04 Aug Empty Tank

I recently had one of those “wait, what?” moments while reading Luke’s Gospel. It comes in Chapter 22:

39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow(emphasis mine). 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

Here we see Luke’s reporting of Jesus going to the Garden of Gethsemane for one final prayer. Luke, the physician, paints a vivid picture of Jesus’ anxiety and distress: “Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Jesus’ disciples didn’t know what was about to happen to Him, yet Luke says they were sleeping from sorrow. That was the “wait, what?” moment for me. I had never noticed that before. Most Bible commentaries say that despite not knowing what was coming next, Jesus’ despair in the moment finally impacts them. From the NIV Application Commentary:

“They have begun to understand that rejection for Jesus lies just ahead, and it has wiped them out emotionally. Jesus asks them why they are sleeping at this crucial moment and calls them to pray that they will not fall into temptation. The only way they will be ready for what is ahead is if they prepare for it as He has. Faithfulness is grounded in being in touch with God.” (NIV Application Commentary for Luke, p. 568).

Has sorrow ever left you physically exhausted? I’m guessing the answer is “yes” whether you realized it or not. Our own trials or the trials of others in our lives can leave us so fatigued that we don’t notice it until we come to a complete stop. Then we realize that our tank is empty.

Just as the disciples didn’t know what was next, we too are unaware of what lies just around the corner ahead of us. We can’t prepare specifically for what we don’t know about. But we can follow Jesus’ model by staying close to God in prayer. Jesus was prepared after He prayed. God didn’t answer “yes” to His prayer of removing what was about to happen. He did, however, send angels to strengthen Him. God will do the same for us. Then our spiritual tank will never be empty, and, unlike the disciples, we will be prepared for what God already knows about.

Pastor Jerry Bader