PrintToday's "Moment with Mark" (90)
19 February, 2013
Stay here and watch with me." (Mark 14:34 NLT)
As we move into this season of Lent (a season that in my denomination is largely overlooked as an occasion to reflect upon and prepare oneself for the Easter event....to our considerable loss, I fear), I am inviting myself to walk with the disciples through all that transpired in their lives so long ago. I find myself sitting nearby in the Garden of Gethsemane watching Peter, James and John as Jesus says to them, "I don't want to be alone. I need you now like I've never needed you before. Stay here with me".
Did I just hear someone say, "That's not what the text says". I suppose that technically you are correct. But I think you ought to read the text again but this time read beneath the lines. Do you see what I mean? My image of Jesus for much of my Christian life was one of Jesus the "complete" man; the man who needed no one , such was His self-sufficiency. Everyone needed Him but He needed no one.
Well, He just burst that bubble of my ignorance. Notice that He didn't say "watch me" as though He was about to give them an example of what to do in tough situations. No, what He said was "watch with me". He was requesting that they stand with Him and support Him, to be there for Him at this hour of His greatest need.
Does this perspective disturb or irritate you? Does this image of Jesus portrayed as needing anything from us challenge how you have understood Him all these years? It certainly impacted me that way. But I will watch the other three disciples to see how they respond.
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