Wake Up!

I can sometimes struggle when I read the Bible. I get mad at the disciple dudes in the story leading up to Easter. Why couldn’t they just trust Jesus? Why in the world would they let Jesus down at such a crucial time? Check out Matthew 26:36-40:

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?”

So, not only did Jesus’ disciples let him down once, but it happened twomore times! Again he came back and there they were, with their eyes pretty much closed. He called them out the third time….”Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.“ (Matthew 26:45)

Knowing what was about to happen, I can’t imagine all that Jesus must have felt at this moment….

Facing the pain of betrayed by a disciple

Feeling deeply grieved to the point of death

Watching His friends fall asleep when He needed them the most

Contemplating the pain of what was about to take place the coming week

To be honest, I think we humans would like to avoid what Jesus endured altogether. It makes us uncomfortable. We squirm in our chair. We hide from the emotion of it all. Why? Because entering into the pain, betrayal and excruciating agony of Jesus is makes us beg the question 'why?' We can’t fathom WHY He’d willingly march to the cross. We’d rather think about our grocery list for Easter.

Remember when I said I get mad at the disciple dudes? Why couldn’t they just trust Jesus? Why did they let Jesus down over and over? Well, I ask that of myself. Why do I let Jesus down? Why do you let Jesus down? How have we fallen asleep in our hearts? Have we missed altogether what Jesus did for us?

Wake up.  What Jesus went through was very, very real. Don’t fall asleep this Passion Week. Happy Easter!

Here’s an invitation to walk through Holy Week with Jesus by reading these accounts from Scripture:

Monday- Philippians 2:6-11

Tuesday- Isaiah 49:1-4

Wednesday- Isaiah 42:1-4

Thursday- Matthew 26:14-16

Friday- John 13:12-16 and Isaiah 53:1-5

Saturday- Romans 6:3-11

Sunday- John 20:1-9

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.