11/09/2016
I have been contemplating the instruction that Jesus gave his apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He went to pray. Specifically, I am dwelling on the account as recorded in the book of Luke. Jesus told Peter and the brothers to pray in order to fend off temptation. What was it about that moment and place that would heighten temptation?
“And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."”
Luke 22:40 ESV
As I thought about that night, I realized that this is the moment of change... it is the turning point where Jesus would cease being the Rabbi and become the Lamb of God... the perfect sacrifice for man's sin. It is also the only time I can recall where He questioned God... He is basically asking "is this really necessary?" Then at God's will, He took on His new role.
“saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."”
Luke 22:42 ESV
I remember dinner time as a boy. Most nights my mother prepared wonderful meals, but once in a while she cooked my father's favorite dinner... liver and onions. The cardinal rule at dinner was always the same; you have to eat everything on your plate before you could be excused from the table. On liver night that was a sentence that was hard to bear. I remember a couple of things about that meal.... first was my begging for the rule to be lifted, then, when it wasn't, the bitter taste of the liver I ate to please my father.
Jesus was having a liver and onions night. To lay His life down was something His humanity fought desperately not to do. By virtue of its very nature his physical self wanted to cling to life, but His spiritual self also knew and loved His Father. Jesus asked "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me" and then, realizing His Father wanted Him to do this thing, He agreed... "not my will, but yours, be done."
So Jesus was at that special place; the way station where He would leave the comfort of His previous life and enter into a place of sin and death... He would pick up the sins of the world and carry them through His suffering into death and hell itself. Most certainly this was a dangerous place where temptation and sin abounded and in that moment He and His apostles needed prayer to protect themselves from it.
I have younger siblings (two brothers and two sisters) who would cry and pout at the dinner table on liver night. In their whining my parents' patience was tested... the dinner table became an ominous place where spankings might move from threat to reality. Jesus was in such a place. Heaven and hell were opening and He was standing in that no man's land between them as God's will for Him was waiting for Him to fulfill it.
I would like to think that Peter and the two could feel this, but they fell asleep, so I don't believe they understood the magnitude of that moment. Jesus was praying, angels were strengthening Jesus, Judas was leading the soldiers to Gethsemane, God's will was preparing to become reality, and yet the three apostles slept.
How many times have we slept while God moved in and around our lives? How many times have we been sitting at a dinner table where liver was about to be served and we didn’t realized it was coming? The three apostles were in mortal danger, Jesus had told them to pray, and yet they slept. The spirit world was being ripped, and the dead were about to rise... this was a time of temptation and great danger... and yet they slept. Mercy and grace saved them, and their parts in God's will and plan were not yet complete, but they had no clue what was really happening at that moment. Have we ever slept like this, or perhaps we are experiencing such a time now?
Prayer:
Thank you Father for your will and our lives that we are living in it. Lord, we pray that whatever you ask of us we will do, and always act within your will. We thank you for those times when your mercy has saved us from the dangers that swirled around us as we slept unknowing. Lord, keep us safe from evil and harm when spiritual battle is raging round about us. You are great, and your love for us complete... Father, never take your hand from us... even as we question you, or sleep between heaven and hell, unaware of the peril that marches towards us. Keep us safely within your will Father as we live through all things and at all times. Strengthen us so that we can endure the storms, and keep us focused on you when we are tempted during good times to live out our lives in self-assuredness. Help us Abba to lean into your arms and find your peace and comfort there in Christ. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who asks us to do the hard things of faith, and then eases our burden, and makes our way smooth and straight. Holy are you who knows the beginning from the end in all things, even the storms we endure in our individual lives, and then works every story to a good ending… one that brings you glory, and us into your eternal presence. Merciful and full of grace are you Father who desires that none of us would be lost, lifts all of us from the fires of life, and makes the lions lie to down as we walk amongst them. You calm our fears, and allow us to find rest and peace in every challenge we face. You still us, and make it possible for us to sleep in our own versions of Gethsemane as your will is being worked in Jesus. Praise be your name Lord, and may all of creation lift you up in glory. You are the beginning, and the end. You are the good in all things. You are the love that defeats all sin and evil. You are our Heavenly Father who sets liver and onions before us, and makes it palatable for us as we eat it, because we love you with all our hearts, souls, minds, bodies, and strength… just as you have always loved us. Hear this, and all of our prayers, know we will always yield ourselves to your will, and forgive us for all the times we slept when we should have been faithfully keeping watch. Have mercy upon us Father as we approach Calvary with our crosses… comfort us in knowing that you walk every step with us, and will raise us on the day of judgement to sit with Jesus for all eternity… this is the perfect end you intended when revelation ended in these selfsame words… The End.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah we are having liver and onions tonight…. Amen
Rich Forbes