Luke 22:39-46Living Bible (TLB)
39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, he left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray God that you will not be overcome by temptation.”[a]
41-42 He walked away, perhaps a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed this prayer: “Father, if you are willing, please take away this cup of horror from me. But I want your will, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him, 44 for he was in such agony of spirit that he broke into a sweat of blood, with great drops falling to the ground as he prayed more and more earnestly. 45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples—only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.
46 “Asleep!” he said. “Get up! Pray God that you will not fall when you are tempted.”
820 meters high, the Mount of Olives is the highest point in the area around Jerusalem. A vantage point from which Jesus can look out over much of the land He has travelled through and prayed for. He can see the place where He will be taken to be tried and the road which He will walk with His cross. It has become clear to Him what He must do. And He doesnt want to do it.
He really really doesnt want to do it.
Have you ever read 1984 by Orwell? I think I read it in 1984 ( it was the trendy thing to do that year!) and God spoke to me very clearly through the book. For those who havent read it, its about a man called Winston who lives under the regime of Big Brother. Big Brother controls ever aspect of life. Work, relationships, leisure, money, everything. But Winston has a feeling that there is more to life than what has been ordained by Big Brother. He finds someone who is a rebel fighting for freedom of thought and action. But before he can escape BB's clutches he is captured and interrogated. He is given the option - agree to be brainwashed back into Big Brothers ways, or face his ultimate fear. For Winston his ultimate fear is rats. He hates and detests rats. And when he is faced with the choice, he knows he just cannot go through with the gruesome rat infested torture Big Brother has thought up for him. So he capitulates and is brainwashed. And goes back to being a number in a system which rules his every thought and attitude and action.
Jesus chose the rats.
For Jesus the crucifixion was the most horrendous, unimaginable , terrifying, appalling way to die. It was His greatest fear. He had to battle and wrestle with His entire being to get his mind , soul and body to agree to what His spirit was telling Him needed to be done. Winston couldnt do it. I wouldnt have been able to do it. But Jesus did it. He faced down death - and not just death but he took on Himself the sins of the world. Every sin.
I remember hearing John Smith, Pastor to the Hells Angels talking about a vision that he had when he had slipped a disc in his back and was in an icredible amount of pain. He was crying out to God for healing when all of a sudden he saw a film playing out in his mind in which he saw all of the horrors of history. All the wars, the rapes, the murders, the Holocaust. All of the torturing and abuse and evil wrought by mankind. And he saw Jesus taking all of it into Himself on the cross. The shame, the ugliness. the agony and the evil all were laid on Him. In the garden Jesus saw it coming. He had a choice. And He chose God's will over His own.
Awesome.
As we approach Easter it is good to remind ourselves again and again of what Jesus has done for us. For me. And to go deeper into thankfulness than we have ever gone before.
No comments:
Post a Comment