Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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We have hope because Jesus was willing.
It is sad but unavoidably true: one of the marked characteristics of sin is unwillingness.
Sin causes us to be:
unwilling to forgive
unwilling to obey
unwilling to serve
unwilling to trust
unwilling to give
unwilling to make peace
unwilling to be gentle
unwilling to persevere
unwilling to suffer
unwilling to submit
unwilling to sacrifice
unwilling to surrender
And the list could go on and on. We are often unwilling because of the selfishness of sin. Our “me-ism” puts us in the center. It makes life all about us: our wants, our dreams, our needs, and our feelings. Our struggle with the self-ism of sin will not be fully defeated until the sin inside us is no more. So, we face a world of difficulty. A marriage can’t work if a husband and wife are unwilling to live in self-sacrificing, forgiving love. A parent-child relationship falls apart when the parent is unwilling to be patient and kind or the child is unwilling to honor and obey. Friendships don’t work when the friends are unwilling to give and to serve. The workplace is hard and inefficient if the employer is unwilling to love his workers as he loves himself. Unwillingness to be temperate with food and drink will destroy your health. When we begin to examine our daily lives, it becomes clear that so many of the problems we live with are the fruit of our collective unwillingness to live as our wise and loving Creator has designed us to live.
God, in his vast wisdom, knew that the only way to rescue us from our unwillingness and its bitter fruit was to send his Son to be willing to be what we would never choose to be, to do what we would be unwilling to do, and he would willingly die in our place. This is why the following stop on Christ’s journey to the cross is so striking, convicting, and hope-giving:
Luke 22:39– 46
[And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”]
This passage is a clear window into the willingness of Jesus. We find him in the garden of Gethsemane, facing what would crush any of us. Because he is God, he knows the redemptive plan. He knows he is facing injustice, torture, public ridicule, the cruelest death possible, and the rejection of his Father, all because he is going to load our sin onto his own shoulders and pay our penalty. In his humanity, he is quaking at the thought of it all, and he asks if there is any possibility that there is another way. Will you stop for a moment and imagine what would be going through your heart and mind if you knew you were facing such horror?
You and I get upset at a flat tire, a sassy child, a mean boss, an unexpected bill, or a bad day. We go through a tough patch, and we begin to question the goodness of God.
But Jesus did not end his prayer by asking to be released from the sacrificial suffering awaiting him. Instead, he said to his Father, “Not my will, but yours, be done.” That final sentence of Jesus’s prayer in the garden gives hope to every sinner who has ever lived. Jesus did not think of himself first. He was not propelled by his own comfort. He did not protect his rights. He did not demand to be accepted and respected. He willingly forsook all the things that we think are our just due. He forsook those things willingly and without coercion. He was willing because he knew what was at stake, and he knew what the result of his self-sacrifice would be.
But Jesus did not end his prayer by asking to be released from the sacrificial suffering awaiting him. Instead, he said to his Father, “Not my will, but yours, be done.” That final sentence of Jesus’s prayer in the garden gives hope to every sinner who has ever lived. Jesus did not think of himself first. He was not propelled by his own comfort. He did not protect his rights. He did not demand to be accepted and respected. He willingly forsook all the things that we think are our just due. He forsook those things willingly and without coercion. He was willing because he knew what was at stake, and he knew what the result of his self-sacrifice would be.
In that garden, there was angst and fear, but there was not a shred of selfishness or rebellion. Jesus knew what he had been appointed to do. He knew what the culmination of his earthly work would be. In his humanity, it was a fearful thing to consider, but he had a submissive, loving, and willing heart. This moment of willingness is a moment of hope for all of us, who, in our sin, have lives that are marked by unwillingness. Our hope in this life and the one to come is never to be found in our willingness to believe in and follow him, but in his willingness to endure suffering and death for us. His willingness unleashes the grace we need to be forgiven and to become more and more willing to lay down our lives for his kingdom and his glory.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
1. Think of your difficult or challenging relationships. Where has “unwillingness” of sin crept in? What could happen if you chose to be willing in those areas instead?
2. Imagine yourself in the garden watching Jesus pray—what are you thinking? Feeling? Wondering about?
3. What specific things was Jesus willing to do for you? List them out, meditate on them, and thank him!
Read Matthew 26:36–46, and praise Jesus for withstanding every temptation toward selfishness and his own comfort.
Matthew 26:36-46 New Living Translation
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”
