Good Morning All,
During
this past Lenten season, we focused 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 wouldn’t 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 can’t or won’t say this. They reject God’s grace and will face his
wrath. We won’t 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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