Luke 22:44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Oh Friends, can you imagine that most heart rending scene in the garden of Gethsemane, the night Jesus is arrested! He goes in there with His disciples, says to them, ‘Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.’ (Mat.36:36) And he goes off some distance with Peter, James and John, obviously very distressed and anguished. To the trio He then says; ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me.’ (Mat.36:35) Then He goes off by Himself this time, falls on His knees and fervently prays: ‘Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.’ (Luke 22:42) And though an angel appears and strengthens Him, He remains in agony. That just shows the intensity of Jesus’ struggle; not only having to face His own humiliating and excruciating death, but also the weight of the responsibility His Father’s placed on Him: to be the sacrificial lamb, the bearer of man’s sins, from beginning to end. It’s not surprising that that unfair, unwarranted punishment brought Jesus to His knees in great anguish. But Friends, what I want us to pay particular attention to is this fact; ‘And being in agony he prayed more earnestly.’ Yes people! The Son of God, in the form of man, was certainly shaking it rough. But what did He do? ‘He prayed more earnestly.’ Although He knew it was very unlikely that His Father would abort the project, having remarked earlier on; ‘Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.’ (John 12:27) Instead, He just prayed harder, that He could be strengthened to undergo his harsh ordeal, face up to it like a man. And he must have been praying real hard Friends, cause ‘his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.’ Wow! I doubt any of us have prayed that hard, to end up sweat drenched, unless it was somewhere very hot. (smile) I guess you’re wondering what that has to do with us eh? Well everything, people, everything! If Jesus prayed harder in His time of greatest anguish, and we’re supposed to be His followers, walking in His footsteps, then so should we pray harder when things get real rough with us. Instead of giving up when we feel abandoned, we’re to pray even more. As Bruh Paul describes it in his own inimitable way: ‘Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.’ (Heb.5:7) Remember though He was God, He was in man form, and knew the plan could only work if He bore the pain and suffering like a man. No one wants to die. His fear was just of a more godly nature. It resonates as Bruh David’s cry of anguish; ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?’ (Ps.22:1) It certainly seems that sometimes the Lord ignores our pleas when we’re going through trials and cry out to Him. But it’s not really true. He never ignores us. He’s always right there beside us, ready and willing to lend a hand when He sees we desperately need it. However, sometimes he uses those trials to test and strengthen us, to improve our Jesus character. And though we don’t always understand, there’s always a good reason why He allows us to endure certain trials. Jesus cried out too just before He gave up the ghost on the terrible cross. ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Mat.27:46) But God had not forsaken Him. He would never forsake His One and Only Beloved Son. Don’t you think the Father had a real hard time holding Himself back from saying, ‘Forget this nonsense yes!’ and just aborting the whole mission, when He saw the agony His poor Son was undergoing? Any Father would, and I’m sure He did. But He knew that was the only way to set things right; the only way for us to be made whole again. Friends, neither will He ever forsake any of us who come to Him sincerely pleading for help. And trust Bruh Paul to get it right: ‘Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered: And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.’ (Heb.5:8-9) Yes Friends, the same goes for us; through ‘sufferation’ we learn obedience, putting our faith, our trust, and our entire lives, entirely in the hands of the Most High God Jehovah; surrendering our very souls to Him and the plans He has for them. After which, we’ll be made as perfect as humanly possible and join the author of eternal salvation when He comes to glory. Much LOVE!…the greater the anguish…the greater the need for more fervent prayer…
Oh Friends, can you imagine that most heart rending scene in the garden of Gethsemane, the night Jesus is arrested! He goes in there with His disciples, says to them, ‘Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.’ (Mat.36:36) And he goes off some distance with Peter, James and John, obviously very distressed and anguished. To the trio He then says; ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me.’ (Mat.36:35) Then He goes off by Himself this time, falls on His knees and fervently prays: ‘Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.’ (Luke 22:42) And though an angel appears and strengthens Him, He remains in agony. That just shows the intensity of Jesus’ struggle; not only having to face His own humiliating and excruciating death, but also the weight of the responsibility His Father’s placed on Him: to be the sacrificial lamb, the bearer of man’s sins, from beginning to end. It’s not surprising that that unfair, unwarranted punishment brought Jesus to His knees in great anguish. But Friends, what I want us to pay particular attention to is this fact; ‘And being in agony he prayed more earnestly.’ Yes people! The Son of God, in the form of man, was certainly shaking it rough. But what did He do? ‘He prayed more earnestly.’ Although He knew it was very unlikely that His Father would abort the project, having remarked earlier on; ‘Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.’ (John 12:27) Instead, He just prayed harder, that He could be strengthened to undergo his harsh ordeal, face up to it like a man. And he must have been praying real hard Friends, cause ‘his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.’ Wow! I doubt any of us have prayed that hard, to end up sweat drenched, unless it was somewhere very hot. (smile) I guess you’re wondering what that has to do with us eh? Well everything, people, everything! If Jesus prayed harder in His time of greatest anguish, and we’re supposed to be His followers, walking in His footsteps, then so should we pray harder when things get real rough with us. Instead of giving up when we feel abandoned, we’re to pray even more. As Bruh Paul describes it in his own inimitable way: ‘Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.’ (Heb.5:7) Remember though He was God, He was in man form, and knew the plan could only work if He bore the pain and suffering like a man. No one wants to die. His fear was just of a more godly nature. It resonates as Bruh David’s cry of anguish; ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?’ (Ps.22:1) It certainly seems that sometimes the Lord ignores our pleas when we’re going through trials and cry out to Him. But it’s not really true. He never ignores us. He’s always right there beside us, ready and willing to lend a hand when He sees we desperately need it. However, sometimes he uses those trials to test and strengthen us, to improve our Jesus character. And though we don’t always understand, there’s always a good reason why He allows us to endure certain trials. Jesus cried out too just before He gave up the ghost on the terrible cross. ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Mat.27:46) But God had not forsaken Him. He would never forsake His One and Only Beloved Son. Don’t you think the Father had a real hard time holding Himself back from saying, ‘Forget this nonsense yes!’ and just aborting the whole mission, when He saw the agony His poor Son was undergoing? Any Father would, and I’m sure He did. But He knew that was the only way to set things right; the only way for us to be made whole again. Friends, neither will He ever forsake any of us who come to Him sincerely pleading for help. And trust Bruh Paul to get it right: ‘Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered: And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.’ (Heb.5:8-9) Yes Friends, the same goes for us; through ‘sufferation’ we learn obedience, putting our faith, our trust, and our entire lives, entirely in the hands of the Most High God Jehovah; surrendering our very souls to Him and the plans He has for them. After which, we’ll be made as perfect as humanly possible and join the author of eternal salvation when He comes to glory. Much LOVE!…the greater the anguish…the greater the need for more fervent prayer…
SCRIP-BITS 