So much happened on the Thursday of Holy Week that it's hard to even know where to start. On this day, Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples, washed feet, gave commandments and last instructions, prayed, got betrayed by Judas, and endured the first part of his trial by the Jewish leaders.
I guess the part of Thursday that I want to focus on is Jesus praying in the garden. I think what we forget (or, in the case of Calvinists, deny) sometimes is that even though Jesus didn't have a sin nature, he had free will. We think that Jesus went to the cross because he didn't have another choice. He did. He could have left us in the dust and would have been justified doing it. Instead, he agonized for hours, doing what I find myself doing a lot when God tells me to follow His will. He said "I don't want to...please don't make me...for Your glory, Your will be done." And this wasn't a sighed "Fine, whatever your want. I guess if I have to." It was a soul crushing, blood sweating, tear jerking "I will follow you to the extreme, even to my own death, because this is what the world needs and You want."
I think we shy away from the extreme. We don't want the discomfort that comes from going beyond what we're personally in control of. We don't want to show extreme love because it's easier to keep hating our enemies. We don't want to show extreme mercy because it's much more fun to say "You deserve it. Get what's coming to you." We don't want to show extreme faith because there's something in the back of our minds that screams "You're gonna get burned." Through praying in the garden, Jesus showed us what it meant to obey God to the extreme even though the human instinct is to run, hide, and stay comfortable.
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