Matthew 26:31-46
Jesus confronts Peter and then confronts his grief.
My grandmother Mary lives in Odessa, Texas. If you’ve ever
visited West Texas, you know that there
is not much to look at other than tumbleweed, scraggly mesquite trees, and
signs for Taco Villa. I remember leaving the vibrant cypress trees of the
Houston suburbs and arriving in the drab landscape of Odessa, where it seemed
as if all the color had been drained from the world. And yet I knew that, at
least in the spring and into the summer, there would be one part of Odessa that
was bursting with color: my grandmother’s garden. Both she and I share a love
of roses, and she has been cultivating them for as long as I can remember. Scattered through the
garden are small statues of children representing each of her 10 grandchildren.
Mine is characteristically entrenched in a book.
As the disciples drift to sleep amongst the roots of tall,
sturdy olive trees in the garden of Gethsemane, the Son of God collapses to the
ground and prayed with fervor. The NIV says he was “sorrowful and troubled,”
but these words do not fully encompass the grief with which he wrestles. The
Greek suggests an agony and a shrinking from a fear or trouble that cannot be
escaped.
One might ask: why? Why should Jesus, who knows that God
conquers Death, fear what is to come in the days ahead? Is it merely the
physical pain that he is anticipating with such trepidation? Jesus lived no
ordinary life. He knew not a moment of sin and only the deepest intimacy with
God, from whom he was about to be separated. Our lives on Earth, in our
constant separation from the Creator, are nothing compared to the barrier that
Jesus was about to intentionally allow to tear him from his Father. It is this
isolation that he begs to be spared.
But in this moment of complete and utter desperation, Jesus
prays words that have a profound resonance throughout history. “Yet not as I
will, but as you will. May your will be done.” These words are reminiscent of a
third garden, one more beautiful than Gethsemane or my grandmother’s, one made
perfect, where man could commune with God with no barrier or separation. In
that garden, humanity stood before another tree and proudly proclaimed, “May my
will be done.” In that one moment, mankind was ripped away from union with a
perfect Lord and cast into a world of emptiness. It is those words that Jesus
seeks to reverse in Gethsemane. It is only by submission to His will that the
garden is restored to its former beauty. Kneeling before his Father, Jesus
makes the choice that will lead to his death and the redemption of the world.
Only Christ, perfect and blameless, the sacrificial lamb, can choose to follow
God’s will at this crucial moment, and it is only by his intentional submission,
his choice to drink from the cup before him, that the roses may bloom once
more.
Sarah Heflin
Prayer: Lord, there are times when I fear what it would mean
to follow your will in my life. Make my heart like that of your Son’s, ready
and willing to lay down whatever you ask at your feet. Not as I will, but as
you will.
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31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall
away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will
strike the shepherd,
and the sheep
of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into
Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you,
I never will.”
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night,
before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I
will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37
He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be
sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with
sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the
ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from
me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them
sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.
41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is
willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it
is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will
be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because
their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed
the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are
you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is
delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my
betrayer!”
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