relationships (Mark 14:32-42) Having the Same Desires

(Mark 14:32-42)

32 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” 33 And He took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34 And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began praying that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 37 And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Keep watching and praying, so that you will not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to say in reply to Him. 41 And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough. The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

Oh, these disciples!  They were just told that they were all going to run away at the first sign of trouble, and Peter was told that he would betray Jesus three times, and Jesus told them what He was about to go through, and here He shares with them how troubled, distressed and grieved His soul was... and they chose to fall sleep.  But- would we have really done anything differently???

I know when someone close to me is suffering through something big, especially if their lives impact mine in some way, I'll be pacing the floor or down on my knees, praying.  But then there are times when I'm just going through life, focused on my own stuff, and then remember that I promised to pray for someone or something.  Sometimes it is after the matter.  That is when I confess the oversight, and I pray that things did go according to the Lord's will.  I know that God is omniscient, and cares, and so if and when I pray after the matter, He knows that I'm going to pray that prayer, so He "hears it in time".  Not that this should be an excuse to delay our prayers, since it is all about having a personal relationship with the Lord, and we should be wanting to communicate with Him daily.

Here, Jesus is our ultimate example of how to pray.  We are allowed to lament, and share with God the struggles that we are feeling.  We are even allowed to ask God for our hearts' desires.  But then, we should realize and desire what God desires.  When we pray in God's will, and for God's will to be done, He will answer!  Even if it means that we will still struggle, God will be there giving us strength, peace, hope, inexplicable joy, thankfulness, contentment...  Understand that Jesus took on the worst possible suffering, so that we don't have to- which is for anyone who chooses to believe in Him.  

Jesus was about to go through the utmost extreme thing anyone could possibly imagine, and He already knew what that was, and how that would feel... but He also knew the end result.  And it was going to be so worth it!

The holy, sinless, perfect Son of God- was about to take on all sin, of all people, of all time... We know that as believers, when we sin, we grieve the indwelling Holy Spirit.  I don't know about you, but I have said and done a few things in my life, which have made me very sick to my stomach.  The extreme grief and remorse is something that gnaws away, and causes us to think, "If only I could go back in time and do that differently..."  It causes us to realize that we are no better than... (name the worst sinner/criminal you can think of).  

Well, Jesus took on those sins of mine, and yours, and the sins of evil dictators, terrorists, serial killers, rapists, pedophiles...  Just imagine- compile all of the sins that I alone have committed (all of them, big or "little"- they are all sins, and they are all wrong), and then compile all of those sins with billions and trillions and kazillions of more sins!!!

That is how much love God has for us!  Even for those who will still reject the Lord and His salvation.  Jesus still died for everyone, because He desires that all come to know Him in a personal relationship!  To provide the way to Himself, because He cannot have a relationship with sin, He paid the ransom in order to redeem us all- if we so choose!