The Way to the Cross

The Way to the Cross: Pastor Daniel Singh

This Sunday at CDC, we were privileged to have Pastor Daniel Singh give the message on “The Way to the Cross” with a specific focus on Mark 14:32-36:-

Mark 14:32-36 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."

 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

In the Gospel of Mark, in the days preceding His arrest, our Lord Jesus preached extensively on personal sacrifice and commitment in Chapters 11-13. Approaching this time, the imminence of His suffering began to way heavily on Him, and His heart became exceedingly sorrowful and troubled for He knew that His life would be demanded of Him.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus asked Peter, James and John to watch and pray, He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. Pastor Daniel described this distress as an extremely acute emotion compounded with fear, anxiety, uncertainty and bewilderment. Each one of us at some point or other would have experienced this emotion, this sense of panic or expectation of impending trouble. In such a situation, we need to turn to God, our Father in Heaven, like Jesus did!

In vs.35, we read that Jesus fell down to the ground….. and prayed. His emotions so overwhelmed our Lord that He collapsed to the ground. The Garden of Gethsemane, where the Lord had spent such beautiful times of prayer and communion with the Father had suddenly become a place of intense suffering. Jesus humbled Himself before God. A time may come when we may seem to have lost everything, when life seems to have lost all meaning. However, we must remember that we still have God… We can find comfort in God and God alone……….

Coming to vs.36, our Lord cried “Abba, Father ……” Pastor Daniel gave us a touching picture of a small child coming to her father after she had hurt herself. She looked for comfort from her father, for assurance. He pleaded with God for His life “Please! If it is possible, take this cup from me.” Yet, our Blessed Jesus knew that He could not pass this cup over, for it was His Destiny. It was prophesied from the very beginning, right from Genesis Chapter 3… Our Lord Jesus was the Seed who would crush the head of the Serpent, yet also suffer a fatal strike to His heel. Our Lord could have said “No”, He could have chosen to be selfish and spare Himself from such terrible suffering, but He chose to obey, to submit His will to God, to pray “Not my will, but Yours be done”. And because our Lord chose to obey, because He chose to fulfill His destiny no matter what the cost, we are able to have life in His name.

Sharing his personal testimony, Pastor Daniel shared how when he first raised his hand to receive Christ as a 13 year old, he knew that he was raising his hand to trouble. Brought up in a close community of devout Sikhs, any one who abandoned the Sikh faith was deemed to be a traitor, a disgrace to the family. His father raged in great anger at him, and in one frightful episode, his most beloved brother almost killed him. One day, having returned home from outstation, his much bigger eldest brother asked Daniel “Do you want to be a Christian?” and he replied “Yes, even if you kill me.” He asked a second time and a third time, and having received the same answer, flew into a violent rage and started chasing the frightened Daniel across the house. Incredibly, as he ran, his brother snatched up the knife with which his mother had been chopping up a chicken. Somehow, Daniel managed to reach the toilet and lock the zinc door. However, his demonized brother began to pound furiously on the door, shouting “Do you want to be a Christian?” over and over again. With tears streaming down his eyes, Daniel cried “Yes, even if you kill me, over and over again”. And suddenly, the door crashed open. However, miraculously, before his brother could strike a terrible blow, another brother who had heard the commotion had quickly ran to the scene and managed to squeeze himself in front of Daniel. Courageously, he cried “If you want to kill him, kill me first”… at which Daniel’s eldest brother suddenly woke up from his trance and understood with horror what he had almost done…… Pastor Daniel would have given his life for Jesus…..

Today, most of us struggle to fulfill the destiny that God has called upon us. We bargain with God, we are unwilling to meet the demands that He places upon us. Our wealth, our family, our pleasures, are far too important to us…. Yet, as we look to our Lord Jesus as we approach the Holy times of Good Friday and Easter, we would do well to remember that He did not bargain, He gave His life freely for us because He loved us……..

May the Lord empower each one of us to choose to obey and fulfill our destinies in Him, no matter what the demands, no matter what the costs. In Jesus name, Amen.

God bless,

Jason