it best, “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
His Majesty. The emperor of Judah. The soaring eagle of eternity. The noble admiral of the Kingdom. All the splendor of heaven revealed in a human body. For a period ever so brief, the doors to the throne room were open and God came near. His Majesty was seen. Heaven touched the earth and, as a result, earth can know heaven. In astounding tandem a human body housed divinity. Holiness and earthliness intertwined.
This is no run-of-the-mill messiah. His story was extraordinary. He called himself divine, yet allowed a minimum-wage Roman soldier to drive a nail into his wrist. He demanded purity, yet stood for the rights of a repentant whore. He called men to march, yet refused to allow them to call him King. He sent men into all the world, yet equipped them with only bended knees and memories of a resurrected carpenter.
We can’t regard him as simply a good teacher. His claims are too outrageous to limit him to the company of Socrates or Aristotle. Nor can we categorize him as one of many prophets sent to reveal eternal truths. His own claims eliminate that possibility.
Then who is he?
Let’s try to find out. Let’s follow his sandleprints. Let’s sit on the cold hard floor of the cave in which he was born. Let’s smell the sawdust of the carpentry shop. Let’s hear his sandals slap the hard trails of Galilee. Let’s sigh as we touched the healed sores of the leper. Let’s smile as we see his compassion with the woman at the well. Let’s cringe as we hear the hissing of hell’s Satan. Let’s let our voices soar with the praises of the multitudes. Let’s try to see him.
Has it been a while since you have seen him? If your prayers seem stale, it probably has. If your faith seems to be trembling, perhaps your vision of him has blurred. If you can’t find power to face your problems, perhaps it is time to face him.
One warning. Something happens to a person who has witnessed his Majesty. He becomes addicted. One glimpse of the King and you are consumed by a desire to see more of him and say more about him. Pew-warming is no longer an option. Junk religion will no longer suffice. Sensation-seeking is needless. Once you have seen his face you will forever long to see it again.
(From God Came Mear by Max Lucado)
When was the last time I saw Jesus or considered what he has done for me”? Each morning.
What do I mean when I pray, “your will be done”? Since I have turned over control of my life to God; I just need to do my best on the next thing God gives me to do; and the results are up to him.
How would I compare Jesus’ attitudes and actions with those of his disciples? He did the same as I mentioned previously, and left the results and glory to his father. The disciples thought only of their glory. The enemies? Their glory only.
What impresses me most about Jesus? He was the perfect demonstration of how to live for the glory of God, not our own.
How much prayer meant to Jesus? It was not only His regular habit, but His resort in every emergency, however slight or serious. When perplexed He prayed. When hard pressed by work He prayed. When hungry for fellowship He found it in prayer. He chose His associates and received His messages upon His knees. If tempted, He prayed. If criticized, He prayed. If fatigued in body or wearied in spirit, He had recourse to His one unfailing habit of prayer. Prayer brought Him unmeasured power at the beginning, and kept the flow unbroken and undiminished. There was no emergency, no difficulty, no necessity, no temptation that would not yield to prayer, as He practiced it. Shall not we, who have been tracing these steps in his prayer-life, go back over them again and again until we breathe in His very spirit of prayer? And shall we not, too, ask Him daily to teach us how to pray, and then plan to get alone with Him regularly that He may have opportunity to teach us, and we the opportunity to practice His teaching.
- From Quiet Talks on Prayer by S. D. Gordon
Pingback: Time with God – Ezekiel 42 | This Day With God
Pingback: 120213–George Hach’s Journal–Monday | George Hach's Blog
Pingback: 120214–George Hach’s Journal–Tuesday | George Hach's Blog