WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: What’s the most painful personal experience you’ve ever had? Revisiting it might help you to enter this story. Fully human After all the calm and clarity comes the crisis for Jesus. The thing to remember here is that Jesus is fully human, and as such he experienced all that other humans do. So it should come as no surprise that Jesus is ‘overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death’ (v 34, NIV). There’s a question here: if Jesus knows the end result is resurrection and victory, why is he so full of sorrow? Was it the impending suffering, the thought of pain? Death and darkness Death held particular terrors for Jesus. Death is the heartland of the enemy. The one who lives eternally, Jesus, would die. The Light of the World would plunge into darkness unimaginable. Even more distressing was the thought of a previously eternal unbroken fellowship with the Father being broken. Agonising brokenness As Jesus takes upon himself the sin of the whole world, he will become an object of repulsion to the Father, forsaken and abandoned. His act of mending to heal the world would ironically require the most agonising brokenness. Little did the disciples realise that Jesus’ prayers were so painful and so personally draining. They slept through the most agonising time in his life (vs 37,38) until the betrayer arrived (v 42). Respond: Sometimes I am less aware than I should be of the silent suffering of others. Like the disciples I’m asleep to their anguish. ‘Lord, help me stay alert!’ http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-03-29