Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
John 12:28
We all have those moments where our “souls are troubled” and our default setting would be to escape all hardships. I dare say most of us view pain and suffering as something to avoid at all costs, yet there are places we will never conform to the character of the Jesus without some pressure on us forcing us to make right choices.
Paul wrote (and we looked at this last week) God would not allow us to be tempted beyond what we were able to bear. In other words, no matter what situation I am facing there is ALWAYS a way of escape. It always boils down to the things we choose to do in the midst of trouble. Here, in the midst of trouble is our crucible.
I’ve noticed in my own life, that when I arrive at places and am internally in a state of flux, that I’ve missed something the Holy Spirit would’ve shown me about things to come. The gospels record three other events where Jesus was troubled;
Mary’s (and others) grief over Lazarus’ death,
Judas’ betrayal,
and Himself in the garden
None of these events moved him from the divine purposes of God. In every situation, Jesus held the mind of God and knew the ways of His Father. He knew exactly what to do and what to say. I find this so encouraging and absolutely frustrating when I’m in these moments and seemingly don’t know what to do! These examples remind me I can know. These aren’t God issues - they are my issues. I remind myself that while Isaiah tells us that Gods thoughts and ways are higher than ours - it does not say we can’t know them. It just takes searching out and time with Him to know.
So Jesus, in this particular moment, in John twelve, is in Jerusalem for the passover. He has just entered the city upon much fanfare, Lazarus has been raised from the dead, the Pharisees are trying to kill Jesus and he tells his disciples the cost of following him.
His soul is troubled, his flesh wants to be saved from this hour, and yet he knows it was for this cause he came to this very moment in time and what does he do?
“Father, glorify you name”. Jesus yields. Jesus submits. He just moves forward into the assignment given Him in order to redeem our lives. How could we do less?