IN THE GARDEN

A few years ago, Carla and I walked through the ancient olive grove atop the Mount of Olives. Though you can see Jerusalem just across the Kidron Valley, Gethsemane was quiet, peaceful, still.

Two-thousand years before, in the late hours of a long day, Jesus and His disciples withdrew to this serene sanctuary. It was a favorite place … “Jesus often met there with his disciples” (John 18:2).

The Rabbi told His disciples, “ ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray’ … He began to be sorrowful and troubled … ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed” (Matthew 26:36-39). “Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Jesus could have called “twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53) to destroy the Roman government and their co-conspirators, the pharisaical religious establishment. He could have snapped His fingers and removed Calvary from the map.

He didn’t.

He knew His Father’s will. It was His plan, decided in Heaven long before creation. He knew there was no other way.

He agonized in prayer, knowing that the following morning, He would carry my sin and shame to the cross. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).