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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Wow. So much in todays reading. The detail is Jesus sweating blood – his feed and anguish. I like to think the angel comforted him – and then to return to his disciples who really could seem to care less by their snoozing. Do we feel sometimes that we are alone in our faith journey? That no one sees us in our pain? God does and he will comfort us with His presence. And then everyone else – so desperate to have someone to blame. To explain everything that is happening. To have control of the situation that they are looking past the one, true God in their midst. Someone they have worshiped and studied and known about. How often to we try to control our lives only to look right past the glory right in front of our faces?
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“I find no grounds to charge this man”!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!!!!!
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I find that in times of sorrows, the ability to pray is threatened and even robbed. Our soul and spirit is troubling, it is the hardest time to pray. I have slumped in moments of grief and sorrows. BUT GOD, the warrior that He is, says this to His disciples, when they are found sleeping for sorrows, exhausted from grief (Luke 22:45 KJV), He said, get up and pray against temptations. Beware, the great temptation of grief is to think God has left, to think I am the cursed and not the blessed, woe is me, etc….the biggest lies of grief. We are still the blessed ones, trials or not, we are still the clay vessels through which the Mighty demonstrates His power/love/ mercy and goodness and faithfulness through. If we just push to pray, as He said we must, the moment of relief and strengthening toward us is just around the corner, for the victory of His Name. The beginning of sorrows/birth pains have started, we are in the last days, the world around us is groaning more and more, pain and confusion is around us, please ask Him for strength/grace to pray, to fight through fervent prayers, and not be slumped asleep.
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon/serpent? (Isaiah 51:9)
Praying….
@Dorothy: praying for your request with Finley’s family.
@C, Lexi B: for car fix and finance.
@Allison Bentley: loved your prayer yesterday <3
@Tara B: healing for your boss’s dad.
@Sharon Jersey girl: for your in-laws to know God deeper and experience His power.Be blessed dear sisters. Remember God is always with us to empower us through both hardest days or ordinary days (thank you Bailey!).
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I pray that I can surrender my own will for my life and have full faith that God has a bigger plan for me. Jesus’s strength at the end of his life is inspiring. I hope to have that strength when times are hard. This season of life has truly tested me in more ways than one and I hope to come out stronger and more resilient than before. Praying for all of you today.
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The hours leading to Christ’s torture and death always sadden me and make my heart so sad. It is a reminder of the cost of my sin that he took before I was even here. Praise be!
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It’s hard to read these passages every time I read them. The God of the Universe who created everything, holds everything together was spit upon, beated, mocked, had His beard ripped out, His back torn open by a whip…He took all of this, cruel nails on a cross, all of it, for you & me. I know I’ll never deserve it! But wow, THANK YOU Jesus!!
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