a will that is not my own.

Perhaps one of the most human moments that we see Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is there he goes to pray.  He knew what was coming.  Read back a few chapters and you’ll see Him predicting His death multiple times.  And then there was The Last Supper, where he tells his disciples that one will betray him.  He knew what was coming. 

 

In the Garden, Jesus tells his disciples to pray with Him – “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38).

 

And then Jesus walks off to be alone with the Father and we can hear the sorrow in His words as He asks to not have to suffer what was coming.  He asks “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” – our glimpse of humanity, as we ask to be spared painful sufferings every day of our lives.  Yet Jesus continues “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  A total surrender because He knew that the Father had it all under control.

 

A quick reading might suggest that Jesus was trying to avoid the physical suffering of the cross.  There may be some degree of truth to that, for it was the most cruel and painful way to die in those days.  But Jesus knew that the suffering would be so much greater – He was going to take on the full wrath of God as payment for our sins.  And that wrath would separate Him from His Father, a spiritual suffering so much greater than the physical.

 

Yet, He was willing – “not as I will, but as you will.”  May we be always be thankful for His willingness.

 

And oh, that that might be my attitude and prayer about all things.  I’m slowly learning – and then relearning - just what it means to surrender those things I like to hold onto so tightly, so deluded that a tight grasp will give me control.  Life doesn’t look as I thought it would some years back - still “not as I will, but as you will.”  

 

Moments after this scene, Judas arrives with soldiers and kisses Jesus, his way of identifying Him, betraying Him for silver coins that were equal to a month’s wages.  And Jesus goes off with the soldiers obediently.  He knew what was coming and He didn’t fight it. 

 

‘Christ’s response to Judas wasn’t assign of weakness.  It was love.  Love for Judas.  Love for the Father.

 

And in His love, He honored His Father, just as He had promised in Gethsemane.

 

And in His love – not just for Judas, and not only for the Father, but for us – He was led to His trial.  And He was sentenced to death.  And his blood covers my betrayals and yours.  It covers the times we’ve chosen a month’s wages over honoring the One we call Lord.  It covers the times we push Him aside to further ourselves.

 

Your betrayals and mine.  His blood covers it all.  And he calls us “friend.”’

 

(From SheReadsTruth, Holy Week-Day 4)

 

May we look at those who have hurt us or betrayed us and respond as Jesus did.  May we be obedient to the One who endured the cross for us.

true love.

​

It's a hard story to read.  And if you don't know how it ends, it really does seem like darkness has overcome and evil wins this one.

 

I always think of the Phil Wickham song, "True Love," on Good Friday:

            Come, close, listen to the story

            About a love more faithful than the morning…

 

As soon as Jesus is taken away from the Garden, he is put on trial.  The only evidence against him is false accusations.  The Jewish crowd that shouted "Hosanna" just a few days earlier was now passionately shouting "Crucify him."  When given the choice, they freed a criminal and condemned Jesus.

 

It seems unjust.  And that's because it is.  He didn't do a single thing wrong, yet he was condemned.  And beaten, and whipped, and crowned with thorns, and forced to carry the cross that would summon Him into death. 

 

You see, here's the thing:  Jesus is God.  He is perfect and righteous.  He shouldn't even be associated with death, because death is the punishment for sin.

 

And even though darkness seems to win on this day, we remember it by calling it "Good."  Although it is a day of mourning, it is so supremely good. 

 

As you read the account in John 19:16-37, the references to fulfillments of prophecy are intertwined.  "John shows us God – working out His purposes in this poor, fallen world.  In a situation where God seems to be completely absent, He has been present for ages." (SheReadsTruth, Holy Week-Day 6)

 

Isaiah 53:5-6, written many years before Jesus walked this earth, reminds us that God has it all planned:

            "But he was pierced for our transgressions;

He was crushed for our iniquities;

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed. 

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned – every one – to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

  

And when Christ breathes His last words on the cross just before His death, he says only, "It is finished."  It's not just the agony of his death, by which he bore the wrath of God against sin in the place of His people.  His life is literally over, but He has also completed the work of salvation.

 

It is finished.  Once for all time.  His blood, the wrath he bore, it is finished. 

 

He bore it all, completed the work, and we are offered salvation because of it.

 

Is there any better news, anything more "good" than this?

 

 

 

"The earth was shaking in the dark

All creation felt the Father's broken heart

Tears were filling heaven's eyes

The day that true love died

When blood and water hit the ground

Wall we couldn't move came crashing down

We were free and made alive

The day that true love died"

 

Phil Wickham, "True Love"

when all we feel is weary.

Some days I can’t help but feel the weight on humanity upon me.  It is on those days that the aches and pains are all too strong.  When all I can hear is the bad news.  When I hear of a friend losing their job much like I did two years ago.  When the needs I see are greater than my ability to meet them.  When I watch lives fall apart because of bad decisions.  When I hear of the hurts of this life and the suffering that is far too great.  When all we feel is weary.  Oh, isn’t that every day in this life we live?

On days like Tuesday, when I woke up with a back that was stiff and sore and led to a tension headache in the back of my head all day.  It hurt to move and breathe and think. Oh, I know it is only temporary and far less than some suffer constantly.  Yes, it wasn’t that bad and it was only one day.  But it was a strong reminder of my humanity and this Easter week.

Since Palm Sunday I have been reading and reflecting on the events that happened more than 2000 years ago, yet still are so important to remember today.  (If you haven’t already heard, SheReadsTruth is an awesome online ministry started by some pretty awesome women that love Jesus and they have a daily reading and devotional.  It is geared toward women, but I’m sure there are men that read along as well, because the truth is the truth.  So you should all go check it out.)  The events of Easter week were dark and full of betrayal and it felt like evil had triumphed.  But let us go back to the beginning before we skip to the middle.

The story of Palm Sunday has always been a curious one to me.  Jesus enters Jerusalem only to leave again.  It seemed unnecessary to my feeble mind.  But on that day, the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem shouting “Hosanna!”  From the New Testament time forward, it means praise and adoration, but back in the Old Testament it was a cry to help and save.  Oh, what a beautiful picture when you think about it.  The people were shouting out a cry for saving to the only One who truly could save them.  And He will do the same for us. 

And then Jesus does another curious thing – he goes into the city of Jerusalem and rides straight to the temple.  We’ve all heard the story of Jesus driving out the sellers, the ones who had made it into a “den of robbers” (Matthew 21:13).  But then He does something I had never really noticed or spent much time thinking on:

“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14).

Did you notice it?  He drove out the ones that perverted the temple of God and turned it into a place of greed and privilege and invited in the ones that the world had ignored.  “The blind, the lame, the children all come in and Jesus welcomes them, heals them, confirms their place among Him.  He cleared out those who profaned the temple and ushered in those who humbly sought after God” (SheReadsTruth, Holy Week-Day 2). 

And isn’t that us?  The ones who don’t “deserve” Him, yet need Him so desperately?