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Sunday 4 August 2019

Mark 14:32-36 - Abba, Father

14:32-34
They then went to Gethsemane and Jesus tells His disciples to wait while He prays. He knew that the most important moment in history was about to occur. As with the transfiguration, Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him. He did this to let them see the extent of what He was going through mentally, and also to ask them to “keep watch”, by which He meant that they should pray. Jesus was not afraid to let them see the anguish that He was going through. He knew that in the future the disciples themselves would go through many trials and it was important that they were not afraid of the emotions that they would experience. One of the devil’s tricks is to tell us that if we really had faith we would not be afraid or upset at all. Well here we have Jesus, the Son of God, experiencing extreme anguish in His soul. If Jesus experienced this, then we are likely to experience it as well.

14:35,36

Jesus then prayed for the hour to pass from Him, if this was possible. This is a lesson that we can be totally honest with God in prayer. Jesus experienced these thoughts, but His heart was set on doing the will of the Father. If our hearts are set on Christ then we will come through the most difficult of situations. Jesus here uses the term “Abba, Father”. We sometimes talk a lot of sentimental nonsense about Abba, Father, saying it means “daddy”. Well that is part of the meaning, but look at the situation in which Jesus is using the term! The most extreme of circumstances. Abba, Father it about a dedication to God’s will, and about the Father enabling us to do the most extreme things. It is a far stronger term than just “daddy”.

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