Lest I Forget Gethsemane

The circle around Jesus shrinks again. The inner three who saw his glory on the mountain (Mark 9:2) cannot cope with the invitation to support him as he prays and in his dread of what is to come. Asked to watch as he prays they fall into an exhausted sleep. They don’t have it in them to do what Jesus asks, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (38). The prayer in Gethsemane reveals the reality of Jesus’ humanity and the depth of what he faced and then accomplished. He asked them to watch with him, not die with him, despite Peter’s intentions (32). Only he could bear this cup. Anyone who doubts the true humanity of Jesus needs to read this passage. Jesus the incarnate Son of God prays. He won the victory for us, as one of us. That victory was won in Gethsemane before it was won at Golgotha. Christian prayer is rooted in Gethsemane. We may only approach the Father because of the death of his Son. Through what he alone could do—and he did alone—we are given the gift of prayer, which is blood-bought. “Abba,” the distinctive word, placed by the Spirit in the hearts and on the lips of God’s children, is a Gethsemane word (36). It combines respectful intimacy with profound commitment to the will and purposes of God. The heart of Christian prayer is “not what I will, but what you will.” Prayer aligns us with the will of God. Jesus still calls us to watch with him, and if we cannot join him in prayer, like the three that night, we will also fail in discipleship. We pray in him, indwelt by the Spirit of prayer. Gethsemane is the unique foundation for prayer.

The challenge to keep awake and pray is ours today. In what ways is the Spirit enabling you in your prayer life?