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Lenten Devotion

April 3, 2023

All Day

Mark 14:32-42 

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them.

“Stay here and keep watch.”

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough!

The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” 

Jesus Prays, Disciples Sleep

How do you prepare for difficult decisions?

I had to make a difficult decision in 2021. I wasn’t doing well mentally, and a major contributor to that was my job. Even though I realized I needed to quit, it took me about 4 months to mentally prepare to hand in my resignation. The preparation included weighing the pros and cons of quitting, talking with many people about the situation, spending time in prayer and asking others to intercede in prayer for me.

In this passage we see Jesus just a few hours before he was crucified. We learn how he and his disciples prepare for a crucial decision - one that changed everything for everyone. And we get a glimpse of the distress and fear that Jesus went through - we get to see him being vulnerable. The name Gethsemane means “olive press”. Hence, this is where olives were crushed and pressed into oil. This is where Jesus was crushed by the weight of the sins of the world he would soon bear.

Jesus brings along his three closest friends and tells them to stay there and keep watch. The Greek word used for “keep watch” in this context means to pay attention to avoid calamity. Jesus is telling the three that they will soon be tempted to sin, and he wants them to prepare for it. But instead of praying, the disciples sleep. After warning them about what’s to come, Jesus returns three times to find his friends sleeping. The third time he tells them that the time for preparation is over - they have failed to prepare.

Jesus makes use of the calm before the storm: he calls out to his Father, “Abba”. Jesus, being fully human, is deeply troubled and asks God to take the cup from him. But Jesus, being also the Son of God, ends his prayer by surrendering to God’s will and walks in obedience to his Father. Jesus decides that he will drink “the cup” that will be given to him. Had Jesus failed to surrender himself here, he also would have failed at the Cross. Because he succeeded here, he also won the battle at the Cross: the struggle of the Cross was won in the garden of Gethsemane.

Our spiritual battle is often lost or won before the crisis even arrives. We have the choice whether to sleep like the disciples or to prepare physically and spiritually by surrendering our will to our Father and asking him to provide us with the strength to face whatever battle is coming our way.

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