Facing our troubles
This Sunday, we were privileged at CDC to have our own Pastor Micky share the message on the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus prayed “Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from Me…”. The cup Jesus was referring to was the cup of the wrath of God upon all sin as Jesus would have to suffer for the sake of all humanity. The first suffering was physical suffering – the whip which tore out pieces of flesh from his back, the nailing of the large, crude nails into his hands and feet, the beatings, and crown of thorns, it was so terrible indeed. But God had to show the world what our sins deserved. The second suffering was emotional suffering – for Jesus would see all His disciples abandon him, and in fact one the Twelve, specially chosen by Him would betray Him. The third suffering was mental suffering, for he was stripped naked and had all sorts of verbal abuse and insults thrown at Him by the crowd and guards. However, greatest of all was the spiritual suffering that Jesus endured, for He would take upon the sins of the whole world and His Father’s face would be turned away from Him and the fellowship never broken from before the Creation of the World would be severed. We could never fully comprehend it, but to even begin to have the smallest inkling of understanding would help us greatly appreciate the sacrifice of our Lord all the more. A pale comparison would be that of imagining ourselves, clean and refreshed after a bath and suddenly plunged into a cesspit of human and animal excrement. A very weak comparison of what our Lord Jesus possibly felt in being separated from His Father is like a small child who is suddenly lost in a shopping complex and can’t find his parents. But our Lord Jesus did all this for us because God loves us.
In studying this passage, there are a few things we can learn about how to face terrible hardships or problems.
Firstly, Jesus called upon the help of his trusted inner circle, Peter, James and John to accompany him when He went to pray. Jesus was a man who appreciated solitude and time alone with the Father, yet He also valued to company of His close friends in accompanying him in His time of trouble. Likewise, we too, need to call our friends for support in our time of need, and it works well to have at least a few trustworthy friends we can count on to be with us when we need them.
Secondly, Jesus called out to God as a son. “Abba” as Jesus prayed was a very affectionate term in Aramaic, meaning “Daddy”, a close name for one’s father. That is the depth of our relationship we should seek to cultivate with our Father in Heaven, to come to Him like a little child, affectionately asking for His help.
Thirdly, Jesus prayed very earnestly, until his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When we are in trouble, we sometimes need to really come before God earnestly and pour out of hearts to Him.
Fourthly, sometimes when we pray, we may not get the answer we want from God, but we must be willing to trust Him anyway. Jesus did not get His cup removed from Him, for God knew that He must go though it that He might become the Savior of all men. Humbly, Jesus still prayed, Not my will, but yours be done, trusting God would do what would be best for Him. However, the result of the prayer was not without effect, for God sent an angel to Jesus from Heaven, strengthening Jesus.
We see that immediately after the prayer in the Garden, Jesus was met by the multitude of enemies. In facing them, Jesus did not fear at all, but calmly spoke to them and even healed the ear of the servant of the High Priest, after he was attacked by Peter. The strength that Jesus received from His time of prayer enabled Him to go through all the terrible suffering and finish the work of the Father that was given to Him.
May the Lord help us cultivate deep godly friendships that will help us in our time of need, help us pray passionately and honestly to God as our true affectionate Father, and trust in Him always regardless of what our destiny may bring us.
God bless, Jason
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