| Many people would not have fallen in love if they | | | | could have! They were all asleep! He must have at |
| knew before hand the amount of pain it can | | | | some point let them know what he had prayed. |
| cause. Many would not take certain jobs if they | | | | Why would he do this? What does he have to |
| knew the job created too much anxiety. Many | | | | gain by sharing this moment of weakness? |
| would have opted not to take the journey if they | | | | Nothing but our deepest respect, love and |
| had any idea that the trip would have cost what | | | | worship, as we see our Savior open himself up |
| it has cost. Sometimes when the situation seems | | | | completely to us. |
| most distraught you are on the verge of victory. | | | | So in this quick prayer we learn much about our |
| Sometimes when defeat seems imminent victory | | | | Savior and ourselves - as people - when we see |
| is around the corner. It can be that when you are | | | | how the disciples behaved during all this. For when |
| in the worst struggle of your life you may very | | | | Jesus comes back to check on the disciples he |
| well be at the crux of triumph. Yet on the | | | | finds them all asleep. They just do not have the |
| threshold of such an event Jesus was in the | | | | strength to stay up to watch over him - not the |
| greatest struggle of His human life. The garden of | | | | three closest to him, and not the others waiting |
| Gethsemane was the site for three important | | | | nearby. No matter who they were or how strong |
| events in the life of Christ: | | | | their bond with Jesus; they are all sleeping like |
| 1. His agony over facing the cross; | | | | babies while he's in such inner turmoil that he's |
| 2. His betrayal at the hands of Judas Iscariot; and | | | | sweating drops of blood. He rebukes them, saying |
| 3. His arrest by the Jewish mob. | | | | "Could you men not keep watch with me for one |
| Jesus' motivation for coming here is simple - he | | | | hour?" he asked Peter. This is the biblical way of |
| needs to gather his thoughts. His words to the | | | | giving someone the gears for something they've |
| three men with him are a command and a plea - | | | | done wrong. He cannot help but rebuke them, for |
| he not only WANTS them there, he feels that he | | | | they have failed at the task given to them, and |
| NEEDS them there. He lived as one of us - not | | | | this cannot be ignored. |
| like one of us- not pretending to be one of us- | | | | But in the same breath he instructs them on how |
| BUT AS ONE OF US. | | | | to avoid a repeat performance - "Watch and pray |
| In Jesus' prayer we see a brief moment of | | | | so that you will not fall into temptation". These |
| weakness, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup | | | | are words both for the right now and the what's |
| pass from me..." which is quickly followed by "...yet | | | | ahead - they need to be in prayer right now, and |
| not what I want but what you want." From this | | | | they will need to be for a while to come. "The |
| we learn that to face an enormous responsibility | | | | spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He wants |
| and waver, if only for a moment, is a natural | | | | the disciples to understand their need to seek help |
| reaction. We also learn to go to our God and pray | | | | from God to bring them through what they are all |
| for strength to go ahead and face what we must | | | | about to experience. |
| anyway, if only because it is His will for us to do | | | | Betrayal, mockery of a trial, judgment, denial, |
| so. And ultimately we see how truly amazing our | | | | crucifixion, and abandonment is a struggle like no |
| God is, for no where else in history do you have | | | | other. In the midst of the struggle God was giving |
| a God which is ready to reveal this kind of | | | | him victory, the victory was at hand triumph was |
| vulnerability to his followers. When Jesus went off | | | | laden with struggle. Are you struggling with |
| to pray, and the disciples quickly fell asleep, who | | | | something today? Are you in the midst of a |
| told them what he prayed? Who told them the | | | | battle seemingly for the life of your family, your |
| words that came out of Jesus' mouth? Only He | | | | job, and your sanity? "Your victory is at hand. |