Mark – God is On Our Side!
We have all been there. Our normal life as we knew it collapses around us. We no longer have control over the smallest of tasks. We can’t think straight. We can’t think at all. We feel betrayed. All our dreams are dashed and broken over the jagged rocks that have appeared on our path. We trip and fall. We tumble to our knees in an agonizing lament to the Only One who truly has control, God our Father. Our prayers don’t have complete sentences at first. We hear our shaky voices lose strength between the sobs that take our breath away. We can’t breathe right. We can’t think right. We are out of control. We, as humans, yell why, why, why is this happening to me? This scenario is agonizing for us as humans seeking help, however our situation does not come close to the agonizing prayer Jesus prayed. “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death”, Jesus shares with his closest disciples.
Jesus knows what lies ahead for He is God come down as a man. He knows the pain and suffering His human body will endure. Roman torture is well known. But beyond all of that, Jesus’ soul is crushed by the weight of all our sin, all the sin of the world being laid upon his shoulders. He will be the final, perfect sacrifice for our sin. THIS is agonizing prayer of our Savior who loves all of us more than we can fathom.
THY WILL BE DONE…
“Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Our Savior who carried our sin asked for another way, but there was no other way but the cross…for that is what WE deserved for the payment of our sin.
God’s plan was in motion, set in place, since the beginning of creation. God’s will is to be done. Victory is sure. Hell will be conquered. Our sins paid in full.
Mark 14, NLT
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
32 They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. 34 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”35 He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. 36 “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
37 Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 38 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
39 Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. 40 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.
41 When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”
GOING DEEPER…
THE GREATER AGONY STILL
Our Lord’s struggle in the Garden can be understood only in the light of what would happen to Him on the cross: He would be made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21) and bear the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). It was not the physical suffering that almost overwhelmed Him with “anguish and sorrow,” but the contemplation of being forsaken by His Father (Mark 15:34). This was “the cup” that He would drink (John 18:11). According to Hebrews 5:7–9, He asked to be saved, not “from death”but out of death—that is, raised from the dead— and the Father granted His request. Abba is an Aramaic word that means “papa” or “daddy.” It reveals the intimate relationship between our Lord and His Father. While believers today would probably not use that term in public, it does belong to us because we belong to Him (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Note that Jesus did not tell the Father what to do; He had perfect confidence in God’s will. Three times He prayed about the matter, and each time He yielded to the Father’s will in loving surrender.
What were the three disciples doing? Sleeping! And Peter had vowed that he would die with his Lord—yet he could not even watch with Him! How gently Jesus rebuked the disciples and warned them. “Watch and pray” is an admonition that is often repeated in Scripture (Neh. 4:9; Mark 13:33; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2). It means, “Be alert as you pray! Keep your spiritual eyes open, for the enemy is near!”
The third time our Lord returned to the sleeping men, He said, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come” (Mark 14:41 nasb). It was the hour of His sacrifice, when He would die for the sins of the world. At that moment, Judas and the temple guards arrived to arrest Jesus, and Judas kissed Jesus repeatedly as the sign that He was the one to arrest. What hypocrisy!
Before our world comes crashing in, go to our Abba, Father, knowing what Jesus has done for us. When trouble and confusion comes, pray for help. Jesus knows, better than anyone else, agonizing times of betrayal, abuse, and abandonment. He knows what we are going through and He knows the way out. Pray like Jesus in these agonizing times of our lives with “Thy Will Be Done” and experience the victory.
Dear Lord and Savior,Your agony is beyond what we will ever experience. But it tells us You know how we feel, what we must do to navigate this life to receive victory. We are blessed to know the end of the story which is the beginning of our salvation! Oh how I love you with all that is in me! Oh, what a Savior indeed. Thank you for accepting God’s will to save us.
In Jesus Name, Amen
And we’re singing…THY WILL by Hillary Scott
I’m so confused
I know I heard you loud and clear
So, I followed through
Somehow I ended up here
I don’t wanna think
I may never understand
That my broken heart is a part of your plan
When I try to pray
All I’ve got is hurt and these four words
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
I know you’re good
But this don’t feel good right now
And I know you think
Of things I could never think about
It’s hard to count it all joy
Distracted by the noise
Just trying to make sense
Of all your promises
Sometimes I gotta stop
Remember that you’re God
And I am not
So
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will
I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Goodness you have in store
I know you hear me
I know you see me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Good news you have in store
So, thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bernie Herms / Hillary Scott / Emily Lynn Weisband
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