Lessons from the Garden of Gethsemane

As Easter approaches Christian believers from around the world begin to think about the time when Jesus fulfilled His mission in providing a way for our redemption. He had said,

I am the way, the truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father except by me. (John 14:6)

The way He provided was through His sacrificial death on Calvary's cross. In a world of many alternatives for virtually every situation in life, when it comes to our salvation and eternal life; there is only one way to the Father. True believers understand this deeply. Every Easter we reflect on the crucifixion and death of our Lord. But our true joy comes in our celebration of Jesus' victory over the grave when He rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday morning! 

But the path Jesus took to that victorious Sunday morning was immensely challenging and incredibly painful (both physically and emotionally). A mere few days before His crucifixion He was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to His Father. In that prayer we can see His full humanity with all its concerns and fears. But we can also see His undeterred commitment to the plan of His Heavenly Father ... the very plan Jesus was born to fulfill. 

In this amazing scene from Matthew 26: 36-46 there are lessons for each of us as we face life's trying moments and uncertainties.  As I prayerfully reflected on this wonderful story from God's Word, I discerned a few lessons we can draw upon when we ourselves are facing fearful or uncertain circumstances. 

Following are those lessons.

Lean on Your Closest Christian Friends

37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

When life's circumstances and realities bring uncertainty, concern, or fear it is best to lean on those Christian friends who have been closest to us in many seasons of our lives. 

Jesus' inner-circle, as I call them, was Peter, James, and John. They seemingly were the closest to the Lord and the ones He asked to be with Him during significant times in His life and ministry. The gospels record three times when they were close to Jesus during an important moment. 

The first was recorded in Mark 5: 21-43, Matthew 9: 18-26, and Luke 8: 40-56 when Jesus was summoned to heal Jairus' daughter.  The second was recorded in Matthew 17: 1-8, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9: 28-36 when Jesus invited the three to witness His transfiguration. 

Lastly we see that Jesus' asked them to be closest to Him as "his soul was deeply grieved" just before his crucifixion. Obviously this was a night filled with deep soul-penetrating  thoughts, concerns, and even fears for the Lord. Even though He was fully God he was also fully man. He felt what we tend to feel so often. He wanted and needed the prayerful support of three of his closest disciples. 

God brings special Christian people into our lives who are ready and prepared to wait with us, pray with us, encourage us, and simply be there for us in trying and uncertain times. We should not hide away during these times but instead reach out to those who have been with us through so much in life. Jesus did. 

Get Alone with God and Open Your Heart

39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 

As important as it is to be close to fellow believers during uncertain times, it is far more important to retreat from every distraction and talk openly and honestly with your Heavenly Father.  In this verse we see Jesus leaving Peter, James, and John and heading to a place where He could be alone with His Father. 

Jesus opens Himself up by falling on His face and telling His Father what was on his heart and mind. He let His fears be known when He said, "... if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." 

That is a model you and I should follow. No, we don't pray this way to enform God of the circumstance or even our fears. He knows these things. We do so to let it be known that we are utterly dependent on Him and that we know there is nothing in our strength to see us through this season of uncertainty. Ultimately we cry out, as Jesus did, that we are okay with God having His will in and through the situation. 

Be Lovingly Patient toward Fellow Believers 

40 And He came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

There's a point that our Christian friends can't go beyond. They simply can't go beyond their own human limitations and frailties no matter how faithful they have been. At the end of the day we all are restricted by the limitations of being fleshly beings.

Because the passage is so meaningful for me I often speak of Paul's sincerity in Romans 7 where he admits that he is in bondage to the sin of his flesh. He notes that he himself is not actually sinning but it is the sin within his flesh that causes him to fail God on many occasions. Each of us can relate to that. 

There are times when even our closest friends simply don't have the right advice or can't be there as much as we would prefer mainly because they are facing their own challenges. Each of us, quite naturally, tend to focus more on ourselves when life "happens."

But notice that Jesus did not intensely scold His closest disciples for falling asleep when He needed them the most. Actually, He was somewhat gracious toward them. So we learn that this is how we should respond when our closest friends can't be "as there" as we need them to be. Be lovingly patient with them. When the proverbial "rubber meets the road" they will prove their loving support again (and again and again and again).  Each of these disciples did. 

Surrender to God's Will

“42 ... My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” ... 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more."

We have been taught that God has purposed our lives and has planned our steps. Jeremiah 29:11 reads "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, ' plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." We know that God always wants His best for us. 

Jesus understood this quite well. He knew that even though He was about to endure an excruciatingly painful beating, scourging, and crucifixion; ultimately He would be victorious in the plans of His Heavenly Father. This is why He said, "not my will but Your will be done." He surrendered to the will of His Father.

We walk through this life on somewhat of a spiritual, physically, emotional, and even financial roller coaster. At times things are quite well but at other times things can seem to unravel. But we know that God has our (and His) best interest at heart. We truly know that "God causes ALL things to work together for good..."

Because we know this to be true we readily surrender to the idea that God has something in store for us as we face life's challenges. James reminded us to "consider it all joy" (James 1: 2) because God is going to show and teach us something for His glory through it. As Jesus glorified God and His purposes by surrendering completely to His Father's plan of redemption, so we can be used by the Lord in ways we may not be considering. 

Just let God have these times in your life and see what He does through them.

Face Life's Circumstances Fervently and Faithfully

45 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

After His hours of prayer the Lord was strengthened, resolved, and ready to face His accusers and moved forward with His Father's plan. From that time on He resolutely faced the trials, false accusers, beatings, scourgings, and ultimately the crucifixion.

After we have confided in and leaned upon our closest fellow believers and have prayed diligently to the Father, then we should stand firm and face the situation faithfully and fearlessly. Jesus had every human reason to fear and deny that He was the king of the Jews. Doing so would have caused Pontius Pilate to free Him. But Jesus didn't want to "get out" of the difficulty. He wanted to fulfill the purposes of God for lost mankind. His challenging, personal struggle was His Father's way of accomplishing it. 

We also should expect to fulfill some purpose and plan of the Lord as we face life's challenges fervently, fearlessly, and faithfully.

I hope these thoughts have been a blessing to you.

Tony Guthrie
tguthrie1961@gmail.com