Saturday, October 28, 2006

The Garden Part I

Luke 22:39-46

39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.[e]

45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”


Danilo Montero, a worship leader, author and speaker said these words that have changed my life.

The events that changed the history of the Universe happened in a Garden. It
It was in a garden where Lucifer betrayed the calling of God and he fell. It was in a Garden where Adam decided to follow his own will and broke us all. It was in a garden where God solved our destiny. It was in a garden where the Son of God was tempted to follow the easy way.
A few hours before Jesus was arrested and hanged to a cross. He would be tortured by the Romans. The calling was very difficult. In the moment that Jesus would give out his spirit, he would not hear the heavenly symphonies. But he would hear the screams of hell itself because that where he would go for love of us. For three he would be in the pit of darkness. For 3 days he would not see the face of His father. But he would only feel the silence of the judgement of God that you and I deserved. Which is why as he prayed in that Garden, he prayed, Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.
Jesus fought and in the inside he said I want to do the will of God, but as a human he said, it's too much this price there is to pay.
We've heard many times that Jesus suffered this so that you and I don't have to suffer it. But I can tell you something different. I can tell you that Jesus suffered this to open the way. But the way to get character is discovered in the Garden of our lives. Where we decide to do the will of God or do our own will. This is a decision to be made every day of our lives, many times.
I can't fight my battles. Especially does that involve pleasing God. There is no strenght in me. But I see my Master on that rock saying Father, I can't. That's why I pray this cold night. Because in prayer I find my exit. On my kness I find my victory to stand. In Your presence I find the grace to make my heart strong. And when he prayed, an angel was sent. And laying a hand on his shoulder, talked with him for a few minutes. Nobody knows what they talked about, but I've thought a little about this, and I imagine that he said something like this:


"Master, I've been sent to counsel the creator of Wisdom. I've been sent to consol who is
consoling Himself. I've been sent to give strenght to the One who holds the universe together." And with a smile the angel continued, "how could I do such a thing? You made me. You gave me my name. I've served you all this time in the Kingdom of your Father. I respect you so much that I can't even lift my eyes to see the beauty of your face. But I've been sent and us angels we do what we are told to do. And that is why I am here. What could I say to you? Captain of all armies of light. I know you know that in the moment you moan of pain, thousand of celestial soldiers we would come down in a matter of seconds, and we would get you out of here, not before first slaying all your enemies. But you gave us orders that none of us could move one finger in this hour. And although we desire to crush these your enemies, someone has told us that you love them so much, despite they hate you... we can't do anything. I want to tell you one thing, it hurts us to see you fight. If you asked me, I would never let anyone touch you. But you chose this way. And that is why we respect you. You are the Lamb of God. You are the Only one who can open the door. You are the only one, Lord, if you don't do it, they will have no hope. The disgrace of sin will keep them away forever and ever. But you are the Lamb who overcame.

I have named this angel. I think his name is Grace. Because he comes in the moment where you need it the most. Because it comes when we bend our knees and even when it hurts our flesh and pride we say 'I can't' So God takes over. You will not know the grace of God until you are on your knees, until you admit you are only human. You will not receive the strenght of God until you search your own weakness.

So the Son of God stood up, lifted up his hands and said, Father not my will, but yours

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