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What Shall I Say?

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?” Oh, how human is this prayer?

Jesus, the Son of God, knew. He knew the events which were about to unfold. He anticipated the betrayal, the trial, the beatings, the mocking, and the unspeakable trauma that He was about to endure. His soul was in turmoil.

Jesus’ question, “What shall I say?” is a question we have all uttered in the face of trauma—when the weight of pain becomes unbearable, words fail. What else can we say but “save me from this hour”? Or simply, “make it stop!”

“No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour!” Theoretically, Jesus could have walked away from what was to come. However, to do so would have meant abandoning who He was and what He came to do and giving up on and abandoning humankind. That He could not do. So, knowing who He was and why He had come, Jesus turned to the only one who could save Him. “Father, glorify your name!” To which the Father responds, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again!”

Now, the Father is not glorified by trauma, pain, or violence. He is not glorified by our suffering or tears. Nor was it specifically Jesus’s death that would glorify the Father. It was Jesus’ obedience unto death. Jesus’s obedience glorified the Father. And, because He was obedient, He enabled us to become children of the light. This is the hope of Christ: when Jesus came to earth and inhabited human flesh, He took on every aspect of what it meant to be human—from birth to death—and reunited it with the light and life of God. This included the darkest spaces of human life—our sin, trauma, fear, and death.

Jesus’ question, “What shall I say?” is a question of orientation. When crisis strikes, to whom do we turn? As He faced His darkest hours on earth, Jesus sought His Father. He sought His Father’s will. So can we. Sometimes, the Father rescues us by miraculously calming the storm and fighting our battles. But often, He rescues us by meeting us in our pain and through His Spirit, giving us the wisdom, strength, love, and endurance to walk in obedience to Him through the realities of life.

Prayer

Almighty God, who did not abandon us to the brokenness and darkness of this world but sent His Son so that we might be reunited with You, strengthen us so that when we face traumatic and painful experiences, we run straight to You and depend on you for wisdom, strength, and guidance. All glory be to You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Melissa Davis, Ph.D. (ABD), serves as an adjunct instructor for the Regent University School of Divinity.