The sun cannot hurt you during the day, and the moon cannot hurt you at night. The Lord will protect you from all dangers. He will guard your life. (Verses 6-7)
Jesus left the city and went to the Mount of Olives as He often did, and His followers went with Him. When He reached the place, He said to them, "Pray for strength against temptation." Then Jesus went about a stone's throw away from them. He knelt down and prayed, "Father, if You are willing, take away this cup of suffering. But do what You want, not what I want." Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen Him. Being full of pain, Jesus prayed even harder. His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When He had finished praying, He went to His followers and found them asleep because of their sadness. Jesus said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray for strength against temptation!" Luke 22
What was Jesus tempted to do in the garden? Give up. Let life devour His purpose. Because what He knew was about to happen to him was horrifying--terrifying to such a maximum degree that He sweat profusely in His praying. Imagine understanding, in your own flesh, that you were going to be lied about, beaten until you were almost dead, vilified, and mocked as you attempted to carry an impossibly heavy cross to an unimaginable death. Jesus had seen this all before. He is God. So He knew what He came here to do. Be a Lamb. Bleed out on an altar conceived before the world was made. And this was His hour. And Jesus was made of flesh and blood that cringed at the pain. Trembled at the prospect of bearing our sins, knowing the separation from the Father necessitated by such unholy carrion. And He didn't want to do it. "Isn't there some other way, Father?"
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray specifically for strength to resist temptation. He says this twice. He knows the disciples will be tempted--and will fail. But Jesus understands the nature of His last battle with Satan on this earth, too. Hopeful that the Father has an alternative, Jesus cries out to be spared His personal holocaust. The Father's answer? God sent an angel to give Jesus courage. Not to fight for His Son with legions of other angels following from heaven. No. God sent a messenger to say there is no other way but this one--the one We've planned since the beginning. Jesus prayed for strength. That is what His Father gave Him. Not freedom from the suffering. Power to go through it. And Jesus prayed all the harder! Isn't that what we would do, too? Once we know that the will of the Father is for us to go through pain, our prayer changes from "Get me out of this!" to "Help me make it!" Knowing His own temptation to lose heart and quit, Jesus tells His disciples to get up and pray for strength to conquer their own temptation to bail on Him. To lose all Jesus had come to give them. To deny they ever knew Him and hide like roaches in the dark.
So if God keeps the sun from hurting us during the day and the moon from hurting us at night, protecting us from danger in all our ways, what are we to think when something horrific happens to us? I think the first thought is, "What did I do to deserve this?" I know that's what my mother and my friends who've battled cancer and either won or lost that battle have asked. First question. Always. Because we think if God loves us and we've been good little children, we won't experience pain. Jesus in the garden expels that myth. The only begotten Son of God, His absolutely favorite Child, from the beginning until now and forever more, was not exempt from excruciation. What God promised Jesus as He prayed is what He promises us in our Gethsemanes, His Presence in power. I can almost feel in the prayer Jesus prayed that He wasn't sure He could make it. Do the thing. Was there a what if with Him? He was, after all, carrying around a fleshy, corruptible body. So much so that He had to pray for strength. His praying made Jesus sweat with agony after the angel's message from the Father. There is no other way. But I will be there in it with you. Implicit in the plea, to me, is the thought that Jesus might fail. The human response to being called to save the world.
I know the psalmist didn't mean to create guilt for those of us who feel unprotected from the sun by day and the moon by night. Who think God hasn't kept us from danger all the time. So that if sun and moon damage is our experience in the moment, we believe God has abandoned us. Think Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They still went into the fire. Scared to death, knowing they would burn up. But Jesus walked around in there with them. He will not do less for us. The death of Jesus culminated in His resurrection. As will ours. And we will walk around heaven with Him forever, because Jesus has protected us from the one danger that would eternally destroy us. Conquered the enemy that would rob us of our very souls. In the meantime, the Father and Son will strengthen us for today, assuring us that we have not been called to any pain Jesus hasn't walked through. The great sweaty task of suffering ended in glory. God didn't lie when He said He'd guard us. He put Jesus in the way of the enemy for our sakes. The head of the serpent crushed forever under the Savior's heel. Take heart. He will strengthen us for every task under the sun and moon. I can do all things through Christ because He gives me strength! Philippians 4:13
Jesus left the city and went to the Mount of Olives as He often did, and His followers went with Him. When He reached the place, He said to them, "Pray for strength against temptation." Then Jesus went about a stone's throw away from them. He knelt down and prayed, "Father, if You are willing, take away this cup of suffering. But do what You want, not what I want." Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen Him. Being full of pain, Jesus prayed even harder. His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When He had finished praying, He went to His followers and found them asleep because of their sadness. Jesus said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray for strength against temptation!" Luke 22
What was Jesus tempted to do in the garden? Give up. Let life devour His purpose. Because what He knew was about to happen to him was horrifying--terrifying to such a maximum degree that He sweat profusely in His praying. Imagine understanding, in your own flesh, that you were going to be lied about, beaten until you were almost dead, vilified, and mocked as you attempted to carry an impossibly heavy cross to an unimaginable death. Jesus had seen this all before. He is God. So He knew what He came here to do. Be a Lamb. Bleed out on an altar conceived before the world was made. And this was His hour. And Jesus was made of flesh and blood that cringed at the pain. Trembled at the prospect of bearing our sins, knowing the separation from the Father necessitated by such unholy carrion. And He didn't want to do it. "Isn't there some other way, Father?"
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray specifically for strength to resist temptation. He says this twice. He knows the disciples will be tempted--and will fail. But Jesus understands the nature of His last battle with Satan on this earth, too. Hopeful that the Father has an alternative, Jesus cries out to be spared His personal holocaust. The Father's answer? God sent an angel to give Jesus courage. Not to fight for His Son with legions of other angels following from heaven. No. God sent a messenger to say there is no other way but this one--the one We've planned since the beginning. Jesus prayed for strength. That is what His Father gave Him. Not freedom from the suffering. Power to go through it. And Jesus prayed all the harder! Isn't that what we would do, too? Once we know that the will of the Father is for us to go through pain, our prayer changes from "Get me out of this!" to "Help me make it!" Knowing His own temptation to lose heart and quit, Jesus tells His disciples to get up and pray for strength to conquer their own temptation to bail on Him. To lose all Jesus had come to give them. To deny they ever knew Him and hide like roaches in the dark.
So if God keeps the sun from hurting us during the day and the moon from hurting us at night, protecting us from danger in all our ways, what are we to think when something horrific happens to us? I think the first thought is, "What did I do to deserve this?" I know that's what my mother and my friends who've battled cancer and either won or lost that battle have asked. First question. Always. Because we think if God loves us and we've been good little children, we won't experience pain. Jesus in the garden expels that myth. The only begotten Son of God, His absolutely favorite Child, from the beginning until now and forever more, was not exempt from excruciation. What God promised Jesus as He prayed is what He promises us in our Gethsemanes, His Presence in power. I can almost feel in the prayer Jesus prayed that He wasn't sure He could make it. Do the thing. Was there a what if with Him? He was, after all, carrying around a fleshy, corruptible body. So much so that He had to pray for strength. His praying made Jesus sweat with agony after the angel's message from the Father. There is no other way. But I will be there in it with you. Implicit in the plea, to me, is the thought that Jesus might fail. The human response to being called to save the world.
I know the psalmist didn't mean to create guilt for those of us who feel unprotected from the sun by day and the moon by night. Who think God hasn't kept us from danger all the time. So that if sun and moon damage is our experience in the moment, we believe God has abandoned us. Think Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They still went into the fire. Scared to death, knowing they would burn up. But Jesus walked around in there with them. He will not do less for us. The death of Jesus culminated in His resurrection. As will ours. And we will walk around heaven with Him forever, because Jesus has protected us from the one danger that would eternally destroy us. Conquered the enemy that would rob us of our very souls. In the meantime, the Father and Son will strengthen us for today, assuring us that we have not been called to any pain Jesus hasn't walked through. The great sweaty task of suffering ended in glory. God didn't lie when He said He'd guard us. He put Jesus in the way of the enemy for our sakes. The head of the serpent crushed forever under the Savior's heel. Take heart. He will strengthen us for every task under the sun and moon. I can do all things through Christ because He gives me strength! Philippians 4:13
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