God Desires to Meet With Us
"...he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered." This was a place "Jesus met often with His disciples"(John 18:1-2)
The place was called the Garden of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane: (Gethsemani): an oil-press
Often (pollakis): frequently, many times
Met (synago): to lead and gather together, to bring together for a meeting
*Greek words in parentheses
The Garden of Gethsemane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives and this is where Jesus would gather frequently with His disciples to lead and teach them.
It must have been a special place for Jesus and the disciples; an intimate place where the disciples could ask questions openly and honestly and listen to Jesus answer with utmost understanding and truth.
Gethsemane means oil-press and Jesus was on the verge of His greatest pressing.
Jesus would hang on the cross and feel the weight of mankind's sin on Him as His blood poured out. His pressing would provide salvation for the souls of men.
It was before this great suffering that Jesus brought His disciples to this familiar, intimate place.
Matthew 26: 36-38
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
Sorrowful (perilypos): grieved all around, intensely sad
Watch (gregoreo): keep awake, to be vigilant, give strict attention to
*Greek words in parentheses
Matthew 26:39-41
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
After Jesus finished praying the first time, He found His disciples asleep. He was intensely sad, yet with concern, He expressed to the disciples the need to be vigilant, stay awake, and pray. The flesh is weak.
Jesus was again teaching His disciples in the garden, even in the midst of His suffering. He knew the disciples were going to be tested when He died on the cross. They would struggle with doubt, confusion, and fear.
Jesus went away to pray two more times and each time He returned to His disciples, he found them asleep.
PART 1
Jesus' relationship with His Father
On the brink of Jesus' greatest pressing, He went to the garden to pray to His Father. This wasn't something He did only in His time of suffering. Jesus prayed to and relied on His heavenly Father throughout His entire life on earth. Their relationship was genuine and intimate. He loved the Father and the Father loved Him.
Jesus' relationship with His disciples
"Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." (John 13:1)
Jesus loved His disciples and shared His life with them until the very end. He desired to and did teach them in everyday life, through the words He spoke and the way He lived. Like the scripture says above, He brought His disciples together and led them frequently.
Jesus' Character:
He LOVES and He MEETS with.
He loved His Father and talked to Him often.
He met with His disciples and loved them as the Father loved Him. (John 15:9)
Look at the wondrous beauty in Jesus' character!
The Bible says, "He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature..."(Hebrews 1:3)
Jesus shined the Father's character through all He said and did. By loving the disciples and meeting with them often, Jesus was radiating the Father's love for mankind and the Father's desire to meet with us. By teaching the disciples in the garden, Jesus was demonstrating the Father's desire to teach us.
By loving The Father and meeting with Him often, Jesus showed us what intimacy is ours when we believe in Him.
You see, Jesus is the Way through which WE can love our Heavenly Father and meet with Him often. He submitted to the Father's will so that WE can talk to the Father frequently and come boldly before Him in time of need.
We can look at Jesus' relationship with the Father and His disciples and know without a doubt that the heavenly Father desires to have a relationship with people.
The Father LOVES YOU and wants to MEET with YOU every day, anytime, and anywhere.
He wants to meet you in the stillness of your heart where He can teach you and lead you to life everlasting and joy that surpasses the suffering of this life.
PART 2
Jesus brought the disciples to Gethsemane with Him to pray, but as we see in the scripture above, they fell asleep.
Here I see something else so glorious about Jesus.
He cared about the disciples in the midst of HIS darkest hours. "Stay awake! Pray! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak", He told them, but they fell asleep anyway. I must admit, I most likely would have too. The disciples weren't praying with Jesus or for Him.
After meeting with His Father in prayer, Jesus was strengthened to finish the plan of redemption for the souls of men. For the joy set before Him, He would endure the cross.
Jesus did die, He was raised to life on the third day, and He now sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.
The disciples are examples of our inability to watch and pray perfectly and, because of our flesh, the struggle we face to meet with God often.
But there is good news!! Jesus is no longer suffering. He has triumphed over sin, death, and the grave, and He is interceding on our behalf continually! He can sympathize with our frailty, having lived as a human, but unlike us, He does not slumber or sleep!
We can look at Jesus' life and take heart and live with hope!
Yes, people will fail us in our darkest hours and we will fail people, just like the disciples failed Jesus. But like Jesus, we can always meet with our heavenly Father. He is the One who is above earthly circumstances, who loves us beyond measure, and will never fail us! He will teach us and strengthen us to love and live as Jesus did.
Jesus was a beautiful picture of the relationship God desires to have with people and He is the only Way we can. Through faith in Jesus, we are made sons and daughters of God. We are no longer strangers separated from God by our sin. We can cry out Abba, Father-Daddy, and know He is always there to pick us up, hold us close, teach us, correct us, and forever love us.
So as I find strength and beauty in these scriptures, I hope you do too.
I pray, as disciples of Jesus, we would be drawn to meet with the Father in a quiet, intimate place, often, so we can listen to and learn from Him. I pray we are drawn to love the Father more as He perfectly loves us, and in times of intense sadness and suffering know that He is not sleeping. He is there beside us.
Sincerely,
Amy
