They keep each one of us from fulfilling the full potential that God has in store.One of the largest publishers in the United States, the Johns Hopkins University Press combines traditional books and journals publishing units with cutting-edge service divisions that sustain diversity and independence among nonprofit, scholarly publishers, societies, and associations. He knew that with God behind him, he could overcome the pain, the doubt, the anguish and all the other human faults and sins that would hold him back, as they hold us back. For whatever Jesus wanted for himself, he knew that God’s purpose was foremost in his life and in his mind. That is the powerful part in this prayer. He said Remove this cup from me, if it is possible, BUT not my will but yours be done. For who among us would walk willingly into such a sacrifice, into such a cross. And you can tell he probably believed those words as he said them. He prayed that the cup which had been given to him might pass, that the job he was given to do might be taken from him, that the role he was to play in the world be given to another. He prayed probably the hardest prayer he ever prayed in his life. He went up to that garden in Gethsemane, and he prayed. But Jesus in his anguish did not bear it alone. Those who leave these things on a shelf somewhere, never to be found. Maybe not physically, but emotionally and mentally there are people who shut down. From the pain, from the grief, from the anguish that faces us, we run away. And if he had trusted in his own judgment, if he had trusted in what his human senses were telling him, he would have ran away, as so many of us run away from the spiritual problems that face us. That he was so filled with pain and anguish and suffering about what was about to happen that he could not bring himself to face it. The other gospels tell us stories of how in his prayers, how he was so filled with anguish that the sweat on his brow was turned to blood. There is a sense that Jesus, as the Lord of all the world, should have been powerful enough, should have been strong enough, should have had the mental courage to live through this painful night.
Reflection: “He came and found them sleeping”
And it strikes us who do not have the man with us, as we think to ourselves, “Are our words brave words? Are our words words of courage? Will we be deserters? Will we scatter like the flock? Will we deny the Lord that is to come?” They walked with him for three years, and still they denied him. And we hear each time them saying, no, we will not run away. They did not heed, they did not understand, what was about to come. We will stand up to them with our swords, and with our fists, and we will make sure Jesus is not taken. What they heard him say was that he would be taken by Roman authorities, taken by temple authorities, and they all thought to themselves, We will stand up to those people. For weeks as they traveled to Jerusalem, he kept telling them that I must go to be sacrificed, I must go to die and then be raised after three days. Trying to explain to them the darkness of the days that were about to come. Trying to explain to them the sacrifice that he was about to make. Trying to show them the pain and the suffering that was going to come. After they departed from their supper, the Last Supper they would have with Jesus, there was something he was trying to explain to them. There are a lot of brave words that are spoken before a time of crisis. As we prepare ourselves to walk with Jesus to the cross, let us prepare ourselves and ride with him in triumph and in majesty. But we know that there is something beyond this day, that there is something beyond this triumph of Palm Sunday. He entered the city in triumph and we will see that it will appear he will depart the city in defeat and disgrace. Of those who would turn their voices from voices of praise to voices of scorn. There are so many words that come to us as we think about the fickleness of those who shouted hosanna on that day. But today we see the detour through which that glory and greatness must pass. When we spoke of this incredible entry into Jerusalem Palm Sunday, we spoke of it as a glimpse of something we knew was going to be greater. Reflection: “In lowly pomp ride on to die”
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