Passion Week, Reflections from Pastor Ken Bluemel

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; 

and He said to His disciples,

Sit here while I pray.

 Mark 14:32

   For our Lord, the Passion Week was a series of final events. Each movement carried him further along the process of concluding His redemptive mission.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

   Having just finished the final Passover Supper, Jesus and His disciples made their way to a familiar spot on the Mt of Olives.  Scripture describes the Lord Jesus as troubled and deeply distressed. He, Himself told His own friends, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch."  So great was His anguish, an angel was dispatched from Heaven to provide strength. The tension between flesh and spirit, wanting and yet not wanting the Father’s will, was so profound, so earnest, that His sweat became as "great drops of blood falling down to the ground."     

   As I read the Gethsemane story again and again, I began to imagine the power of living life on the edge.  Jesus always seems to do just that. He was always a man with a mission. His prayers were always significant, His words poignant and His zeal without measure.  For 33 ½ years He lived life on-purpose. I never got the impression He was bored or biding time. He was always connected with His mission and always propelled along in His journey as if by a Divine Design. That evening in Gethsemane was no different.  Jesus is an example for us all of what it means to live a purposeful life.   

Dear Lord,

   Thank you for living your life for me. Thank you for never taking the easy road. I want to live like you lived. I want to live this life for you, not my will but yours. So… today I give you my life.  Let’s journey together Lord, me and You.

                                                                        Amen