No Message is a Message by: Brandi Wardlow

No Message is a Message by: Brandi Wardlow

There’s a moment in scripture when I finally witness Jesus’ humanity. As a Christian, we almost always hear that Jesus took the form of man; made in the flesh; and, walked amongst humans as human. But, I also think there’s this part of us that overlook the terms ‘form of man,’ ‘flesh’ and, ‘human.’ It comes from this idea that because Jesus is the son of God, a member of the Holy Trinity and, the Messiah that his humanity just means that he became a person and lived in our presence. But, the reality of Matthew 26 is that Jesus was more than just a deity in the flesh but also experienced mere human emotions. The irony of the Bible is that in Matthew 26, Jesus experiences raw, basic human emotions right before the fulfillment of his calling. It actually makes you wonder – if, on our day of birth, God gifted us with a memo of our purpose, when it is time to fulfill, would we still want to do His will?

Jesus starts the night out with the ‘squad.’ They eat, he washes their feet, they fall into conversation, and he starts calling them out one by one. He shares that of course, Judas would betray him (without actually naming Judas) and that Peter would deny him. Each of the disciples looks in awe – questioning Jesus if they were going to be the ones to sell him to his death even, Judas. To which, he responds, “You have said it yourself” or, if you read The MSG version, “Don’t play games with me, Judas.”

Dinner ends, Judas leaves, and squad (the disciples) make their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. The AMP version records that he tells the remaining disciples to stay while he goes and prays. Jesus turns to Peter, James, and John and the text states. “He began to be grieved and greatly distressed.” Jesus also says to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and stay awake and keep watch with me.”

I want to stop my storytelling to analyze for just a second. Of course, Top 10 stories of the Bible that every Christian must know is the story of the Last Supper. However, it wasn’t until I read different versions of the Bible, preferably, the AMP and, the MSG where the wording becomes apparent. Jesus, this deity, the son of God, my savior, was distressed to the point that he felt close to death because of his very own sorrow. A plan that predates Jesus, back to the Old Testament and, a plan that Jesus specifically, came to Earth to fulfill left Jesus deeply grieved.

Jesus takes a moment to himself and turns to God praying for God to let this cup pass from Him and specifically, only if it is consistent with God’s will. This prayer kind of reminds me of my prayers. It’s that prayer when you ask God for clarity and discernment, but in your heart, you really know that you don’t want to accept God’s revelations. It’s that prayer when you’re looking for a new job, and you tell God for His will to be done, but you know that you really want that job, and you don’t get it, and you’re sitting in disappointment because God did exactly as He wanted and not what you wanted. (P.S. – this is the season I am currently in). It’s truthfully a prayer of asking God if He is sure; if He is certain and if Jesus really needs to give up His life for God’s plan. Like any human, Jesus quarreled with His own wants and the wants of God. The difference is Jesus fully submitted to God and trusted that this purpose would bring the Father glory. (Hold that gem, we’ll come back to it).

So, God doesn’t answer Jesus. God was that parent that said “No, you can’t spend the night at your cousins’ house” and sat there and watched a movie while you sat there and cried. I actually feel bad for Jesus because He goes back out and finds the good homies (Peter, James, and John) knocked out. Again, thinking humanely, it’s like, “So, I told ya’ll I was about to die. I needed a moment and asked ya’ll to keep watch, and ya’ll sleep?” Jesus felt like our parents when they worked all day and asked us to take the chicken out of the freezer, and we didn’t take it out despite doing nothing all day. Jesus turns to the disciples and says one of the most powerful revelations about Christians – “the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Again, let’s pause to analyze. There’s almost an irony here about this moment. Let’s not forget that moments before Jesus states this to the disciples that He was just asking God to take this cup (this burden, this plan, this weight) from him. Now, he warns the disciples to keep watch, don’t give in to temptation, be mindful of the dangers surrounding you and as the MSG quotes, “There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” It describes Christians well because many of us are eager to follow God – we are eager and almost determined to fulfill His wishes until it requires work. It requires us to leave behinds friends, exit a relationship, turn down (or stay) at a job (again, personal season), quit our nasty habit, commit to a more Godly-filled and centered life and it’s hard. It’s hard because it requires work. It requires us to set aside our own needs for control, to make everything go right, to take accountability and responsibility, to fight temptation and to really turn our will over to a will that fits someone (God’s) else’s plan. (Again, hold on to that gem – it’s a scavenger hunt, and we’re collecting items. We’ll check our wins later).

Jesus leaves and prays again. This time he throws the towel in and moves forward with accepting God’s plan. Although Jesus may have really accepted it – I’m going to go with the idea that he really just accepted that God was adamant and was going to change His mind. Jesus returns. They’re still sleeping. He goes back and prays. He comes back – wake the disciples us and Judas comes back ready to betray Him.

I focus today on Matthew 26 first, to empathize with you. We juggle with this act of wanting to be of God and also wanting to have some form of leadership and direction over the life we live. I’ll be transparent. I love God, truly. I also know that I have my own idea of what I want for my life and I don’t think that the two actually contradict. However, I know that it is possible that God has a purpose and a plan for me outside of the worldly interests and passions that I sometimes aspire. The harsh reality of Christianity is accepting that our lives are not our own. We are here for a reason more significant than ourselves; we are all interdependent; we all work as pieces to a puzzle. From God’s view – we are a piece to a puzzle, and He sees this puzzle like the one that is fitting all of the pieces together. Meanwhile, our limited view is that of the piece that we are, and we can only see the other pieces that connect with us or surround us. Hearing that you’re just a piece can make you feel insignificant at times but in God’s view that one piece, when it is no longer missing, completes the puzzle. If Jesus only saw himself as the insignificant piece and solely focused on himself and his surroundings, that full picture of the puzzle would not exist. If Jesus sat on grief and allowed his distress to overcome Him – He wouldn’t have fulfilled God’s purpose.

Let’s collect the rest of the gems.

Jesus was able to overcome the world because of His submission. His submission was not built on contingencies. It also was not built on conveniences. Jesus’ purpose was to die. Yes – he saved a whole bunch of us along the way but, his journey to death was an ugly, brutal, and, painful course. A feat I think no one wants to take on. However, Jesus completed it and did it with grace. Jesus focused on the mission, the plan, the purpose, and most certainly, the Father and knew that it was bigger than himself, his wants, and, feelings. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own wants, feelings, and plans that we lose sight of God and his power. However, at this moment Jesus showed us that once the Father’s will is set – there’s nothing we can do to stop it from fruition.

I lead you and end here because it’s like that quote – “Never give up. You don’t know how close you are.” I share this because like Jesus, his hour had come and his anxiety began to take over. This anxiety had the power to change the course of the world especially for us, Christians, but he moved forward because he understood his time had come and, that this story was bigger than him. We often get tired of going through – we believe that God’s forgotten about us but, as Jesus shows in the garden of Gethsemane, God knew what needed to be done and therefore, as the saying goes, “No message is a message.” God did respond to Jesus and he responded in such a way that Jesus knew it was time to complete his purpose. If God brought you to it – he will bring you through it. Remember, your story is bigger than you – so big, that when the time comes, God will personally say, “Well done.”