God's Will

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” [Mark 14.35-36]

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) all record very similar versions of this event in Jesus' life. As I read these three accounts again today, I was taken to a different set of thoughts than at any time before...

The main thing that Jesus taught without wavering, was faith. Now, while many propose that this time in the Garden of Gethsemane was a time of weakness and vulnerability for Jesus, I am going to offer a contrary view of it.

If ever there was a demonstration of the 'dilemma of faith' in humanity, this was it. Jesus revealed his human emotions for those who heard Him so that His faith could be seen in contrast! ALL who were present at this event, ALL who ever recorded it, and ALL who would ever read or hear about it could relate to Jesus' worst-case-scenario-faith-challenge. Jesus was not only facing death, but a long physically brutal trial and crucifixion beforehand.

Jesus, Who dogmatically taught 'any-request-granted, mountain-moving faith,' here demonstrates something in contrast: He was faced with "believing" Himself out of this situation OR "believing" Himself into the ONLY solution for man's sinful condition (He could have had it either way). Jesus chose the way of servanthood to His Father's will. His faith came down to simple obedience to God's purpose for sending Him to earth in the first place. There was a time of unimaginable discomfort ahead of Jesus, but He still knew He would resurrect victorious from it - it was all part of The Plan.

While our faith challenges on earth may be likened to Jesus' faith challenge in the Garden of Gethsemane, great discretion must be exercised in so doing to avoid erroneous religious ideas. Jesus knew God's will before He ever went to pray. Jesus knew He was about to provide the way of salvation to the world. Jesus knew He would be beaten senseless before the first blow. Jesus knew His impending crucifixion was the reason for His coming to earth. Knowing this however did not change the fact that He was in human form and, as such, experienced every human emotion regarding the cruelty He was about to experience.

Here is where we should be careful. Here is where so many people liken our sufferings on earth to Jesus in the Garden. Here is where, if we do not exercise great discretion, we slip into gravely erroneous doctrines...

First, to liken ANYTHING we might experience on earth to what Jesus was facing in the Garden of Gethsemane is ridiculous! We will not be providing salvation for all the world for all time! We have no idea the weight of that burden upon Jesus. To liken anything we might ever experience to Jesus at Gethsemane is preposterous. Our sufferings and burdens cannot even tip the scale when weighed against Jesus' afflictions that began at Gethsemane. And yet, Jesus remained true to God's known will for His life ...and the resurrection that would follow!

And so, here is where I am encouraged today to stay in my faith. Even though my emotions scream for relief from my afflictions (which, by the way, are NOT going to save the world), I want to be undivided and true to my any-request-granted, mountain-moving faith - God's will - to experience the "resurrection" life on the other side of it. Is this not what Jesus modeled so perfectly for us in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Now, it IS possible that I might lay down my life for a friend. My action to do so can only possibly save a human life - not a human soul. Is it God's will that I do so? It is God's will that I choose love - and if stepping in front of a bullet to save another life is presented to me, I pray I choose love. 

However, let us not think for one moment that our being sick or in poverty serves the salvation of another person in body or soul (or serves any 'higher purpose' other than calling us to repentance)! This feat was accomplished once and for all by Jesus:

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [Isaiah 53.4-5]

God's willed 'cup of suffering' (judgment) upon Jesus was for the expressed purpose (Isaiah 53.4-5) of removing that cup of suffering (judgment) from those who would believe in Him (Jesus). Jesus must have been thinking of this very passage in Isaiah when He said, Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. Not ironically, Jesus pointed out this judgment (cup of suffering) to Nicodemus nearly three years before His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [John 3.18]

Yes, Jesus allowed us to see His humanity in the Garden of Gethsemane so that we too might approach our faith-challenges with a "God's will" mindset. But we cannot pray for God's will any differently than Jesus specifically commanded us to!

Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. [Matthew 6.9-10]

God's will for Jesus and for us is the same as it is in heaven. However, "as it is in heaven" is different for Jesus in that only He could redeem all mankind in body and soul for all time through terrible pain and suffering (the punishment to satisfy our very entrance into heaven where naturally then, sickness and poverty do not exist). 

There IS a pain and suffering on earth for believers though that is not about sickness or poverty. It is persecution for the sake of Christ. History is full of martyrs who embraced such suffering for its testimony of faith to those who witnessed it. While this suffering does not save others, it brings them to the foot of Jesus' Cross! Hebrews confirms this:

By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. [Hebrews 11.33-40]

My point is simply this: Jesus commanded us to approach life circumstances in faith. Jesus NEVER passed off sickness or disease or hunger as "God's will." However, persecution for the sake of the Gospel is an entirely different thing. Let us not be confused between the two!

There is so very much more that can be addressed here...

Father, this exercise of writing today has made me think more about what I believe about suffering and helped me to further distinguish between persecution and curses (judgment: sickness, disease...). I realize I don't have full revelation on this topic, but I am quite confident that regardless... I will reach 'the other side' in victory only by faith in Christ.