Jesus voiced His anguish to His Father in the garden. He knew what He faced on the cross. He was not dreading the physical pains though they would be severe. He was dreading the greater pain of separation from His Father as well as the enormous and loathsome burden of sin that He would bear. That burden was to Him the worst possible thing. We cannot even begin to imagine what it was like for Him. We can only think of our worst possible fear, or perhaps, as I have often thought, the burden Jesus bore would be as if He drowning in a river of raw flowing sewage. No wonder Jesus was in anguish as He prayed.
As much as Jesus dreaded the task before Him, He was also thinking about His disciples. They were quite unprepared for what would happen to Him. Now the 3 disciples closest to Him must have heard some of His prayer, but failed to understand what He meant, perhaps because they were drowsy but also because they just did not understand the ministry of Jesus. Consequently, when Jesus was arrested, they would all flee. Jesus knew they would be filled with self-reproach and guilt, especially Peter who was to deny Him at the very moment that Jesus was being mocked and abused by the chief priests and scribes. Jesus prayed for His disciples because they could not pray for themselves.
Often we Christians lie about our relationship to Jesus, sometimes in words but most often in deeds and by our lifestyle. We pay homage to the things the world values: power, wealth, fame and beauty. We pursue them with our time, talents, energy and money. Though we forsake Jesus He will not forsake His own. Even now He is praying for us for our deliverance through temptation and trials. Even now His has sent His Holy Spirit to strengthen us for the dark days ahead. We must remain loyal to Him despite the pressure to run.
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