Good Morning All!
Luke 22:42 “Father,
if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
yours, be done.”
During
the Lenten season we often focus on the passion or the suffering of Christ. While
we do that, it is important to look not just at the suffering and spending a
lot of time discussing the efficiency of Roman torture; we really should focus
on the humanity of Jesus.
Jesus was tempted by the devil in many
ways, some so subtle that we miss them. Jesus is greatly tempted during the
final hours of his earthly life. One of
those temptations is to come off the cross as a sign of his power overall. Another
temptation is in this prayer which Luke records as part of the Gethsemane
prayer. Jesus asks the Father to “remove this cup” as in “don’t make me suffer
like this.” (The cup here refers to
God’s Cup of wrath from the OT.) It is a completely human reaction. No sane
person desires to be tortured and killed.
Yet it is that last part which causes us to
stumble the most, “not my will, but yours, be done.” Jesus prayed it and meant it. He knew the
Father’s will, intimately. He knew the plan was to show God’s love by dying for
the creature to buy it back and not from a display of power or force. We even
say this in one form or another in our prayers. The Lord’s Prayer has “Thy will
be done” and most preachers teach that we should always add this in some form
to our prayer. I often think we do it to entice God to think that our will is His
kind of like when someone says “it’s common knowledge or common sense to take
this course of action” when it really isn’t that common.
How often do we experience God’s will, and
we not only ask that the cup be taken away, but we take it and throw it away? We
may not face death and torture but what about ridicule and shame? Are we silent
when we should speak up? Do we turn and look the other way? Jesus warned us
that it would not be a piece of cake to be a Christian. Sometimes it will be
tough. Yet we cling ever so tightly to the promise of salvation which He gives
to us. It is only by his strength that we can ever say this prayer.
God’s mercy for us provides us a way to
survive. He gives us the comfort of his Spirit and the hope of his grace. He
keeps us in his loving arms and carries us on our way. We may taste the bitter
cup of man’s wrath, the discomfort, the rejection, the contempt. But we will
never taste the cup of wrath from God. Jesus did that for us. Many in this
world cannot or will not say this. They reject God’s grace and will face his
wrath. We will not have to. So, as we pray, “Thy will be done” we can do it
confidently knowing that God’s will for our salvation is complete and that his
will for us is our salvation. So, when you are given those times which seem to
weigh mightily on us, we can take heart that God’s will for us is eternal life
with him. For this we can give thanks.
Gracious Lord, we often
look at your will and question it and think that ours is better. Forgive our arrogance and foolishness. Keep
us in your tender care and give us courage when our “cup” comes around. Give us
the strength to endure in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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