Introduction
What can we learn from the
time when Jesus and his disciples were together in the garden?
Following the ‘last supper’,
Jesus took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. Here, Jesus needed to
pray. He wanted some space, but Jesus also desired the special companionship
and solidarity of three key disciples. This is because, as we read here, Jesus,
“began to be distressed and agitated”. Jesus knew more than any other, the
torture and trauma that lay ahead of him. A cross was a hideous way to die. The
strongest faith still does NOT preclude the possibility of anxiety, and being
taken places that you don’t want to go. Most human beings, and Jesus was surely
flesh and blood, would want comfort and reassurance in such grave
circumstances.
So, even if Jesus wanted to
pray alone, he would want to know that there was alert and concerned friends
close-by. Yet there seems to be another reason for Peter, James and John … to
only be a stone’s throw away. They were close enough to observe and hear what
was going on, and what was being prayed, especially as Jesus would likely be
praying out loud, as was the custom. Would this also then serve as a test – a
test of their discipleship – what would be their reaction?! Regrettably, we see
Jesus let down and disappointed, for these disciples went to sleep. They
allowed their weariness to get the better of them, and entirely missed the
significance of what was happening (right close-by to them).
On one hand we have Jesus
committing himself entirely to God’s will. This despite what it is about to
cost him! On the other hand, we have key disciples who are asleep. This despite
being asked by Jesus to stay alert (as soon the soldiers will come)! This is a
pretty stark scene!! In fact, it is while Jesus makes his final determination
to go to the cross for the salvation of his followers, that his three key
followers keep falling asleep! What a moment to miss! These three disciples
were also being given an insight into the level of sacrifice that God through
Jesus was willing to make for the redemption of the world; but they couldn’t
deal with it. And when confronted about this by Jesus, they weren’t able to
explain themselves (v 40).
And so, for me, the challenge
of verse 38 looms large – to “keep awake and pray” – so that we don’t miss what
God is doing, nor where God is leading us.
A Commitment to God’s Will
Not many people, when things
are going well for them, give up their life easily, not at thirty-three years
old. Even if there is a good cause involved – if there was a different way
other than a self-sacrifice – that alternative would readily be preferred.
Jesus has this moment, where he wonders if there could be a different solution.
Could another path to the salvation of humanity be found? Had God thought this
fully through?! I actually reckon that God had thought this all through
many times, before concluding … that the only way … sin – in its smallest and
gravest forms – could be defeated, was through a self-sacrifice so perfect that
it would have to come personally from God Himself!
And there is another way of
thinking about this. Because of how Jesus lived and taught, uncovering
hypocrisy and opposing injustice, upsetting the apple cart of the status-quo,
showing up the darkness of people’s hearts, and revealing the evil that brought
havoc to the world – then this also put Jesus on an unstoppable path toward
being killed off – on a collision course with a cross! So the rejected servant
of God, and the perfect sacrifice to bring freedom … coincided in the one
person – Jesus of Nazareth – Son of God. This WAS God’s will, because
SOMEONE had to draw a line in the sand!!! No!! This cup could NOT pass to
anyone else. For God, all things are possible, yet things must be
first aligned with God’s will.
If Jesus had a moment of
apprehension and desire to walk away from the cross, this was quickly resolved,
it seems, in the next moment – with the most courageous words ever heard … “Not
what I want, but what you want”. Remarkable – given the circumstances of
what lay ahead. Thoroughly impressive (in the level of self-sacrifice here)!
There may have been some comfort in that this commitment was given to his
“Abba” – meaning a real relational intimacy existed; but still, there was to be
a huge cost. So, these words, “Not what I want, but what you want”, are
the ultimate words of faith and trust … in the face of a very significant
challenge. And, for us, these words should fit any life situation we find
ourselves in … from the most threatening to the everyday!
This was actually the way Jesus lived through his entire
three-year ministry – from confronting the temptations of the devil to go his
own way, through to the pressures to conform to the cultural norms of society …
rather than standing up for the outcast and loving his neighbour. And such was
the weight of the sin of all humankind upon Jesus, that he even willingly
endured the absence of God at his moment of death – “My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me” (Mark 15:34). “Not what I want, but what [God] wants”.
[We shouldn’t doubt God’s compassionate presence with Jesus in his suffering –
God was still right there with him; it’s just that, such was the weight and
darkness of all the sin that Jesus was bearing on his own body, he felt that
God was absent.]
Falling Asleep
These are the true words of
discipleship – “Not what I want, but what you want”. These are the words
that move us from fear and self to faith and service (as we spoke about last
week). This is releasing ourselves to the full potential and ministry that God
has given each one of us. Yet when these faithful words were spoken, and the
path of salvation for all humankind was settled, and the cost of this was being
born deeply in Jesus’ spirit – Peter James and John … were found to be asleep.
How should we feel about this? How should we react to this? You would think
that they could NOT possibly have missed the vivid drama of Jesus throwing
himself to the ground and crying out to God in such a distressed fashion (v
35)!
We could say that these
disciples let Jesus down at his most poignant moment of need. Yet, it is most
interesting, that what Jesus said to them, rather than being about Jesus’ own
situation, was more about the risk they were putting themselves in! By ignoring
Jesus, and probably their own opportunity to pray as well – they were actually
lessening their OWN resources to cope with what was ahead of THEM.
They were rendering themselves to be more vulnerable and less effective that
needed to be the case.
We know how weak the human
condition can be. And we know how challenging life can be in any number of
ways. People can be easily inspired, and start to run well, but then start to
hesitate at the hurdles – looking toward self-preservation. Even when we have
the best of intentions – when “the spirit is willing” – if we are not
awake, watching and ready, we can hit the wall. These disciples’ lack of
attentiveness was actually putting themselves in grave danger. Dan Reiland
writes: Nothing of any real value continues to
move forward without sacrifice – from your marriage at home, to your mission at
church, sliding into the comfort zone is like quicksand; you don’t notice what
you’re stepping in, until you are already in danger … grave danger.
Which Direction?
So, this all begs a very
important question. Are we moving toward or away from God’s will? That
is a question for us … that I think this text poses! Jesus, although under
pressure, and while under pressure, moved definitively toward God’s
will. However, the disciples were moving progressively further away from God’s
will. This is seen, that despite Jesus’ very reasonable requests and
objections, they continued in this pattern of sleepy apathy. We read that, “… a
third time”, Jesus found them sleeping! “Enough” of this {“Enough” already},
says Jesus (v 41)! To emphasise the backward steps being taken here, Jesus
calls Peter “Simon”, a name that he has not been called since chapter 3
(v 16); this suggesting that Peter had, in effect, gone back to the beginning
[and we know from Hebrews 6 that it can be a slippery slope to nowhere from
there]. Grave danger!
In terms of the church
collectively, we read in the letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation
chapter 3 (v 2), that this particular congregation in Sardis had to, “Wake up,
and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death … for I have not
found your works perfect in the sight of my God” – or in other words, ‘Wake up,
and do what needs to be done, for you are not wholly in the will of
God’. Their discipleship was lacking. The advice to this first century
church was to “remember” and “obey” what they already knew, and “repent” to get
back on track (v 3). This is similar to where Jesus says in the garden, “Keep
awake and pray” (v 38).
It seems that it’s easy to
move away (from God’s will) – you just go to sleep and ignore any alarms. It’s
admittedly much harder to move towards God’s will – this often involves change,
inconvenience, discomfort and sacrifice. We simply look at Jesus to see this.
On the cross there was flesh and blood – a vulnerable human being who felt all
of the pain and torture such a death would bring. The sense of majesty we get
in that picture (which is not a particularly pretty picture, far from it) is
found when we look deeper into Jesus’ character, courage and obedience. Jesus
humbled himself, and took the most difficult path, the narrow way that he spoke
of himself, and accepted death on a cross (refer Philippians 2:6-8).
The Right Direction
How do we actually move
towards God’s will?? In answering this today, I’m focussing on the words in
verse 38. When Jesus found Peter, James and John asleep the first time (v
37-8), Jesus said to them, “Keep awake and pray …”!
- Keeping Awake – being alert
I guess that it’s possible to
look awake and busy without really achieving anything, let alone achieving the
most important things! How can “keeping awake” actually move us towards God’s
will? Part of this would be … being alert to what Jesus’ life teaches us (as we
see play out in this passage). Perhaps more so than seeing the invincible God,
we need to reflect on the suffering servant, both as an antidote to our woes,
and, as an example for the conduct of our lives.
Keeping awake or being alert
means having our ‘spiritual antennas’ up. This involves open eyes, ears and
hearts. Having our ‘spiritual antennas’ up means at least two things: that we
are noticing what God is up to, e.g. when previously closed doors are now
opening, or difficult relationships are softening; and secondly, that we are
not missing those clues about other people who are in need. Being alert is
about getting on the same page with God.
- Prayer
We need to be constantly
preparing ourselves for what lies ahead, knowing that we can neither control,
nor accurately predict, what this will entail. This passage suggests that
‘falling asleep’ in such circumstances was NOT the right brand of preparation.
We need to be able to act more proactively with the best resources, rather than
reactively with a lack of resources.
We need to be increasingly
thinking God’s thoughts – increasingly being able to hear God’s voice cutting
across our thoughts. This is the work of prayer! Jeremiah 33:3 (Message) says: Call
to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvellous and wondrous things that
you could never figure out on your own. Those disciples were about to face
a major trial. Their prayerlessness hurt them and deprived them.
We certainly need to pray in
the face of any potential time of trial. Yet, prayer should NOT just be working
through a needs-based ‘shopping-list’, but rather an exploration into the mind
of God, so that we are much better aligned with the purposes of God (v 38). Had
the disciples been praying in this way that day … when they were together in
the garden, they may not have fled, and Peter may not have denied
(knowing) Jesus.
Can we take up our
opportunities to pray, both personally and collectively, in the face of all
future challenges and God-given opportunities?? Can we begin to hear God’s
voice cutting across our thoughts, and thus refining our perspectives and
bringing us wisdom. Can we be truly prepared? Can we, more often than not,
respond in creative ways to the situations that come across our path??
Conclusion
At the end of this passage,
we see Jesus rise beyond all discouragement and disappointment, and take his
followers on with him (v 42), even if it was only to the scene of his arrest.
Even though they would flee and fail again, which is an inevitable outcome of
their lack of attention; this tells us that Jesus still chose those who would
ultimately, because of the resurrection and Holy Spirit, thoroughly embrace
God’s will … often to the death (as Jesus did before them). Every honest
assessment of the performance of the disciples in the Gospel narratives, is
focussed on a loving interest in their growth and future, and, through the
re-telling and examination of these passages – there is a serious interest in
our growth and our future well-being.
So all is never lost, while
Jesus keeps an eye on us and keeps calling us onward. This gives us much hope,
because even though these disciples often misunderstood, doubted, denied
knowing him, and fell asleep, Jesus kept investing in them. Jesus keeps investing
in us; and we keep our focus on his death and resurrection, because these
events assure us that things don’t have to remain the same – we can move
towards being within God’s will. This will require the sort of alertness that
properly gauges what is happening around us, and the quantity and quality of
prayer … that will build in us … a deep awareness of the presence of God. Amen!
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