ADVENT - “A Vulnerable Jesus”

Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to our Advent Meditation series as we're spending the days leading up to Christmas looking at Jesus Christ and the hope His arrival and eventual return brings us. This week's time centers on the prayers of Jesus and how they provide insight into Jesus' mindset, nature, and heart. Through it all, we see that the impending cross was in the background of each prayer, standing in the shadows of His life and ministry. Nevertheless, Jesus knew what awaited Him, and in today's passage, we see Jesus' troubled soul meeting a willing spirit. Before we begin, I want to provide space for you to consider the emotions and thoughts Jesus felt in those moments leading up to the cross. Then, take a moment to pray and thank Jesus for His willingness to experience death so that we might have life. 

One beautiful aspect of Jesus' life recorded in the Gospels is the glimpses of His humanity. He experienced the same vulnerable emotions we do. He encountered tests and trials. At times, his soul was heavy, and John 12 is one such occurrence. Jesus had just made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to a spirited crowd shouting, "Hosanna in the Highest" - the same people who would be a fiery mob demanding His crucifixion a few days later. As He attempted to prepare His disciples for the approaching chaos and His inevitable departure, some individuals asked to see Jesus. It is here, starting in verse 23, that Jesus puts words to the agony taking place deep within and over what His obedience would require from Him:

23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!"

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

There is a rawness to the emotions Jesus expressed - we see a man in turmoil. The uneasiness aligns with the prayers Jesus spoke in the Garden of Gethsemane. With a heavy heart, He felt sorrow to the point of death, going as far as asking God to take this cup from Him. Fortunately for us, selflessness defeated self-preservation, calling conquering fear. His commitment to the Father's Glory and our good won out and caused Him to say, "not my will but yours be done." In a way, His words in John 12 serve as a rhetorical prayer - Jesus recognized it was futile to utter, as the cross was the only way to bring redemption and reconciliation.

This prayer highlights the paradox that is faith. God's glory came through the shame of the cross. Just like a kernel of wheat must die for a harvest to occur, Christ's death brought us life. Because Jesus emptied Himself, we can find ourselves beyond full. Jesus calls us to follow Him (John 12:26), and following Him means dying first and foremost. To lay down our desires. To lay down our hopes and dreams. To put aside anything other than complete devotion to Him and His plan for our lives. To be willing to part with the things that we so easily cling onto for life and to say to God, "I'm willing to lay them down if it means You can use me to bring You glory and bear fruit so that others may know You as God."

Self-­​denial isn't resigning oneself to a life of misery and drudgery. The opposite is true. True joy, security, and purpose are found by dying to ourselves and living for Christ. But, this requires work and intention on our part. It entails counting the cost of following Christ (Luke 14:28). We do this by exposing the areas of our hearts where we are chasing comfort and convenience above all else. It necessitates being honest about the line items we don't want to scratch out on our agenda. It means slowing down long enough to reflect and ponder. It begins with the courage to push through comfort's charm and head toward the specific purpose God has for our life, which leads towards a place of refinement, inconvenience, and stretching. Denying ourselves and picking up our cross isn't something we can merely believe in theory but a challenging step we need to take to be conformed to God's image - a decision we face every day and in every moment. Transformation occurs in those moments when we are willing to deny ourselves.

REFLECT

Before we wrap up our time together, we want to provide you some space to respond to what we read and maybe to what God is trying to say to you. First, take a moment to process this question…In what situations do you need to drop your plan, pick up your cross, and follow Christ

Another question to consider is this…What would it look like in this circumstance to say, "not my will, but Yours be done"?

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, with the pain and suffering awaiting You, it's easy for us to imagine why trouble may have greeted Your soul. Yet, it's impossible for us to truly fathom that You went to the cross willingly and saw it as Your purpose for entering the mess of humanity. You willingly paid the punishment we deserved - our guilt placed on Your shoulders. God's glory met our shame. May we never forget and cherish this reality. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.