What shall I say?
We are in Holy Week. It is the most intense time of the Christian year. In the days we are living through as we journey towards the cross with Jesus, we cover a large portion of the Gospels. There is too much to keep track of! Then we go through the most radical and drastic transition possible: from death to life! The difference between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is what gives us hope, power, and salvation: Jesus is alive! Death is conquered! But I'm jumping ahead.
Back to the story before the cross. A particular passage from John stood out to me this year. It comes from John 12. After teaching that in order to multiply a seed must die and "anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life", Jesus says in verse 27:
"Now My soul is troubles, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'?"
I love Jesus' honesty. I love that He admits His discomfort with what is going on. I love that He questions how to respond to that distress. Why? Because it shows His humanity as well as the severity of what He was about to face. Jesus asks Himself if He should pray to the Father to be spared, to not have to endure what is ahead. So what does He do?
Jesus doesn't pray for deliverance but rather that the Father would be glorified:
"No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"
Jesus answers His own question by recollecting His purpose. Often when we are in distressing situations, we ask ourselves, "How did I end up here?" We try look for the choice or circumstance that we could have changed to avoid the difficulty we are now facing. Jesus doesn't do this. Jesus doesn't say, "Father, save me from this hour" because He knows that He has come to particular time in history for a purpose. There is a reason He has arrived in His current circumstances.... to go through what is ahead. And so He prays that the Father would be glorified. He has come to this hour to endure death that God the Father may be praised and worshiped, revered and exalted.
This fills me with awe for Jesus. Passages from Philippians come to mind:
"Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross."
Philippians 2:6-8
Jesus' humility and self-emptying deserve more time and attention than I can right now. (If you are interested in hearing more about Jesus' self-emptying, I'd recommend you check out Kerry Kronberg's talk on Wednesday evening at University St. Paul. It can be viewed on line during the event or after. For more information, go here.) But I still want to say one more thing. Jesus' question to Himself challenges me. I pray "Lord save me" prayers often and I wonder if I am too quick to be looking for the way out of something that is uncomfortable or distressing instead of praying "Father, glorify your name."
Maybe this is the attitude that the Apostle Paul is getting at in Philippians 3:10-11 when he says:
"I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection of the dead."
Maybe "becoming like [Jesus] in his death" means that total and complete surrender to the Father's will that He may be glorified. It means the next time we ask ourselves... "what shall I say?" or in words, "what shall I pray?" Our answer is "Father, glorify your name."
May you have a blessed Holy Week.
in Christ,
Tracy
Back to the story before the cross. A particular passage from John stood out to me this year. It comes from John 12. After teaching that in order to multiply a seed must die and "anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life", Jesus says in verse 27:
"Now My soul is troubles, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'?"
I love Jesus' honesty. I love that He admits His discomfort with what is going on. I love that He questions how to respond to that distress. Why? Because it shows His humanity as well as the severity of what He was about to face. Jesus asks Himself if He should pray to the Father to be spared, to not have to endure what is ahead. So what does He do?
Jesus doesn't pray for deliverance but rather that the Father would be glorified:
"No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"
Jesus answers His own question by recollecting His purpose. Often when we are in distressing situations, we ask ourselves, "How did I end up here?" We try look for the choice or circumstance that we could have changed to avoid the difficulty we are now facing. Jesus doesn't do this. Jesus doesn't say, "Father, save me from this hour" because He knows that He has come to particular time in history for a purpose. There is a reason He has arrived in His current circumstances.... to go through what is ahead. And so He prays that the Father would be glorified. He has come to this hour to endure death that God the Father may be praised and worshiped, revered and exalted.
This fills me with awe for Jesus. Passages from Philippians come to mind:
"Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross."
Philippians 2:6-8
Jesus' humility and self-emptying deserve more time and attention than I can right now. (If you are interested in hearing more about Jesus' self-emptying, I'd recommend you check out Kerry Kronberg's talk on Wednesday evening at University St. Paul. It can be viewed on line during the event or after. For more information, go here.) But I still want to say one more thing. Jesus' question to Himself challenges me. I pray "Lord save me" prayers often and I wonder if I am too quick to be looking for the way out of something that is uncomfortable or distressing instead of praying "Father, glorify your name."
Maybe this is the attitude that the Apostle Paul is getting at in Philippians 3:10-11 when he says:
"I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection of the dead."
Maybe "becoming like [Jesus] in his death" means that total and complete surrender to the Father's will that He may be glorified. It means the next time we ask ourselves... "what shall I say?" or in words, "what shall I pray?" Our answer is "Father, glorify your name."
May you have a blessed Holy Week.
in Christ,
Tracy
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