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Jesus and Obedience - Mark 14:36
Jesus and Obedience - Mark 14:36
We often forget that Jesus lived during the time of Roman occupation. He made many trips to Jerusalem. It is reported that the Romans routinely crucified the notorious criminals. This means that as one came to Jerusalem, the road would be lined with such crucified people. The pain, the shame, the horror would be seen each time. This is what awaited Jesus. His prayer seems to indicate that he KNEW what awaited him and dreaded the experience!
All things are possible… Jesus himself had taught this concerning prayer (read again Mark 9:23, 10:27) Yet, after this prayer, Jesus endured the suffering of the cross. Was it not possible for God to stop this? I think this is simply the wrong question. It is not the ‘possibility’, but the desired will of God. As awful as it was, it was the way to provide salvation for the world. Paul would say that thru this God was able to maintain His righteousness and yet provide for forgiveness of sinners (Rom. 3:26). This had been the plan from eternity. Jesus came to give his life, which means he came to die.
Two things stand out as important. First, God often acts for the greater good, and thus the individual may not see his own personal prayer granted. Jesus death was ‘for the world’. Just hours before this prayer, he had said ‘This is my blood which is given for many.” (Matt. 26:28).
Also, we see the struggle of difficult obedience. Somethings that God asks are difficult. Sometimes we would rather do something different. What then? Do we excuse ourselves? Do we ‘rethink’ and ‘restudy’ and conclude that ‘surely God didn’t mean this” ? OR, do we, like Jesus, learn obedience thru the things we suffer? (Heb. 5:8).
In all of this, the underlying concept for us is to TRUST GOD. It is ‘easy’ to trust when things make sense, but when we don’t understand the ‘why’ and the ‘wherefore’, what then? When we know what God has revealed for us, let us respond even as our Lord did: “not my will, but thine be done”. Then, let us do it.
Hugh DeLong
