Page 19 - Living Light Spring 2024

Monday March 18 - Man of sorrows
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” Matthew 26:38
Have you ever faced something very scary and difficult that you had to do alone, and felt fear and loneliness? Jesus knew that time was running out and what lay ahead was more dreadful, dark and painful than anything any human ever had or would experience. He desired the warmth of his friends’ company through the next few hours and asked Peter, James and John, who had long walked with him and knew him best, to sit nearby in the shadows of Gethsemane.
But the evening had exhausted and confused all Jesus’ disciples. It had begun with him washing their feet like a lowly slave, and then over supper sharing troubling words about betrayal by one of their number, trial and execution. Giving them bread and wine, Jesus had also spoken about God’s new covenant, made through his body being broken and his blood shed for them. So, singing a final hymn and walking to Gethsemane they surely hoped the day was nearly over and they could soon escape into sleep. Peter, James and John completely missed Jesus’ signals, being too self- absorbed to recognise how much he longed for their comforting presence nearby as he anticipated all that was soon to happen. I confess I would have been just the same, abandoning the Lord in his hour of need.
Jesus, you call us friends (John 15:14-15) but I so often fail to respond to your voice and do as you ask. Please forgive my lack of faith and love. Help me to ‘watch’ with you. Amen.
Tuesday March 19 - The cup
He fell on his face saying, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39
Did his friends understand what was meant by ‘this cup’ and find it unbearable to think about the terrible severity of what Jesus knew was God’s will?
In Scripture, ‘the cup’ represents someone’s destiny or fate – good or bad. Here Jesus was referring to the words of Psalm 75:7-8: ‘It is God who executes judgement... for in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.’ The gospel good news is that although as human beings we all have sinned – fallen short of what is right and therefore deserving of judgment – Jesus, God’s own Son, willingly accepted our penalty in his own body. He drank that terrible cup of punishment to its very dregs. In Gethsemane that night Jesus foresaw this agony, fully aware that he would experience much more than physical suffering, as every evil and pain that ever existed crushed his spirit and separated him from the Father who had been with him throughout eternity.
Thank God for that other ‘cup’ in which we share, to remember what Jesus did. When we take Holy Communion we are reminded of what he won for us – the blessing of forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with our righteous Judge.
Holy Spirit, when I next receive the bread and wine, please help me to understand more fully what Jesus did for us on the cross. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY