Having reached Gethsemane, Jesus asked his disciples to keep watch. Christ’s time of trial and suffering has just begun. Now, watch the next dramatic events unfold!
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. – Mark 14:35. The distress that gripped our Lord was so extreme that he could no longer walk or stand. Standing was the usual Jewish position for prayer. Instead, Christ’s strength failed him, and he fell to the ground, and there on the ground, he prayed. Jesus had said that it was for “this hour” that he had come into the world. He knew that it was the hour of the Cross. Why would he now pray to be exempted from it? Our Lord prayed this prayer because just as he was divine, he was also human, and this was the cry of his human heart. Was it a sin for him to want for there to be another way other than the way of his Father? No, of course not! It isn’t a sin for us to struggle with the will of God. It is only a sin when we choose a different path. Notice that the gospel says that Jesus “went a little farther.” Jesus went a little farther for you. He went farther than anyone could ever have gone. There was no one who could go as far as Jesus went to ensure your peace and joy and eternal life. What is the furthest you’ve ever gone for Jesus? What if Jesus were to ask you to go “a little farther”?
Having reached Gethsemane, Jesus has asked his disciples to keep watch. Christ’s time of trial and suffering has just begun. Now, watch the next dramatic events unfold!
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. – Mark 14:35
The distress that gripped our Lord was so extreme that he could no longer walk or stand. Standing was the usual Jewish position for prayer. Instead, Christ’s strength failed him, and he fell to the ground, and there on the ground, he prayed.
Jesus had said that it was for “this hour” that he had come into the world. He knew that it was the hour of the Cross. Why would he now pray to be exempted from it? Our Lord prayed this prayer, because just as he was divine, he was also human, and this was the cry of his human heart. Was it sin for him to want for there to be another way other than the way of his Father? No, of course not! It isn’t a sin for us to struggle with the will of God. It is only a sin when we choose a different path.
Notice that the gospel says that Jesus “went a little farther.” Jesus went a little farther for you. He went farther than anyone could ever have gone. There was no one who could go as far as Jesus went to ensure your peace and joy and eternal life. What is the furthest you’ve ever gone for Jesus? What if Jesus were to ask you to go “a little farther”?