Passion: The Last Moments of Jesus' LifeSample

Our narrative today takes us into the Garden of Gethsemane. This particular garden was located on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. In fact, the word Gethsemane means "olive press." The garden was a place of pressing. It was a place of crushing. And while He was there, Jesus was pressed and crushed inwards with the weight of what He was about to face.

Have you ever felt a crushing?

None of us have ever experienced what Jesus must have felt in this moment. Still, inevitably in this life, we all experience the weight of life pressing into us. It could be the weight of expectations in your job. It could be pressure as a father or a mother. The weight of a decision could be lying heavily on your shoulders. Maybe, somebody did something to you and the pressing of your soul and emotions has worn you down. Whatever you have faced or are facing, there is something to learn from how Jesus responds.

Jesus arrived at the Garden with His disciples, and then He takes three of His closest friends and walks away from the rest of the group. The text says:

"He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. "Abba, Father," he cried out, "everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." – Mark 14:33-36 NLT

The first takeaway we can learn from Jesus' most intense trial is the power of friendship. Jesus takes His closest friends on earth with him, and He confesses to them how troubled and distressed He is. It's very easy in times of pressing to feel like you just have to go through it on your own. The truth is that we are better when we are together. Jesus understood that He needed support for the trials that lay ahead for Him. So He asked for help.

After all, we aren’t built for living life alone.

As the narrative continues, Mark tells us that Jesus walks further away from the disciples and falls to the ground praying in agony. In fact, Luke records in his gospel that:

"He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood." - Luke 22:44

Jesus was so troubled by what was to come that it induced a physical response. Jesus cries, "Abba, Father." Abba is the Hebrew word for Father or Dad. Like a little child pleading to their Father, Jesus bent over agonizing about the trial to come and desperately cries out to His heavenly Father to take the "cup of suffering" away from Him. Does this mean that Jesus didn't want to bear the cross for us? Not necessarily.

Don’t miss what’s happening right here. Go back to where we started. What pressures are you facing right now? What impossible choice lies before you? It’s those critical moments in life when we feel the most weight that we are actually the most vulnerable. It’s where our faith is tested the most. Jesus responds in this moment by turning to His Father in prayer.

Jesus demonstrated His ultimate willingness to submit to His Father with the words we have heard many times before.

"Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." - Mark 14:36b

Jesus ultimately won the battle on the cross because He chose to be in the garden to surrender. Jesus won because He decided to lose. There was no other way for humanity to be redeemed except through Jesus. It had to be this way. Otherwise, God the Father might have answered Jesus’ prayer. Jesus was sent to earth and took on human flesh for this purpose. In the end, He did not stray from that purpose. And because Jesus stayed on mission:

We are freed from the power of Sin.

We have access to heaven.

We have eternal life to look forward to.

This is the gospel!

This is the good news that we have so much to be thankful for!

Jesus was ready to step into the crucible that awaited Him. You may not be facing a literal cross today. But you could be staring at your own battle this week. Even as you read this, you feel the enemy at your doorstep, pressing you in on all sides. You feel like there is no hope for your situation. If you are in that place today then you need to hear this.

Be encouraged today.

Jesus suffered His own pressing so that you would not have to suffer yours alone.

He is ready and willing to walk by your side into the crucible.

After all, He's been there before.

REFLECTION QUESTION

What stands out to you the most about how Jesus submits to his Father's will in the Garden?