Walk of Life – Day 18 – March 2021 – the C R O S S of Calvary

Stations of the Cross – Garden of Gethsemane

My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.  Matthew 26:38

The cross depicts self-denial.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mathew 16:24 

Not many times we follow Christ fully.  We normally do not want to be in places that will make us feel uncomfortable or people whom we think being with may cause trouble…we would avoid them for sure and we do not want ourselves to be troubled in anyway or be in such places or situations which is not comfortable for us.  We try our best to be in places where there is rest and where there is love and respect.  We love ourselves so much that sometimes we are not cautious of doing the will of God and we do not deny ourselves fully. When the Lord Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he had to go through betrayal, self-denial, disrespect, and much pain to fulfill the scriptures. He prepared himself much in prayer which had given him the ability to say “Lord, not my will but thine be done.

The Lord Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane knowing fully that he would be taken over by the officials to be crucified.  In Matthew 26:37-38, He said to his disciples that he was anguished and distressed and that his soul was crushed with grief; He bore such great pain and stress to be ready to bear the sins of the whole world on the cross and to do the will of the Heavenly Father.

We can notice mainly from Mathew 26:36-46 that the Lord Jesus PRAYED in the garden of Gethsemane in the period of anguish and pain.  He expected his disciples to pray along with him but they failed in doing so thrice.  He had denied himself and did not protect himself when he knew the time had come to give in to the hands of the officials. The 12 disciples with whom he worked closely for three and a half years, one of them denied him and one betrayed him and all the others fled. Imagine the heart of the Lord. He stood there all alone so that you and I may never ever be alone. He will be with us always even unto the end of the ages! What a comfort!

Sometimes in life we may be facing or had to go through such bitter experiences in the will of God, remember when Christ had endured such great pain and prepared himself to face the cross we are called to take up whichever cross the Lord had given us. Many do not want to shoulder their responsibilities dutifully at home, in church, or at work place.  Whatever the situation, favorable or unfavorable, we must learn to stand for God wherever he has placed us and may we always submit to His sovereign will in our lives. may we learn to win every situation prayerfully so that we would become a blessing a living sacrifice, sweet-smelling fragrance to the Lord and everyone around.

This is a beautiful song sung by a little girl, Claire Ryann, “Gethsemane, Jesus loves me”…a beautiful reminder of the greatest battle that the Lord Jesus won on His knees in Gethsemane.