Our Way Over God’s Way

March 18, 2016

Our Way Over God’s Way

         

But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

Matthew 26:51

God began His relationship with humankind in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Now we are in a second garden, Gethsemane. In the first Garden, God, in the cool of the evening, came looking for Adam. In the second Garden, in the cool of the evening, sinful man comes looking for Jesus, God’s second Adam. (The Apostle Paul writes much about the ‘first’ and ‘last’ Adam in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15) Another Garden will be the setting for Jesus’ resurrection.

‘Who are you looking for?” Jesus asked. “Jesus of Nazareth” the soldiers replied.

Those gathered in the Garden hear much more than Jesus’ simple reply, “I am he.” They hear; “I AM.”

“I AM The Bread Of Life.”

“I AM The Light Of The World.”

“I AM The Gate.”

“I AM The Good Shepherd.”

“I AM The Resurrection And The Life.”

“I AM The Way, The Truth And The Life.”

‘I AM The Vine.”

With the memory of these seven ‘I am” statements echoing through the Garden, the absurdness of the moment was overwhelming: sinful man was arresting God. The arresting force drew back and fell down. I suspect we would have as well.

The arrest of Jesus reveals the truth about the brokenness of the human condition. Neither the disciples nor the religious leaders are willing to trust God. Both groups attempt to seize control of the situation in an effort to pursue their own agenda. In the midst of this, Jesus models restraint, an essential quality of God and of those who would be His disciples. Godly restraint is possible when we pray as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but your will be done”; but that is much easier to say than do. The first step toward surrendering control of our lives to God is awareness and acceptance of our human condition.

In the Garden, Jesus asked his friends to stay alert and support him in his hour of need. They slept. Judas betrayed him.  At the moment of his arrest Jesus called his disciples to follow his lead by showing restraint because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The disciples chose violence.

Still today, while Jesus calls his disciples to Go and Make disciples, they sleep. Still today, there are those who twist and turn Jesus into a Messiah of their own making. Still today, many of the followers of Jesus prefer violence as a means to achieve their goals. Why is it so hard to get it right? We can’t fix our problem. There is one and only one solution:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2: 19-20).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.