Who is God like? Verses 33-36- As the cross drew nearer, Jesus was so afraid that he shuddered and was agonized. This was not because of the bodily suffering he would go through on the cross, but because of the death that was approaching him and the fear of being separated from God. Jesus’s prayer was an honest prayer that came from heartache and worry. But Jesus did not pray for an escape from the suffering, but for the strength to be obedient to God’s will. His prayer was not given out of resentment of his fate, but a heart of awe towards God (Hebrews 5:7). That Jesus died for us on the cross was the answer to the prayer that he gave. Verse 42- He tells his disciples, who could not even stay awake for a moment, to come with him. The day that Jesus resurrects and meets the disciples in Galilee, the disciples will be spiritually awakened and live as workers in the kingdom of God. He is a God who raises scared, stubborn, and egotistic people like us and leads us to the cross.
What lesson is God teaching me? Verses 37, 40- Even though God encouraged the disciples again and again to “stay awake,” they fell back asleep. The disciples did not pay attention to Jesus’s prediction of his suffering, so they did not think that the road of suffering was one they had to follow. We must realize that the road that Jesus took is the same road that we, as his disciples, should take. Let us believe in this and always stay awake.
Lord, give me the strength to daily walk the road that you traveled.
