"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
What are we to make of a man who knows this and does nothing? We realize that his life is not taken from him. He is not taken by surprise. Rather he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. He does not run even though he knows exactly what is coming. This Passover must be celebrated. That is his concern.
It is easy to meet suffering and turn back. But Jesus presses on, because he knows the joy set before him.
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
Jesus has his hope firmly anchored in the Father. It pulls him onward and upward when others would turn aside.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
This gives Jesus the unique authority to speak a word to others who are suffering and persecuted, weary from the struggles of life, in order to rouse us and keep us on the path. When we're wearing keeping watch with Jesus in the garden we hear him tell us to stay awake. Our hope is near at hand.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
Let's receive the word Jesus speaks to rouse us. Let us keep watch through the garden, during the Cross, and all the way to Easter.
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