Essentials
Read Matthew 26:36-75.
When everything is gone, only the essentials matter.
It is the last night. Jesus is with his disciples, and their time together is in its final hours. While the disciples have no idea that's the case, I don't doubt they can sense Jesus' heavy heart, even as they enter a familiar garden. Though they've been here before, and maybe even prayed in the same location, there's no doubt something is different on this night.
As Matthew continues to challenge us to find ourselves in the story, it's important to look around this scene of chaos. Who is here? And where do you find yourself in the story?
Peter, who wants to be a loyal disciple, who acts rashly but boldly when his Lord is being arrested, who even risks following along after Jesus is arrested, but who (this night, anyway) finds himself scurrying back to the safe corners of self-protection when the spotlight is turned on him. For this moment, anyway, what is essential to Peter on this night is his own well-being.
The Sanhedrin, trying to force an outcome out of the situation that is to their liking (an outcome they have already decided on), trying to remove what they perceive as a threat to their power and authorized leadership. For this night, what is essential to the Sanhedrin is their own power.
Judas, who appears and disappears rather rapidly in this story, who is used and then cast aside by those who appeared to be his friends, who suddenly finds the money in his pocket heavier than he wants to bear. There is a lot of speculation as to Judas' motive, but no matter how we try to figure it out, only Judas ultimately knows. It appears, on a surface level, that he at least wanted to force Jesus to be the Messiah he expected Jesus to be. As he nears the end of his own life, what is essential to Judas is his own preferences, his own design.
The high priest, who uses dramatic theater to make his point, whose holiness doesn't allow him to see the new work of God that Jesus is leading, whose focus on religion blinds him to the relationship Jesus is offering. For the high priest, the essentials are wrapped up in right following of the religious rules.
And then there is Jesus, the calm center of the storm, the one who refuses to speak up when accused, the one who entrusts himself to the will of his heavenly Father. For Jesus, the essential tonight is prayer. Everything else that happens flows out of the conversation he has with his heavenly Father under an olive tree in the garden. He is able to do what he does next because he has first spent time with his Father.
Again (are you tired of this question yet?) - where are you in this story? What is essential to the mission of Jesus Christ? When everything else is gone, only the essentials matter, and the essentials define who we are.
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| Garden of Gethsemane, 2014 |
It is the last night. Jesus is with his disciples, and their time together is in its final hours. While the disciples have no idea that's the case, I don't doubt they can sense Jesus' heavy heart, even as they enter a familiar garden. Though they've been here before, and maybe even prayed in the same location, there's no doubt something is different on this night.
As Matthew continues to challenge us to find ourselves in the story, it's important to look around this scene of chaos. Who is here? And where do you find yourself in the story?
Peter, who wants to be a loyal disciple, who acts rashly but boldly when his Lord is being arrested, who even risks following along after Jesus is arrested, but who (this night, anyway) finds himself scurrying back to the safe corners of self-protection when the spotlight is turned on him. For this moment, anyway, what is essential to Peter on this night is his own well-being.
The Sanhedrin, trying to force an outcome out of the situation that is to their liking (an outcome they have already decided on), trying to remove what they perceive as a threat to their power and authorized leadership. For this night, what is essential to the Sanhedrin is their own power.
Judas, who appears and disappears rather rapidly in this story, who is used and then cast aside by those who appeared to be his friends, who suddenly finds the money in his pocket heavier than he wants to bear. There is a lot of speculation as to Judas' motive, but no matter how we try to figure it out, only Judas ultimately knows. It appears, on a surface level, that he at least wanted to force Jesus to be the Messiah he expected Jesus to be. As he nears the end of his own life, what is essential to Judas is his own preferences, his own design.
The high priest, who uses dramatic theater to make his point, whose holiness doesn't allow him to see the new work of God that Jesus is leading, whose focus on religion blinds him to the relationship Jesus is offering. For the high priest, the essentials are wrapped up in right following of the religious rules.
And then there is Jesus, the calm center of the storm, the one who refuses to speak up when accused, the one who entrusts himself to the will of his heavenly Father. For Jesus, the essential tonight is prayer. Everything else that happens flows out of the conversation he has with his heavenly Father under an olive tree in the garden. He is able to do what he does next because he has first spent time with his Father.
Again (are you tired of this question yet?) - where are you in this story? What is essential to the mission of Jesus Christ? When everything else is gone, only the essentials matter, and the essentials define who we are.
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