Luke 22 Reminds Us That Jesus Walks through Sorrow Alongside Us
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Jesus who was God-in-flesh lamented the purpose his Father had given him while here on Earth. We read that on the night he was taken to be prepared for his death on the cross, he retreated to the Mount of Olives to pray with his disciples. He asked them to stay alert because his soul was so distressed.
Luke 22:41-44 says,
“He pulled away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, ‘Father, remove this cup from me. But please, not what I want. What do you want?’ At once an angel from heaven was at his side, strengthening him. He prayed all the harder. Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face” (emphasis added).
Jesus was grieving the work ahead. He asked his Father to take this scary, painful, and difficult task from him. He had a perfectly human response to the very hard thing that God had planned and purposed for his life. Because of this, he understands when we have those same moments in the middle of the hard things God allows to be a part of our stories.
Thankfully for us, his prayer did not end at “remove this cup,” but he went on to say, I surrender my will to yours. He had to work through his feelings, confess his heart to his Father, and also express that when it came down to it, the work he was called to was bigger than his preference. He was ready to serve his Father and give his life up for the sake of his created and loved people.
God Is Big Enough to Handle Our Feelings
We see in this text that God loves his son and lovingly responds by sending angels to strengthen him in his moment of great distress. He does not correct Jesus for wishing away his role as Savior. He honors the moment of struggle and gives him the strength he needs to move forward towards God’s assignment. God had time, space, and support for the very real feelings Jesus had in the midst of the events leading up to his death.
He has room for our big, wild feelings too! I’ll be honest, I don’t often live like I believe this. I think I need to put my “strong face” on for God. Hide my real feelings and just bring my big girl faith to the table. But getting to the point where you are ready for those big moments of faith requires working through many real, hard, and heavy human emotions.
God did not create us to be robots. He made us into complex creatures capable of sadness, fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, and bravery too! What a beautiful contradiction we often are. Thankfully he understands how our mismatched feelings work together better than we do most times.
The Father invited Jesus, and today invites us, to bring our lament, our real worries, and our true pain to his feet in prayer. Jesus modeled this on the Mount of Olives where he slipped away to bring all his big feelings to God before doing the thing he knew God had for him. No matter how hard we try, those feelings don't disappear unless we address them. Thankfully, God is our safe place to be raw and real.
He Is Faithful to Strengthen Us
John 14:26 (AMP) says, “But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor — Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.”
God’s Spirit is a comforting force. The beauty of this Scripture truth is that God honors our need for support rather than shaming us for our limitations. He prepared a being, a version of himself, that can reach us in our moments of need. What a beautiful gift that guiding and strengthening Spirit is!
How often do we view God as a gotcha kind of leader rather than an it’s okay beloved, I’ve got you kind of friend. God is our friend and as a friend he is willing to let us walk through our sadness. He does not rush us, and he promises to be with us.
This is what grace is. Grace is an unhurried friend willing to be with us as we press forward through our fear. Grace says it’s okay to process, to be human, and to rely on God to get to the place he is calling you to. Truth be told, we can only get to those higher places with Him.
Walk through the Fear Towards Faith
Remember, God is calling us towards a life of faith, not one that is paralyzed in fear. Jesus pushed through the tears of blood and sweat towards the purpose God had for him. Don’t get stuck in sadness, move through it.
This has been helpful for me as a mom as I have had to work through unmet expectations, my own failures, and ways that God’s plan for my life has challenged me. Sometimes it’s easier to deny the ways we grieve what we thought it would have been, but grief is normal. It’s an emotion that is real, valid, and not an indication of disobedience. I have to grieve my not-enoughness, and while our family is beautiful, it can feel challenging. In the end, I hand my grief over to Jesus to be reminded that in my weakness he does his best work.
I see his beauty as I walk through lament and towards his strengthening Holy Spirit. Once again I am reminded of his plan, his purpose, his strength, and I surrender again to his plan. Not my will but his will be done.
Beauty Is Born out of Our Pain
When we walk through our grief, lament, and fear, and hand these real emotions over to Jesus, he draws closer to us. The amazing thing is that he never wastes our struggle and pain. Jesus’ own tears and agony bought our salvation. Redemption, salvation, and beauty forever was born from that great sorrow.
What sorrow do you need to hand to Jesus so you can walk through it to see his beauty on the other side?
As I’ve handed over my ideas of what I thought my life should be like and embraced God’s much harder, unconventional plan, I’ve been able to bear witness to his miracle-working power. My not-enough shows me that he is enough, more than I could ever ask or imagine! His hand at work becomes undeniable when we wade with him into the deep waters of faith.
Don’t let tears stop you from moving into the promised land. Hand him your doubts, cry out to him as you grieve, and then embrace his will for your life. Be strengthened by his Spirit. Become a witness of his beauty as you hand him your ashes and see him bring dead things back to life in us, around us, and through us.
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