Jesus went ahead of the other disciples, with Peter, James and John to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He asked them to keep watch with Him. To stay alert and be present where they were, and He pleaded for them to pray.
“He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Symbolically, Jesus was crushed with grief, like an olive from the grove they were in, that is crushed to excrete the purest of oils.
“He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Jesus expressed His feelings and desires to His Father and yet immediately followed up with, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” How hard would that be to speak out when death is waiting just around the corner?
We know that Jesus prayed three times in the Garden, filled with such anguish that He was sweating blood. (ref. Luke 22:44). The reality of what He was about to face was setting in, and His body couldn’t refrain from showing the extreme stress that He was under to carry the sin of the world. Surrendering His own will to that of His Father’s would fulfill His life’s purpose of why He came to earth. The One who knew no sin would take on sin on our behalf, and experience the wrath of God against all sin, once and for all. (ref. 2Corinthians 5:21)
When we think of Jesus’ earthly life, we must not separate His humanity from Him… just like us He had a mind, His own will and emotions that He was faced with surrendering to God’s will and purpose for Him. It cost Him His life when we were the ones that should’ve been paying the price. His life was ransomed so all others could live.
Aren’t you so glad that Jesus surrendered His will to His Fathers? Aren’t you so glad that His perfect sacrifice made a way for us to be in right standing with our Creator and Heavenly Father? Aren’t you so thankful for Jesus?
Scripture Reference // Mark 14:32-42
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