Lent Guide: In the Shadow of Gethsemaneಮಾದರಿ

The cup of surrender

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. - Luke 22:42-44

When Jesus prays in Gethsemane, “Take this cup from me,” He is communicating His love to the Father. He communicates enough trust to openly and honestly say what He thinks. When we grow in our love for the Lord, it means we can be completely honest with Him; we can say what’s on our hearts and minds, no matter how painful those remarks may be.

We can learn how to do that from the authors of the Psalms. Jesus also followed their example when, on the cross, he called out the first line of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” He knows that the psalm continues, “For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” (Psalm 22:24). The honest cry, the deep feeling of abandonment, is not the end of the psalm, or the story, or the good news.

Surrender, even a small surrender – like an honest conversation with Him – is a choice to grow in our love for the Lord. And it’s not something we can do on our own. It’s cooperation with the power of the Lord.

Maybe, like Jesus in Gethsemane, you want to withdraw about a stone’s throw beyond them, kneel down, and pray, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Prayer: I ask for a deep consciousness of Your love and work in my life.