Rise and Follow: 30 Days in MarkSample

In today’s reading, we will find Jesus in Gethsemane praying to his Father just before he is arrested. Jesus is deeply distressed and troubled about the suffering he is about to go through.

Does it surprise you to find Jesus so emotional? To read that he was overwhelmed? It’s easy to affirm out of habit that Jesus is fully God and fully human, but this scene in Mark’s gospel shows us just how human he really was. In his humanity, he faced weakness; the thought of the torture and death he would soon suffer overwhelmed him. He didn’t go to his death as a stoic martyr. He went as a sorrowful, suffering, willing human.

Jesus is God. But everything he did during his time on earth he did as a human, totally dependent upon his Father and the Holy Spirit to empower and guide him. Jesus in Gethsemane shows us that doing God’s will in the face of suffering is not about exercising our own will power; it is about turning to the Father in total dependence and relying on the Holy Spirit to empower us for whatever is ahead.

Reflection Questions:

• How is God speaking to me through these verses?
• What does this set of verses teach me about God?
• What does this show me about the good news of Jesus?
• How can I apply what I read today?