Trending
Jesus and his disciples have visited Olive Press Park, known in Aramaic as "Gethsemane," in the past. Tonight, though, their mood is somber and tense. In the Passover they just celebrated, Jesus again predicted his approaching death and added important details: One of the disciples would betray him. Peter would deny 3 times that he even knew Jesus. All of the disciples would abandon Jesus.
So, Jesus came to Olive Press Park this time to pray for strength: The strength to face death. The power to face it alone. The presence of God as he fought this battle in which the future of humanity hangs in the balance.
"My Father," Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39 (NIV), "if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
The "cup" contains God's wrath against sin. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah used the image of a cup to symbolize God's anger at sin, noting that the one who drank it must drink it to the dregs.
As Jesus prays, he knows that the cross is only hours away.
Understand, it is possible for that cup to be taken from him. When Jesus was arrested, Peter drew a sword and prepared to defend Jesus. Jesus quietly told Peter to "Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Jesus could avoid drinking that cup of wrath; Jesus needed only to say the word and he would be rescued.
But Jesus doesn't say it. Jesus knew his rescue meant mankind's defeat, that if he didn't suffer God's wrath against sin, then all humanity would. Max Lucado writes in his book When the Angels Were Silent, "On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision: He would rather go to Hell for you than to go to Heaven without you."
Arguably, the toughest battle ever fought was fought in the mind of Jesus there in Olive Press Park, and Jesus won that battle through prayer: "Not as I will, but as you will." Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, and humanity can be saved because of Jesus' choice.
Judge Harold R. Medina presided over what was, in 1949, the longest criminal trial in Federal court history. Eleven Communist leaders stood accused under the Smith Act of trying to teach and advocate for the overthrow of the government by force. During the trial, five defense attorneys worked to exhaust the judge and confuse the jury. One attorney even accused Judge Medina of negating a defense argument by scratching his head. "You've called me corrupt and everything else you could think up," Judge Medina responded, "I want you gentlemen to understand that when I scratch my head, I'm just plain scratching my head."
Almost daily during the trial, at 11:20 a.m. and 3:20 p.m., one of the defense attorneys rose to accuse Judge Medina of lying. When Medina questioned the attorneys on the precise timing of their allegations, they admitted, "That is the deadline for the morning and afternoon editions of the local papers." Telephone calls threatened the Judge's life, and the lives of his relatives.
The stress of the nine-month trial wore Judge Medina down.
He later acknowledged: "One day I had to leave the courtroom. I recessed the court and walked quickly to the little room...and laid down. I felt panicky and, I'll be frank about it, I was certain that I could never go back.
I had stood about as much as a human being can endure. But suddenly, there in the little room, I found myself like a frightened child crying out to his father in the dark. I asked God to help me, just to take charge, that his will might be done. I cannot report anything mysterious or supernatural, there was no vision or visitation, all I know is that as I lay on the couch, some new kind of strength flowed into me. I was in that little room for only 15 minutes, but that brief communion with my God saved not only the trial but my sanity as well. I opened the door and walked again to the bench with a firm realization that I could take whatever was ahead."
Prayer wins battles. What are you fighting?