God Accepts Our Limitations
God Accepts Our Limitations
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
Matthew 26:40
How confused must the disciples have been, waking up to Jesus saying that he was being betrayed into the hands of sinners? How low their spirits must have been when they saw the reality happening right before their eyes- Judas among them.
How much did they regret closing their eyes and falling asleep? Perhaps we could have run away earlier if we had been awake! Perhaps we could have prepared to fight back if we hadn’t closed our eyes! What kind of statements ran through their heads?
How many times do we regret our decisions? How many times do we look back and put our face into our hands with shame? What would we change given the chance?
What I love about this story is that Jesus isn’t angry. He doesn’t curse them or speak down to them. He simply sees the truth in the situation- their eyes were heavy. He knows our limitations having lived in our frail bodies. He knows that we carry regret and pain inside of ourselves because we too often fail.
Jesus loves us anyways. He wakes us up and stand s beside us anyways. The one thing you can be certain about is that Jesus regrets none of his decision. Jesus faced the cross, carried it and died on it and would do it again if given the chance. Although his fear and humanity shone out while he prayed to his Father, it never overtook him.
Jesus knew what he was getting into and went ahead because of us. We may fail but he never will. Even with our limitations, Jesus proudly stands beside us.
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto