His Happy Place

Courtesy of Current Publishing

Matthew 26:36-40 (KJV) Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

The Garden of Gethsemane is the place where our Savior prayed all night before His crucifixion.

Jesus visited this garden often. It was His happy place. He went there with His disciples, but even more, He spent time there alone in prayer with the Father.

Some Bible scholars call Gethsemane the Garden of Rejection, on several counts. Christ took on the heavy burden of all of our sins, God turned His face away from Jesus during this time and all of His disciples left Him. No one has ever been as alone as our Savior was that day.

Christ hated sin--yet He became sin to save us all. He beseeched the Father to spare Him this agony, but it was not to be. His spirit was broken. And while Jesus sweated blood and prayed His heart out, the tired disciples slept, not knowing what would happen that night.

Would I be strong enough to watch with Him one hour?

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Notable Quote:

"We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties."--Oswald Chambers