If You Are Willing...
Read Luke 22:39-46.
It is almost shocking to hear the level of submission God the Son has in this passage to God the Father. Perhaps part of the reason we are so shocked is because we don't experience that level of submission as parents here on earth. Early on my kids did not say, "Father, if you are willing, would you please bring me my bottle?" Later, as they grow, they might say, "Please," but often not. Rarely, if ever, have I heard the words, "If you are willing..."
And yet those words are at the heart of Jesus' prayer and his request this dark night in Gethsemane. If you are willing... The Son of God did not storm into heaven's court and demand a way out. He did not call down angels to whisk him away from the horror that was ahead of him. He didn't hide in the garden, as Adam and Eve had so long before. Instead, he submitted. "If you are willing..." Another way that could be translated is, "If it would please you..." The heart of the Son was set, even on this most horrific of nights, on pleasing his Father.
Our prayers are often set on pleasing...ourselves. "God, it would please me if you would..." We may not say it in quite those words, but isn't that the intent behind our many words, our piling up of intercessions, even our habit of telling God how everything should work out? Is it not enough to take our concerns, our needs, our requests, lay them in front of our Father, and say, "If you are willing..."? Can we trust him to do what is right, what is needed? Can we trust him? That is, after all, the question that lies behind every prayer.
If you are willing...and even if you are not, I will trust in you.
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P.S. This is my 500th posting on this blog. No wonder I'm so tired!
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| Church of All Nations, Gethsemane - Tradition says this is where Jesus prayed all night - 2014 |
It is almost shocking to hear the level of submission God the Son has in this passage to God the Father. Perhaps part of the reason we are so shocked is because we don't experience that level of submission as parents here on earth. Early on my kids did not say, "Father, if you are willing, would you please bring me my bottle?" Later, as they grow, they might say, "Please," but often not. Rarely, if ever, have I heard the words, "If you are willing..."
And yet those words are at the heart of Jesus' prayer and his request this dark night in Gethsemane. If you are willing... The Son of God did not storm into heaven's court and demand a way out. He did not call down angels to whisk him away from the horror that was ahead of him. He didn't hide in the garden, as Adam and Eve had so long before. Instead, he submitted. "If you are willing..." Another way that could be translated is, "If it would please you..." The heart of the Son was set, even on this most horrific of nights, on pleasing his Father.
Our prayers are often set on pleasing...ourselves. "God, it would please me if you would..." We may not say it in quite those words, but isn't that the intent behind our many words, our piling up of intercessions, even our habit of telling God how everything should work out? Is it not enough to take our concerns, our needs, our requests, lay them in front of our Father, and say, "If you are willing..."? Can we trust him to do what is right, what is needed? Can we trust him? That is, after all, the question that lies behind every prayer.
If you are willing...and even if you are not, I will trust in you.
+++++++
P.S. This is my 500th posting on this blog. No wonder I'm so tired!
Congratulations and good reminder.
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