Jesus Prays in the Garden

Luke 22: 39 – 44 (NIV): 39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." 41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

    Here’s what Scottish Minister William Barkley said about this remarkable moment in history: “There is no scene like this in all history. This was the very hinge and turning point in Jesus' life. He could have turned back even yet. He could have refused the cross. The salvation of the world hung in the balance as the Son of God literally sweated it out in Gethsemane; and he won.” Jesus did not want to go through the agony of being abandoned, scourged and crucified. He did not want to take our sin upon himself and be separated from God; he did not want to experience the death that we deserve. 
    But Jesus knew the power to endure what he was facing came from God. He leaned on his friends – to a point – but his prayer was between him and God. He went to his usual spot. This tells us that he prayed often. He took his best friends with him, but continued on a few more feet to pray alone. And he knelt to pray. Matthew and Mark say he “fell on the ground”. Jesus humbled himself before God and that is the posture we must take when we pray. He wasn’t demanding that God do his will, he was begging for relief, or at least for the strength to do God’s will.
    Luke, the doctor, says that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. This shows us the agony he was in. He was battling the temptation to run away. He could have used his powers to escape, or he could have called an army of angels to save him. But he thought about you and me and he knew what he had to do. Jesus won the victory and purchased salvation for all who believe.

A Picture of True Worship

John 12: 3 – 8 (NIV): Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages. " 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

This story happened the night before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. He was at the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Lazarus’ sister Martha served Jesus supper, but then Mary poured a jar of expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair.
    I want to celebrate her act of true worship. Her worship was appropriate for the occasion. Jesus said her anointing of him was symbolic of his impending death. True worship is always appropriate for the occasion. It was costly. That perfume cost a year’s salary! And she poured it on Jesus’ feet. David said he would not make a sacrifice that cost him nothing (2 Samuel 24:24). So often we enjoy God’s blessings, but true worship involves sacrifice.
    This act of worship was humbling. She wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. In that culture and in any culture, this is an act of humility. David said he would become “undignified” for God (2 Samuel 6:22). Do we? Do we ever make fools of ourselves in our devotion to God? I love her example here. She was not full of pride, she was full of love. And her worship was timely: Jesus would be crucified in a week. If she had waited she would have missed her opportunity for this expression.
    And typically, someone didn’t like it. When we go all out for God we can expect criticism and opposition. John tells us where Judas’ heart really was. But Jesus accepted her worship because God should be worshiped and Jesus was God.

The Immense Universe

Colossians 1: 15, 16 (NIV): 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

    The universe is apparently immense. We are in orbit around an average-sized sun, in the disk of a large galaxy. Our galaxy may have a billion stars, and there may be a billion galaxies in the universe. The earth is a dot in our solar system, a speck compared to our galaxy, and a microscopic speck in the whole universe. (This is not to mention that that are seven billion people now on this one little planet.)

    The earth is orbiting in a habitable zone which, along with several other factors, makes us extremely privileged. Almost everywhere else in the universe is hostile to life, either extremely hot or cold. And the sheer size of the universe boggles the mind. Distances are simply incomprehensible. 

    Why did God create the universe so big? I'll be honest, this has been troubling me. Why would God create such an immense universe just to put stars in our sky? And we are just now discovering how huge the universe is. The Hubble Telescope is revealing galaxy clusters we never would have imagined. 

    But it occurs to me that the size of the universe is a reminder of how long eternity is. What our size is to the universe is akin to what our time on earth is compared to eternity. I often snap my fingers and say that is how long our life on earth is compared to eternity. In the same way, our whole earth is tiny compared to all of God's creation. God is a big God. The universe is immense. And eternity is a very long time.
    After reading this column, my brother, Kevin, pointed out that astrophysicists say the universe has to be the size it is or it wouldn't work. If it were larger or smaller (keeping in mind that it is expanding) the stars could not have formed.  Everything about the earth and the universe has to be just right for life to exist and everything IS just right. Amazing.

Pray and Never Give Up

Luke 18: 1 - 8 (NIV): Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off ? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

     This is a rare parable in the Bible because Luke tells us what it's about before Jesus tells it. Perhaps this is because God really wants to make sure we understand this one. God would rather us pray than anything else. We were created to have a relationship with him and prayer is how we do it.
    Too many times we pray once or twice, then give up if we don't feel we have our answer. Jesus told this story to show us that we must never give up. When we keep asking we prove that we really do have faith. We give up so quickly because we don't believe he really will answer. I firmly believe that God allows situations in our lives for the sole purpose of keeping us in prayer. He wants us to depend on him instead of ourselves.
    If you are praying about something and feel you need a boost of power or faith, try adding fasting. Fasting humbles us before God and shows him that we are serious. The hunger pains remind us to pray and allow us to sacrifice, identifying with Christ. So keep praying and never give up. Show God that you believe in what he says. And like the widow in our story, keep asking until you get your answer.

When God Says No

2 Corinthians 12: 7 - 9 (NIV): To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

    Something was causing Paul great pain. We don't know what it was, although some early church fathers said it was headaches perhaps caused by malaria. This is interesting because it means that Paul had physical troubles, just like we do, and yet God chose not to heal him. Paul said God would not heal him because he wanted him to depend on God and not become full of pride because of the revelations he had been given.  

    But didn't Paul have enough faith to be healed? Of course he did. Paul even healed others. Doesn't God want his children happy? Of course, but mostly he wants us mature and like Christ, and that comes through trials, suffering and perseverance. God's answer to Paul was that his grace was sufficient to sustain him through life. Sometimes God heals us and sometimes he gives us the grace to endure. But everything is for a reason and God is always up to something good.

    But if we are righteous enough, won't God always say yes to our prayers? No, consider Jesus in the garden. God said no to him and believe me, Jesus was righteous enough. God told David no when David wanted to build God's temple. God had another plan in mind. Jesus told James and John's mother no when she asked if they could sit beside him in his kingdom. Jesus said she was off base in her request. James says God tells us no when our motives are wrong. 

     We must remember that God is God. We ask and we ask believing, but we leave the results to God and depend on him no matter his answer.