Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2025

Scripture: Luke 22:42-44 (NIV) – “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

Message:  As the dark hour approached in which Jesus was to be arrested, the Scriptures tell us that He agonized.  Jesus openly shared with Peter, John and James in the Garden of Gethsemane, that “His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38).  He had hoped to receive comfort and encouragement from His closest friends in those terrifying hours, as He pondered a decision which would impact the world for eternity, at a cost to Himself that was unfathomable.  He prayed for strength!

His emotional and physical reactions leave no doubt that, although conceived by the Seed of the Holy Spirit, and being fully God, Jesus was also fully human, with a free-will like each of us.  The final steps to fulfill the centuries’ old prophecies of the coming Savior rested solely on the decisions and actions of Jesus, as the “Son of Man”.  He had a choice!

Besides the physical torture, Jesus contemplated the unimaginable torment of being separated from our Heavenly Father as He took the sin of the world on Himself and experienced the death and punishment that we all, as sinners, deserved.  As the only sinless human, only He could pay the price for humankind. 

He used the same spiritual tools, in those difficult hours, with which believers in Christ today are equipped: prayer, Scripture, the Holy Spirit and its fruits (Galatians 5:22), and God’s comfort through humans or angelic messengers.

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:19, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous.”           

Prayer: Heavenly Father, when we think the cost of our time, money, emotional or physical comfort is more than we can sacrifice for Your Kingdom’s purposes, remind us of the obedience of Christ.  We are eternally grateful for Jesus’ decision to do Your will, so that we never have to experience separation from Your Holy Presence.  Empower us to be Kingdom-Minded as well!  In Christ’s Holy name.  Amen.

      Patti Gich