Behold What Manner!

 

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

Matthew 26:53

Jesus had just finished stating to His Father that He was surrendered to launching Himself into the jaws of death (Matthew 26:42).  Why then would He say this, that He could beckon "legions of angels" to His aid?  He said this because He knew who He was.  There are times when our obedience to the Father's will may seem to come full against our identity.  To Jesus, though, this was not a conflict.  Rather, it was a challenge to Peter, and to His disciples within earshot: If I can submit to what I'm about to go through, so can you; it's time to put your sword away and step up to the true plan that is at stake.

After all, Jesus had given them the keys to the Kingdom.  It was their time to take the reigns of advancing the it on earth.

Again, Jesus had surrendered to the Father's agenda - that He pay the price for our brokenness, our sin.  Yet in the context of His arrest, He stated twice that this was happening to fulfill the scriptures (Matthew 26:54 and Matthew 26:56).  Is He really then just sacrificing Himself to make sure the prophecies are accurate?  No.  From the very first words, "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1). the scriptures are the Father's agenda - which is to love us to a place of reconciliation through His Son.

Jesus is the consummation of the Father's heart for every human soul.  And only through Jesus is that consummation complete.  In Matthew 26, we have now fully entered into a place in this gospel where we can no longer use the words and actions of Jesus as a touchpoint to reflect upon the application of Jesus' words and actions to ourselves.  We are now in a place where we can only witness what Jesus is willingly going through and reflect with reverential gratitude on the massive act that is unfolding for us all.

The Journey of Surrender

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Matthew 26:42

Journeys are not always ones of physical will from start to finish; the journey's taking you there, whether you want or not you want to go there anymore. Like a train where you're not the engineer driving it, once you get on the ride it doesn't matter whether you change your mind along the way.

But you've still got to get on in the first place.  And that's completely your choice.  Your physical act of will.

Jesus had taken His disciples on a gut-wrenching journey of their souls.  They followed Him through conflict, demonic face-offs, mind-blowing miracles and teachings difficult to understand or even embrace.  In recent weeks, He had been warning them of His impending death and resurrection.  At first it was hard to comprehend but now they had come to believe it.  All they understood or saw was the death part.  Nevertheless they had come to know what was about to happen and it was very soon.  The one they had given their very hearts, minds and lives to follow was going to fate Himself into the hands of those who would kill Him.  This was more than they could bear, so they fell asleep in despair (Luke 22:45).

But Jesus' response to the challenges of the soul was to pray.  It had become His custom to get away and pray (Luke 5:16).  It was a reflexive response of His soul, like muscle memory.  He knew very dearly what He was about to go through, and didn't relish the thought - at all.  So He went to converse with His Father (pray).

The first time He went away, He appealed to the Lord - "if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." (excerpted from Matthew 26:39)  He knew He was going to be beaten.  He knew He was going to have all manner of evil come against, even upon Him.  He didn't want to go through it, so He asked the Father if He could be saved from having to go through it all.

Either by silence or direct response, the response was a very flat "no".  Then He got up and went back to His disciples.  There, He saw them in their helpless state - bewildered to the point of slumber as to what was happening.  He knew they needed more than a Shepherd.  They needed a Savoir.  And it pushed the struggle over the edge.  He went back and said, "Since there's no other way than for Me to do it, then let's git 'er dun." (Matthew 26:42)

From that point on, He got on a proverbial train that took Him to that end.  Apart from Him taking back the right and power of His God-ness, He had given up control.  He had surrendered to the Father's agenda.

Indeed, by believing on Jesus (especially when baptized in Him) the follower has been crucified with Him.  But have you been to Gesthemane with Him?  Have you been on the journey of surrender with Him?  It's not a fair question though, in honesty.  Surrender is a daily intent of the will.

We just have to get on the train.