And he came out, and went, as usual, to the
Mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And
when he was at the place, he said to them, Pray that you enter not into
temptation. And he withdrew from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down,
and prayed saying, Abba Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there
appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And
being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:39-44
Jesus praying to God
the Father in Gethsemane,
Heinrich
Hofmann, 1890.
It is here the passion of Christ started.
The agony he felt in his heart as he thought of his impending death. It was an
agony that we as humans cannot understand. It was the coming of the sins of all
of mankind being thrust upon him, one who knew no sin. The sacrificial lamb bearing
the sins of the whole world, that would separate him from his Father whom he
has known even before the world was created.
It is here the humanness of Christ comes
out. We see the tenacity of his faith being tested. He knows he will do
anything for God the Father. So he prays if God is willing to remove the bitter
cup of suffering.
Jesus must have prayed loudly enough for
the disciples to hear him. They could possibly have seen an angel coming down
to strengthen Jesus during his prayer. But the disciples were so overcome with
lethargy that they just couldn’t stay awake. They still had not understood that
Jesus was in any kind of danger.
It was a covenant that God made with
Abraham that through him all the nations will be blessed. In Jesus it was being
fulfilled. It was the only way for God to reconcile with the world through the death of
his son
There was a big difference in this prayer
of faith, Jesus emphatically said to God the Father not my will but your will
be done. This was not one of those occasions where he prays in faith for fire
to descend on the people who want him crucified or mountains to be moved and
fall on his enemies. It was a humble prayer of submission to the will of God the Father.
Jesus was beginning to get the bitter taste
of death as he prayed earnestly in the garden. He prayed so earnestly that his
sweat became drops of blood falling on the ground. As he prayed an angel came down and ministered and strengthened him.
It was the prayer of a son looking up to
his father as he goes out to face his enemies on earth and the even greater
ones in the spirit world. Knowing that he is going to die. As the shadow of the
agony of death cast its shadow upon him he was praying sincerely for divine
guidance. It was Jesus way of looking up for the final blessing before the
beginning of his passion.
1 comment:
Seeing the disciples sleeping as Christ was in agony, we also are very often insensitive to the agony and of our fellow Christians.
Seeing Christ's agony over his impending death brings to light his humaness. Following the death of Christ the history of the church initially was filled with martyrs starting with Stephen's stoning.
Even today there are many who live in fear of being identified as being a Christian, because of their faith they are rejected and tortured.
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