Luke 22
This is the chapter of the story where our bodies tense up; we’ve seen it a thousand times, but we know something bad is about to happen, and we want to turn away.
So did Jesus.
Luke is the only Gospel with the account of Jesus’ anxiety before the cross. When I read the passages before this, I picture a calm and confident Jesus preparing his disciples, ready to walk to the Cross, the task he was born to accomplish. Yet, the garden shows not a calm or confident Jesus but one wrecked with anxiety, fear, and sorrow.
What a beautiful picture of humanity by our perfect and holy Savior.
Oftentimes, we suppress our feelings because of the call to rejoice at all times. Yet, that is not the example we see here with Jesus - who felt every negative emotion we do and never sinned. He never once dishonored or rebelled against God, fueled by rage, sorrow, envy or anxiety. Jesus is about to suffer - which means that he is going to suffer pain. I don’t know about you, but when I experience any kind of pain, I am not quick to shout joy.
So what do we do with this - we ask the Spirit to produce his fruit of joy in us through our suffering. We pray that God helps us to feel what we feel, and in the midst of our crippling anxieties, our overwhelming fear, and our floods of sorrow, we ask him to bring us truth through his word. Our feelings do not dictate truth, but they are a gift. We can feel them until we are done feeling them, leading us to pray like the Psalmists.
Take a moment to read Psalm 22.
David starts with big feelings leading to asking God untruthful questions but ends with praise, truth, and worship of the One True God. Just like Jesus, who asks to take a cup he knows is his and his alone’s. Jesus feels his feelings and doesn't respond out of them, but responds with obedience to the point of death on the cross where he doesn’t resent us who put them there but begs for the Father’s forgiveness on our behalf. Could we do that too? Could we stop suppressing? Could we feel our feelings without letting them dictate the truth? Could we respond with worshipful obedience?
