Hard sacrifice
This week is on Matthew 26:36-45:
The thing I love about these verses is that Jesus isn't a giddy martyr. He knows what is going to happen but he tries to see if there's a better way. He doesn't seek suffering for suffering's sake, or to be seen as a victim. He chooses it because it's the only loving choice amongst his options.
If Jesus had been like "Yeah sure, beat the life out of me and nail me up. Just make sure someone gets a video of it for youtube," it would have cheapened the whole thing. It wasn't a casual choice he made. He didn't do it for attention, or because he was a masochist. Three times he basically said "I'll do it if it's the only way, but I'm not thrilled about this."
Jesus was overwhelmed and troubled. And this is a guy who slept soundly on a boat through a storm! It was no small thing he was reluctantly agreeing to. Jesus let himself be crucified because it was the way to save our souls. I've never had to go into a situation where I knew I would be tortured and killed, but I can imagine it would be horrible and incredibly stressful.
It was going to be a horrible time for all of the disciples. Jesus tells them to pray to be strong and to stay united with him. Later he tells them to pray to stay strong against temptation. They're not taking it as seriously as Jesus.
The scene reminds me of a small unit of soldiers about to storm a beach against the odds. The commander has been in war before and knows what is coming. He is on the radio right up until the final hour, hoping the order to storm the beach will be cancelled. His men, on the other hand, have never seen battle before and aren't taking it seriously. Instead of preparing their gear, and steeling themselves for what comes next, they're having a nap, talking about how they're going to kill a bunch of enemy dudes, etc. The commander is agitated. "Look, this is very serious! You could be killed or maimed if you're not ready when we move. If your rifle jams, or you don't have enough water, we're all going to be hit."
So Jesus is the only one who knows what comes next, and he's telling his disciples to pay attention and get ready. He wants them to prepare themselves because of the attack that is coming. But they don't, and when events start to unfold, they scatter like wild animals. Peter assaults a guy badly enough that he'd be in jail for years if he did it today, and then succumbs to cowardice and denies he even knows Jesus. All of them basically run for their lives, trampling their former promises of loyalty and devotion in a desperate act of the flesh.
But look at Jesus. His devotion to his mission, and to us, is so strong that he sweats blood! What a contrast there is between his steady resolve to fight for us and win, and the utter weakness and lack of devotion of his disciples. Jesus is everything we could and should be in this situation, while his disciples are everything we actually are.
What more clear picture could there be of how undeserving we are of God's gift? Imagine being Jesus, agreeing to this hard sacrifice and then seeing how unfaithful his guys are. If I was him, I'd have been like "man if this is what I'm working with, why bother? It's not worth it. I'll just go back to being a carpenter, marry a nice Israeli girl, raise some good obedient kids, and then maybe I'll die for them someday, but not these guys." But Jesus saw what he was dealing with and still went ahead. That's some serious love!
There's so much further we can go in our devotion. And yet God is utterly devoted to us. If we're going to measure our love and devotion, we should measure it against Jesus and be completely humbled. And we should pray to be as strong, and as loyal as he wanted his disciples to be.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
The thing I love about these verses is that Jesus isn't a giddy martyr. He knows what is going to happen but he tries to see if there's a better way. He doesn't seek suffering for suffering's sake, or to be seen as a victim. He chooses it because it's the only loving choice amongst his options.
If Jesus had been like "Yeah sure, beat the life out of me and nail me up. Just make sure someone gets a video of it for youtube," it would have cheapened the whole thing. It wasn't a casual choice he made. He didn't do it for attention, or because he was a masochist. Three times he basically said "I'll do it if it's the only way, but I'm not thrilled about this."
Jesus was overwhelmed and troubled. And this is a guy who slept soundly on a boat through a storm! It was no small thing he was reluctantly agreeing to. Jesus let himself be crucified because it was the way to save our souls. I've never had to go into a situation where I knew I would be tortured and killed, but I can imagine it would be horrible and incredibly stressful.
It was going to be a horrible time for all of the disciples. Jesus tells them to pray to be strong and to stay united with him. Later he tells them to pray to stay strong against temptation. They're not taking it as seriously as Jesus.
The scene reminds me of a small unit of soldiers about to storm a beach against the odds. The commander has been in war before and knows what is coming. He is on the radio right up until the final hour, hoping the order to storm the beach will be cancelled. His men, on the other hand, have never seen battle before and aren't taking it seriously. Instead of preparing their gear, and steeling themselves for what comes next, they're having a nap, talking about how they're going to kill a bunch of enemy dudes, etc. The commander is agitated. "Look, this is very serious! You could be killed or maimed if you're not ready when we move. If your rifle jams, or you don't have enough water, we're all going to be hit."
So Jesus is the only one who knows what comes next, and he's telling his disciples to pay attention and get ready. He wants them to prepare themselves because of the attack that is coming. But they don't, and when events start to unfold, they scatter like wild animals. Peter assaults a guy badly enough that he'd be in jail for years if he did it today, and then succumbs to cowardice and denies he even knows Jesus. All of them basically run for their lives, trampling their former promises of loyalty and devotion in a desperate act of the flesh.
But look at Jesus. His devotion to his mission, and to us, is so strong that he sweats blood! What a contrast there is between his steady resolve to fight for us and win, and the utter weakness and lack of devotion of his disciples. Jesus is everything we could and should be in this situation, while his disciples are everything we actually are.
What more clear picture could there be of how undeserving we are of God's gift? Imagine being Jesus, agreeing to this hard sacrifice and then seeing how unfaithful his guys are. If I was him, I'd have been like "man if this is what I'm working with, why bother? It's not worth it. I'll just go back to being a carpenter, marry a nice Israeli girl, raise some good obedient kids, and then maybe I'll die for them someday, but not these guys." But Jesus saw what he was dealing with and still went ahead. That's some serious love!
There's so much further we can go in our devotion. And yet God is utterly devoted to us. If we're going to measure our love and devotion, we should measure it against Jesus and be completely humbled. And we should pray to be as strong, and as loyal as he wanted his disciples to be.
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