CloserLook > Mini Meditations > Nevertheless |
Listen
to audio |
<< Back to Closer Look Index | |||
|
Nevertheless Matthew 26:36-39 “Then Jesus came
with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit
here while I go and pray over there." And He took with Him Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then
He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay
here and watch with Me." He went a little farther
and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as
You will.”
I would like to focus
on the word “nevertheless” that
Jesus used during His prayer.
Usually, this word
appears between two opposite and equally valid circumstances.
For instance---a
farmer might wake up in the morning with a sore throat and an aching head.
Probably he spent
too much time out in the cold, and it finally caught up with him.
The most sensible
thing to do would be to stay in bed, or at least to stay in the house.
Nevertheless, the
cows need to be milked, and so, out he goes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So then, in V 39 we
find the Lord Jesus saying---“if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”
Coming
from Jesus, this might seem a little unusual, but, in fact, it really isn’t.
When we
look at the contents of this cup,
which, by the way, all of us have helped fill, and when we consider Jesus’ intrinsic nature, which
Hebrews describes as “holy, harmless” and “undefiled,” such a request would
only be normal.
And yet, even in these devastating circumstances,
Jesus qualified His request with the words---“nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
And by so doing, He
set aside His own legitimate desires in favour of His Father’s will.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And this attitude
of surrender was ongoing.
That night in the
garden, when Peter tried to defend Him, Jesus revealed a startling piece of
information.
No, Peter.
Jesus doesn’t need your help.
At this very moment, there are “more
than twelve legions of angels” just waiting to swing into action.
I can almost see them,
with their nerves taut and their swords drawn, waiting for the command that
never came.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And when He was
falsely accused before the high priest and Pilate, Jesus spoke not a word in
His own defence.
Yes, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep
before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:7
And
when the chief priests, along with the elders, mocked Him as He hung on the
cross, saying---“He saved others; Himself He cannot save,” there
was no response.
Yes, He had saved others, but He would steadfastly refuse
to save Himself.
Even with the physical agony He was presently
enduring, and the even greater agony of God’s judgment ahead of Him, He would
stay on the cross until His work was finished.
Salvation was His
work.
Not even the
smallest part of it could be entrusted into our feeble hands.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In Genesis 22, we
read about Abraham's willingness to offer his son as a sacrifice.
And twice in that chapter, we come across the words---“the two of them went together.”
And as they walked up the path to the place of
sacrifice, they pictured another Father and Son.
First of all, we see Isaac, labouring up the mountain
with a load of wood on his shoulders.
It had been placed there by his father, and its burden
was pressing down upon him even before he reached the place of sacrifice.
What a picture that
was of that night in the garden, when “being in
agony,” Jesus “prayed more earnestly.”
However, in that prayer, not only do we hear the
voice of agony, but also the voice of submission---“nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And as
we return to Genesis, and once again behold Abraham walking beside his son, our
minds are drawn to the Heavenly Father.
In one hand He
carries the fire of His righteous judgment, in the other, the knife that will soon
cut off the life of His own dear Son.
And really there’s
no other way to save sinners.
No, “the wages of
sin is death” and “without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
And so, “the two of
them” draw ever nearer to the place
of sacrifice, walking side by side in complete agreement.
Yes, together,
making their way to the place of the Father’s will.
|
![]() |
Home | Bio | Site
Map | Genesis | John | Romans | Ephesian | Hebrews | Misc |
; Phone: 1-226-240-5485