Mark 14:35-36
Sometimes
distance can be a difficult thing to judge. For some, driving at night is a
very difficult and dangerous task because they have greater difficulty judging
distance in the dark. They can see the car approaching, but speed and distance
data doesn’t get captured properly. They just aren’t able to tell if it is safe
to pull out.
With
the recent landing of the European rocket on the asteroid, distance made every
difference. The flight took ten years, so even the small miscalculation during
the four billion mile journey would have meant failure. Distance really does
matter.
When
leaning takes place between a couple, distance does matter. That is what
leaning is all about. When one half of the couple leans toward the other, they
are invading personal space. Two things happen: a slap or a kiss. The leaner
hopes for the kiss. The popular notion that the leaner goes 90% of the distance
and allows the partner to respond with the 10% has some merit. I wouldn’t guarantee
the percentages, but there has to be a response from the leanee. If all the
movement is from the leaner, something is amiss.
When
people get angry they might tell everyone to “give me some space,” or “I want
to be alone.” Or when they feel alone, they might ask for a hug. They might
reach out and hold a hand. These types of distances and gestures do make a
difference.
Jesus
continues His journey toward the Cross with some dark moments of prayer. He has
taken His remaining disciples to His place of prayer. He has taken the inner Three
further aside and given them the charge of watching. Then Jesus moves a little
further away. He is now alone, without earthly companion, in His most difficult
hour. Distance does matter.
But
while Jesus is alone in an earthly sense, He expresses intimacy with the
Father. Some have said that Abba is like our daddy. We know that in His moment
of distance from friends He expresses closeness with the Father. And yet even
with the closeness, He has come from a place of distress and trouble. The very
thing that drove Him to separate Himself from the others, the impending sin-bearing
moments on the Cross, drove Him to bring His struggle to the Father.
And
what is Jesus’ request? Take the cup! The cup spoken of is an image taken from
the Old Testament. The cup was the cup of God’s wrath to be poured out on
mankind because of their sin. The cup is a cup of judgment for sins committed.
Drinking the cup meant taking the punishment. And this was a totally undeserved
punishment. Jesus was innocent.
And
Jesus yields to what He knows is the plan. He knows that if there were any
other way to accomplish the reconciliation of man with God, that would have
been the plan. So even though He is struggling with the reality of absorbing
our sin, of being separated from the Father for the first time, of feeling the
weight of Judgment on His shoulders, He accepts the cup.
Are
we willing to accept the LORD’s will for our lives? Even if it means suffering
unjustly?