March 9 - The Journey in the Olives

(submitted by Julie and Todd Richards)

The Mount of Olives stands to the east of Jerusalem and has both historical and future significance. In 2nd Samuel, the Mount of Olives is where David retreats to and weeps over his son Absalom’s rebellion. It is also the place where David receives the provisions he needs for the next leg of his journey. In Zechariah, the prophet says that God himself will stand on the Mount of Olives and oversee the defeat of evil and the restoration of Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:8 says that on that day, “Life giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem.”

It is on the Mount of Olives that Jesus has spent time talking with and preparing his disciples for what is to come. The disciples knew this was the place where God would stand as God defeated the enemies of God’s chosen people. Jesus though, experiences the Mount of Olives like his kin David.

This particular night was unlike any other. Jesus has just washed their feet, talked about his body and blood, and revealed that one of them will betray him. It is the middle of the night. Jesus takes with him, Peter, James and John. Mark 14:33 says that Jesus was deeply troubled and distressed. He tells his disciples, his three closest friends that, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (v.34). He then goes off by himself and prays, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (v.36).

Jesus is scared and anxious. Big time. Real honest feelings, raw emotions. He knows what is about to happen to him. He knows that he must be handed over to the authorities and “carry his cross” (or better, our cross). He knows that he will die a shameful and violent death at the hands of the people he loves. He is divine enough to know it is for the best, the greater good and greater glory. We miss something very significant, though, if we don’t see, in this moment, Jesus’ humanness. Yes, Jesus is Divine; He is perfect. But he is also fully human, yet without sin. He feels human emotion and human need. If he doesn’t, how can he truly understand us?

The pain of the moment is so real, he is looking for an out. A loophole. A way to escape the coming storm. “If you can take this cup from me, Father…” not because he doesn’t want to obey God or that he won’t follow where God leads, but because he is crying out and hurting. It isn’t sin to feel emotions. God made us to feel—be fully alive—and in tune with our whole heart. The Psalms are famous for letting us cry out with our hearts, but here we see it reaffirmed by Christ himself. If you ever needed an invitation to feel what stirs in your heart and know that God hears and cares for you, you’ll find it here in the anguish Jesus shares with the Father.

Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” The New Jerusalem Bible words it this way: “For the high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us.” He feels it alright. Scripture says he is in anguish and crushed with grief. Ever been there?

We tend to overlook this passage in light of Paul’s admonition in Philippians 4:6 to, “be anxious about nothing but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God.” It is a great passage but often misquoted and misunderstood. “Be anxious about nothing” sounds straightforward—that we shouldn’t allow stress and anxiety into our lives. In the Greek though, the emphasis of the verb tense means that God doesn’t intend for us to stay in an ongoing state of anxiousness. God recognizes our weaknesses. God helps us in our weakness and tells us how we can pour it out to him in prayer. This is what Jesus does in the Mount of Olives. Jesus is visibly anxious and stressed and scared about the next few hours. He feels it. And he prays.

Notice how he ends his prayer, “I want your will to be done, not mine.” He doesn’t stay in the depth of his grief, he surrenders it. He has lived it, felt it, and grieved it, (as opposed to denying it, burying it, or stuffing it under the rug)…and then he gives it over. Sometimes, in the midst of the storm, the only thing to do is surrender. Jesus’ life of prayer and ministry has been all about surrendering himself to the will of his Father. Everything is done to glorify and exalt God above himself. His pleasure comes in serving God above everything, even his own life and will.

Here is a lesson from the Mount of Olives—Victory comes through surrender. Jesus, in the midst of his fear and anxiety, in raw authentic honesty, places himself at the feet of God by surrendering himself to God’s will. Maybe that is the journey. Maybe the journey starts, continues and ends there, at the Mount of Olives where we give up ourselves to the Victor and bathe in the life giving waters of God’s will. No matter the storm that comes, no matter the pain, no matter the price, God gives comfort and life to those beaten down by life and surrendered at God’s feet.