Daily Bread Mark 14
Daily Bread Mark 14
Gethsemane
32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Observation:
As we near the end of Mark’s Gospel, the shortest of the four, at 16 chapters, the climactic ending begins to build in Chapter 14. Jesus is anointed by a woman with expensive perfume. The disciples complain, but he commends her for her act of worship. Jesus prepares a special Last Supper, where he institutes what will later be called Holy Communion. The sacred meal that reminds us of the sacrifice he was about to make on behalf of the world.
Meanwhile Judas is fixing to betray him to the Jewish leaders for a small sum of money. Even Jesus’ inner circle of disciples can’t seem to stay awake and keep watch in prayer for him. One of his best friends’ Peter denies even knowing him, despite the fact that he had promised he would stay with him at all costs. Jesus himself is at the urge of physical and emotional collapse and pleads for His Father (literally “daddy”) to take away the cup of suffering he knew awaited him.
The part I am most struck by is that fact that as he prays to His Father, he acknowledges that everything is possible for God, and yet He submits to God’s will for Him. What hit me the most was the fact that Jesus knew everything was possible for Heavenly Father, and yet God the Father allowed His Son to be crucified for the sins of the world.
Application:
So often we think of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, as we rightfully should. But today I saw God’s sacrifice in allowing His Son to be crucified for the sins of the world. I saw this scene through the eyes of God the Father who was listening to His Son cry out to Him three times, “Daddy if there is another way please make it happen”.
We see the anguish Jesus is in, but think of the pain God was in to allow this to happen to His one and only Son. It is bad enough to see anything happen to your child, but then to know that God could have stopped and was even urged by His Son to stop what was happening, and yet allowed it to continue shows the importance of what was about to happen.
I think it gives new meaning to the words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” Why did God allow His only Son to go to the cross? It was you and me. It was the world. For God so loved us, that He gave His only Son!
Take a moment and think about God’s love for you that would prompt Him to do what he did.
Prayer: God, we thank you that you so loved us that you gave up your only Son, so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life. Thank you Jesus for being willing to die for us, so that we might be saved from our sins. Although we can never repay you, help us to live our lives with the same love that you gave to us and be merciful with others as you have been with us. Amen.
Gethsemane
32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Observation:
As we near the end of Mark’s Gospel, the shortest of the four, at 16 chapters, the climactic ending begins to build in Chapter 14. Jesus is anointed by a woman with expensive perfume. The disciples complain, but he commends her for her act of worship. Jesus prepares a special Last Supper, where he institutes what will later be called Holy Communion. The sacred meal that reminds us of the sacrifice he was about to make on behalf of the world.
Meanwhile Judas is fixing to betray him to the Jewish leaders for a small sum of money. Even Jesus’ inner circle of disciples can’t seem to stay awake and keep watch in prayer for him. One of his best friends’ Peter denies even knowing him, despite the fact that he had promised he would stay with him at all costs. Jesus himself is at the urge of physical and emotional collapse and pleads for His Father (literally “daddy”) to take away the cup of suffering he knew awaited him.
The part I am most struck by is that fact that as he prays to His Father, he acknowledges that everything is possible for God, and yet He submits to God’s will for Him. What hit me the most was the fact that Jesus knew everything was possible for Heavenly Father, and yet God the Father allowed His Son to be crucified for the sins of the world.
Application:
So often we think of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, as we rightfully should. But today I saw God’s sacrifice in allowing His Son to be crucified for the sins of the world. I saw this scene through the eyes of God the Father who was listening to His Son cry out to Him three times, “Daddy if there is another way please make it happen”.
We see the anguish Jesus is in, but think of the pain God was in to allow this to happen to His one and only Son. It is bad enough to see anything happen to your child, but then to know that God could have stopped and was even urged by His Son to stop what was happening, and yet allowed it to continue shows the importance of what was about to happen.
I think it gives new meaning to the words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” Why did God allow His only Son to go to the cross? It was you and me. It was the world. For God so loved us, that He gave His only Son!
Take a moment and think about God’s love for you that would prompt Him to do what he did.
Prayer: God, we thank you that you so loved us that you gave up your only Son, so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life. Thank you Jesus for being willing to die for us, so that we might be saved from our sins. Although we can never repay you, help us to live our lives with the same love that you gave to us and be merciful with others as you have been with us. Amen.
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