Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Read Mark 14:32-52

It was a most difficult situation that Jesus faced. It was life and death that were in his face, and even in a prayer garden the danger and risk of his life were requiring everything of him. He needed resources, strength, and help to be with him. He goes to prayer to call on God who he knows is calling on him to be faithful in this moment. And, note verse 33, he takes his friends “Peter and James and John with him”; “wait here and keep awake he asks.” As Jesus talks to his Father, he wants his close companions to be close to him…and awake.

Could it be that Jesus is showing us that in every moment of life and most certainly in crucial moments of life, it means everything to have around us those who are our friends? Is this not the basic definition of “friends?” Three times Jesus comes back, interrupting his passionate prayer with his heavenly father, to see if his friends are there with him, awake and praying. When he finds them sleeping he sternly reprimands them: “Could you not stay awake for one hour?” (Verse 37). The meaning, the depth, the requirements of his coming arrest and trial and crucifixion would be made more bearable if they are engaged with the shoulder- to – shoulder presence of those who love him. This is basic to who we are as human beings. In the Garden of Gethsemane, be there for me. In the hour of stress and need, be there for me. When I’m stretched to the limit of my strength and endurance, be there for me. When I must drink from this bitter cup, be there for me. Even as I pray – be there for me. But they are not there. Not in prayer. Not even awake. And as a result, when soldiers come with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus, his friends “all deserted him and run away” (verse 50). And Jesus goes alone to face his trial.

This should never happen. Not to Jesus. Not to Us. Not to anyone. We should never be left alone when life is hard; when we are stretched to the limit; when we are weak; or when we are in need. Jesus seeks to remedy this for us with his promise to be with us always (Matthew 28:16). We can count on that from the One who knows how much it means. And his example asks us to make the same life-supporting commitment to those we know as friends. I will be there awake and praying. You are not alone.

Pastors Joan and David Carter-Rimbach