During His final week leading up to the cross Jesus spent His days in the temple ministering to the people, and His nights on the Mount of Olives. While our Savior would not be delivered from the suffering that lie ahead, He would provide for us the key to successfully overcoming the trials we would face in this world, and ultimately deliver us from the judgment to come:  "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (v.36).  It is our duty, as believers, to be watchful, guarding against sin in our lives, and keeping up our communion with God in prayer.

 

There were many in Jesus' day who missed seeing their promised Messiah because their hearts were hardened and their eyes were blinded (reference John 12:40). Time and time again Jesus was revealed plainly to the people as the Son of God, but they rejected Him.  "...I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me" (John 11:42).  The gospel was written so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ and put our faith in Him (reference John 20:31).  As His children, we are to look at the world through spiritual lenses, recognizing that the hour of His return is close at hand, and realizing we have little time to share His Light with the lost in this dark world (reference John 12:35-36). 

 

The Lord desires that we draw close to Him, and He provides the pathway into deepening intimacy through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit, the study and meditation of His Word and unceasing communion with Him in prayer.  Every day we have the blessed privilege of encountering the living God in the secret place of prayer; and then we have the added blessing of sharing His presence and love with others when we pray for them and minister to them as Jesus did. While we wait expectantly for His return we can experience tremendous joy knowing that He is always with us and will never leave or forsake us (reference Hebrews 13:5b).  "...we know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 4:14-15). 

Jesus' heart was troubled as the hour of His agony and death was approaching. "...what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour" (v.27).  With the hands of the kingdom clock moving closer to the appointed hour, Jesus prayed all the more fervently; not wanting to be delivered out of His trial, but rather through it; that through His sufferings and sacrifice the Father would be glorified.  "Father, glorify Your name!" (v.28a).  He gave us this example in prayer to show us that no matter how difficult or impossible our circumstances may be we can pray for strength to submit to the will of the Father, and patience to bear up under the suffering.  In the darkest hours we need not despair for our lives, but trust in divine wisdom which allows us to walk through these trials "for such a time as this" that God's will be done and His name be lifted high and glorified. Jesus' prayer was not centered on His sufferings, instead He was concerned solely with the glory of the Father, therefore the Father answered Him:  "Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and will glorify it again" (v.28b).

 

The Father spoke from heaven just as He had done for His servant Moses, so that the people would believe in the one He had sent to deliver them.  "The LORD said to Moses, 'I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you" (Exodus 19:9).  As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been commissioned to be His ambassadors of Light in the world, and He has given us this promise: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).  We do not need to be fearful of the trials we will face, because God's presence is with us wherever we are and wherever we go. There is an appointed hour for trials and also for triumphs.  We need to trust in the Lord's perfect timing for all that He allows to come into and through our lives. When we learn to dwell in His love we will find that His love sweetens and softens any portion of pain that He has purposed in our lives for our good and His glory. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5b).