Please read: Mark 14
This past week we shared with some very close friends
of ours, their grief for the loss of the father of the family. Our hope is that
a few days before he passed away, he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal
Savior and he happily gave us the news over the phone while still in the
hospital! We cried overfilled with joy, for we had witnessed to him and his
family for over 20 years! This first
miracle occurred in his life right before his heart surgery. Of course, we all
prayed for a second miracle: his healing and recovery… but our Heavenly Father
had other plans for him, and he took him Home. Now he will live for eternity,
because Jesus his Savior paid the price!!
At the funeral I heard one of his daughters cry out:
“Why…, why? I cannot understand why?” Yes, they were all suffering for not
having him physically here with them, but this is only momentary: “…, is but a “light momentary affliction preparing for us
an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
I pray they will soon understand this truth as they continue as a family, to
surrender their lives to our Heavenly Father!
In today’s chapter we find some important events
before Jesus’s crucifixion, which brought to my mind these similar questions: “Why…
why did Jesus have to go through such anguish and suffering, and for so long?”
I focused on the following verses:
“32 Then they went to a place called Gethsemane; and Jesus
said to His disciples, “Sit down here until I have prayed.” 33 He
took Peter and James and John with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed
and troubled [extremely anguished at the prospect of what was to come]. 34 And
He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved and overwhelmed
with sorrow, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 35 After
going a little farther, He fell to the ground [distressed by the weight of His
spiritual burden] and began to pray that if it were possible
[in the Father’s will], the hour [of suffering and death for the sins of
mankind] might pass from Him. 36 He was
saying, “[k]Abba,
Father! All things are possible for You; take this cup [of judgment] away
from Me; but not what I will, but what You will.” (14:32-36 AMP)
My heart is heavy for I just can’t imagine Jesus’ anguish because of the weight of
the spiritual burden He was carrying: ALL the sins of each one of us piercing
his body and soul!!
“Was Christ in such agony for our sins, and shall we
never be in agony about them? How should we look upon Him whom we have pierced,
and mourn!” (M. Henry)
I found the following
words from C.H Spurgeon that vividly describes this passage of Jesus
in Gethsemane:
“But you know my
chosen theme-the place where I can always best remember Christ. It is a shady
garden full of olives. O that spot! I would that I had eloquence, that I might
take you there. Oh! if the Spirit would but take us, and set us down hard by
the mountains of Jerusalem, I would say, see there runs the brook of Kedron,
which the king himself did pass; and there you see the olive trees. Possibly,
at the foot of that olive, lay the three disciples when they slept; and there,
ah! there, I see drops of blood. Stand here, my soul, a moment; those drops of
blood-dost thou behold them? Mark them; they are not the blood of wounds; they
are the blood of a man whose body was then unwounded. O my soul picture him
when he knelt down in agony and sweat,-sweat, because he wrestled with
God,-sweat, because he agonized with his Father. "My Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me." O Gethsemane! thy shades are deeply
solemn to my soul. But ah! those drops of blood! Surely it is the climax of the
height of misery; it is the last of the mighty acts of this wondrous sacrifice.
Can love go deeper than that? Can it stoop to greater deeds of mercy? Oh! had I
eloquence, I would bestow a tongue on every drop of blood that is there; that
your hearts might rise in mutiny against your languor and coldness, and speak
out with earnest burning remembrance of Jesus. And now, farewell, Gethsemane.”
(The Remembrance of Christ- C.H. Spurgeon)
Wow, my heart aches as I humbly
recall these words: “Can love go deeper
than that?”
We read in Hebrews 12:2; “ focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the
Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One
who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal]
set before Him endured the cross, [a]disregarding
the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His
deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].” (AMP)
Why endure the shame, the suffering and the cross?
Because He could see the joy on the other side of the cross—the joy of saving us!!
After meditating through
these Holy days and Easter: have you decided to make any changes in your life? -Your
prayer life? -Your service to your Church, etc.?
I invite you to consider
with me, the following words:
"Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior.
Get you close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to
day, and you will do right royal deeds. Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was
slain. Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried. Come, let us
rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen. Let us be united with our
crucified Lord in his one great object - let us live and die with him, and then
every action of our lives will be very beautiful." (Spurgeon)
Blessings,
Mari