Life of Christ 168
It is after midnight on
Wednesday morning. These are the last few moments of freedom Jesus has prior to
His arrest in just a little while. He must prepare Himself for all that is
coming. So much of this last day He has spent preparing the Apostles but now He
must see to His own spiritual needs. So He comes, as He often did, to the
lovely glade of Gethsamane to pour out His soul in prayer.
After arriving He first
separates the Apostles into two groups, one of Peter, James, and John, and the
other with the rest. He lays out before these three Apostles the burden of His heart
and begs them to pray for Him. (Matthew
26.37-38) He then leaves them in order to find a quiet spot of His own in
which to pray. (Matthew 26.39) He
prays for a while, and then returns to check back with Peter, James, and John.
When He finds them asleep He responds with the burden of a great sorrow (Matthew 26.40) and asks them, once
again, to pray for Him in His time of need. (Matthew
26.41) Leaving again, He makes His way back to a quiet corner and opens up
His heart to His Heavenly Father. (Matthew
26.42) Returning to Peter, James, and John unbelievably He finds them
asleep again. In weariness of soul, spirit, and body He turns without waking
them and goes back to His quiet corner to pray for the third time. (Matthew 26.43-44) And for the second
time on this, the longest day that any human being has ever lived, the Heavenly
Father tenderly strengthens the Son for what He is about to face. (Luke 22.43) Finally, having prayed
through, so to speak, and accessed the grace and strength He needs to face the
horror of Calvary He returns to the Apostles. He wakes them, informs them His
hour has come, and the quiet lovely little glade is overwhelmed with booted
tramp of a cohort of Roman soldiers. (Matthew
26.45-46)
Gethsamane, Adam Abram, 2008 |
Many years ago when I
first began studying the life of Christ I came across a statement in
Edersheim's massive tome. He said that the outstanding characteristic of the
life of Christ was His obedience to His Heavenly Father. At first, in my
simplicity, I disagreed with him. Surely it must have been His miracles. After
all, no other human being on the planet had ever walked on water, fed thousands
with one lunch, cleansed lepers, healed the blind, cast out devils, and
repeatedly raised the dead. Or perhaps it was His holiness. After all, no other
human being had ever lived a completely sinless life. Or perhaps it was that He
began the world's largest, best, and most enduring religion. Or perhaps it was
His atoning death. After all, no one can pay for their own sins let alone the
entirety of humanity's. Choosing something amazing about the life of Christ is
like going to an exceptional buffet – it is all amazing. Yet as time passed I
found myself gradually growing into agreement.
Saying that the most outstanding characteristic of His
life is His obedience to the Father does not take away from anything Jesus did
in any area. What it does do, however, is bring His life in some small way down
to our level. Beloved, you and I are not going to walk on water. Well, I can
occasionally if it is frozen but even then it is difficult. We are not going to
raise the dead or lead lives of moral perfection. We will not atone for
anyone's sins. But we should and can live lives of obedience to the will of our
Heavenly Father. In this He set His greatest example.
Jesus said His meat was to do the will of His Father. (John 4.34). He said that He did not
seek His own will in anything. (John
5.30) He said He did not come to do His own will but to do the Father's will.
(John 6.38) He said, I do always those things that please the
him. (John 8.29) And thus it is that we find Him in lovely Gethsamane
gazing full on into the bitter cup of Calvary – and yielding to His Father's
will on the matter.
Mat 26.39 And he went a little further,
and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Matthew 26.42 He went away again the
second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away
from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
The great question that
faced Jesus in the Garden is the great question that faces you and me today.
Will we do what we want to do or will we do what God wants us to do?
I know how Jesus
answered that question His whole life long.
How will we answer it?
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