People often say, ‘I will follow Jesus no matter what.’ Such talk gives me a thrill. But it also fills me with apprehension because it is often naïve. It is like Dorothy and the Tin Man singing, ‘We’re off to see the Wizard,’ not knowing the witch is out to get them.
Before Jesus went to the cross He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew all the disciples wold abandon Him once He was arrested. He would go to the cross and die alone. His friends, upon whom He counts to win the world, would desert Him in His crisis.
Gethsemane is a Hebrew word that means ‘olive press.’ It was probably an orchard of olive trees with a press for extracting this oil. This is strangely appropriate considering the agony that was about to press in on the Lord.
You can read the story in Mark 14:26-42. As Jesus prayed, He was ‘greatly amazed.’ The word means ‘to be stunned with astonishment.’ Jesus was brought into contact with another world that awed Him – the world of our sin, the world of unspeakable horror that lay before Him at Calvary when He would take on Himself our guilt and be ‘made sin for us.’ He was ‘very heavy’ – deeply weighed down.
He cried out to ‘Abba, Father’. Jesus used these two words for God. ‘Abba’ is the word of a child (like Daddy). ‘Father’ is used by an adult son. This is the full relationship He had with God.
He desired ‘the cup’ to be taken away. What did this cup represent? It was a cup full of sin and of God’s wrath. By ‘drinking’ He became sin. Yet, he yielded ‘not my will, but thine, be done.’ In all of this we find unconditional surrender. In the greatest display of obedience that will ever be known, Jesus took the full cup of man’s sin and God’s wrath, looked, shuddering deep into its depths, and in a sheer act of His will, drank it all. The physical suffering would have been enough. But what Jesus feared most was the cup of spiritual suffering – taking on sin and separation from God.
While this was going on, the disciples were sleeping. Jesus called Peter by his old, earthly name – Simon. He had boasted he would never fail, but already his loyalty was failing. Jesus knew Peter better than he knew himself. Jesus fully knew the weakness of human flesh. We desire to do God’s will yet are so weak in our flesh that we often fail to follow through. It is remarkable that in His severe agony, Jesus had concern for His disciples. More attention is given to the sleeping disciples than the suffering Messiah.
Lessons from Jesus…
If we truly follow Christ, we will experience our own personal Gethsemane. So, know that Jesus is enduring with you. But what practical things can we do when we feel the pressures of life?
1 – Keep watch. Stay awake and be morally vigilant. Temptations often heighten under stress.
2 – Pray to God. This is how you maintain your vigilance. Don’t allow your stress to pull you away from God. Keep talking and listening.
3- Seek support of friends and loved ones. This is how you build up your resistance and help one another. Don’t isolate yourself. When one is weak, others are strong. You need them.
4- Focus on the purpose of God. This is how we do God’s will, not our own. You may not know why but God does. Trust Him.
I hope as you endure the pressures of life, you will follow the example of Jesus. Even if you go through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’, He will walk with you.
You can read some of my similar articles: A Great Example – Jesus, The Cost to Follow Jesus, Jesus Loves You More Than Anything, The Prayer That Reaches Heaven.