Jesus Faces Trials
Open Your Bible
Luke 22:39-65, Mark 14:53-65, Luke 22:66-71, Luke 23:1-12
BY Bailey Gillespie
Oak leaves blanketed the lawn in yellow while I wandered the abbey grounds in the hills of Kentucky. It was peaceful and quiet. I came here to meet with God—to spend a few quiet minutes in a place where many other Christians have come to worship and feel His presence among the trees.
Named after the garden of Gethsemane, this particular abbey has a statue of Jesus tucked away in the woods. His hands cover His face in agony while He prays for deliverance.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me,” Christ pleads in His prayer. “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
It’s hard to imagine this kind of anguish being real. I don’t want to. On a perfect autumn afternoon like today, this quiet peace is such a contrast to what Jesus felt that day in the garden when He was in so much inner turmoil; He sweated drops of blood (v.44). And yet this one moment in history is what this whole place calls us to remember.
Not my will, but yours, be done.
Any time I read passages where Jesus is the one praying, it moves me. Jesus, our Savior—the one you and I pray to—also prays. During His life and ministry, Jesus also faced trials and great suffering that brought Him to the end of Himself. In the days leading up to His crucifixion, Christ experienced the anticipation of His death. He endured disciples who fell asleep in the middle of praying (v.45), endured physical and psychological abuse (vv.63–65), and went through moment after moment of betrayal and rejection from those who had just met him and those who were close enough to call friends.
In Luke, we read that Pilate couldn’t find fault with Jesus. “‘I find no grounds for charging this man,” he declared, once the accusations poured in (Luke 23:4). Yet mockery and abuse continued. Even in the midst of this, God gave Jesus the strength to keep going. The time they had spent together in the garden—with the blood and the crying out in desperation—led to complete surrender and obedience.
As I walked those abbey grounds in Kentucky, I thought of Jesus. I thought of the way God met with Him and listened to His anguish. How it must have broken His fatherly heart. But even this agony couldn’t stop God’s will from prevailing that day in Gethsemane.
On the hardest days, but also the ordinary days, may you be strengthened by God’s love. May you receive whatever trials He allows into your life with trust and surrender, knowing that God will meet you right in the midst of it.
Not my will, but yours, be done.
49 thoughts on "Jesus Faces Trials"
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Father God, I repeat what Christ said, “not my will but Your will be done.” You know what is best for me and how it is best to handle it, please help me through my life’s journey. Amen.
Sisters, I ask for prayer, last evening at work with Finley, I almost had a “melt down” between Finley not listening and sister Kyla antagonizing her, I was on the verge of crying. Dad wasn’t feeling well so he had gone to bed early. Mom had left for some appointments. I was getting Finley out of the bath because of so problems and I needed to put her back in briefly to finish rinsing her hair and Kyla came in and caused problems. This caused me even more work. I’m going on a Christian retreat 4 day weekend next week but I’m seriously thinking about telling the family when I come back that I can’t handle working for them any more. Finley is getting to big for me to lift. She doesn’t always cooperate and when Kyla is around they feed off of each other. Please pray for me as to how best to approach this and when to do it. I love them dearly and I’ve been working with Finley for four years now but I just don’t know what to do. Thank you.
Sisters, be blessed and remember God’s will should come first and foremost.
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Todays reading was perfect for what I have been going through. So much stuck out to me but this really left an impact on me:
On the hardest days, but also the ordinary days, may you be strengthened by God’s love. May you receive whatever trials He allows into your life with trust and surrender, knowing that God will meet you right in the midst of it.
Thank you all for your prayers. My trial has not ended but I do feel more peace.
Lifting up prayers listed here!
Michelle P: I often forget the spirtual war aspect of our walk with Christ. When I saw your comment, I went to the Lord, wondering how I should war. I am not a fighter really, but I think the Lord is trying to break me of that and engage in more spirtual warfare when being attacked by the enemy. So I asked the Lord- how do I war? Is it crying out? Praying for hours? He told me- “with worship”. And I realized, since starting my business and working from home more often- I don’t sing worship songs as much as I used to outside of church. I used to sing everyday to and from work. I need to make a habit again of just setting aside time to do that again, if that is the way I am meant to war.
Thanks for your comment-it was good to talk through this with God. -
We have visited Gethsemane in KY – it is 2 hrs from my home and just a few minutes from my grandma’s house. It is really lovely!
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Yes,Lord Jesus❤️
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I would love to visit the garden of Gethsemane. I had heard about the statue and it would mean so much to see it.
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❤
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Oh how these passages hurt my heart. My stomach knots up. It saddens me to think of how many ignore Jesus today. I had a teacher once say, “You get up and Jesus is in the living room sitting on the couch and you just walk by with out saying “good morning”.
I have made it a habit to seek Him out first thing. He went through so much for us and I am so thankful. -
I too have read these passages multiple times and I love how every time I receive something different. What stood out the most to me today was Jesus’ restraint. I can’t imagine having the power to blast my enemies/persecutors/onlookers away with lofty answers to their accusations, sheer force to their blows and softening of their hearts and not using it to “prove them wrong” but trusting His fathers plan. Instead of sending the enemy where they belong and giving them what they deserve he healed him, prayed for him and eventually died for them. WOW what a mighty God we serve!!!
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