Rest For Your Souls: Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

Christmas Markets, Glühwein, Christmas Trees, candle light, gifts; isn’t Christmas a lovely season? Sometimes, Christmas is great! But there are some years where Christmas is more of a challenge than a joy.

I’m not sure if some readers feel the same, but to be honest, Christmas has somehow lost it’s “magic” for me. I usually associate with Christmas feelings of stress because of gifts that need to be bought, often too much sugar intake because of too many Christmas cookies and the “same old songs” that we hear every year. I honestly struggle connecting with the Christmas message.

On top of that, Christmas can bring lots of difficult situations and dynamics for some. Holidays can be challenging for people with difficult family dynamics or who lost a loved one. For some, the all so bright season of the year can feel hollow and dark.

In Matthew 26:36-46, we read about Jesus going through a hard time. To me it’s comforting that He struggled and knew what it meant to be in our broken world and endure suffering. He knew how hard it was to be human.

In this passage, Jesus prayed in a garden just before He was betrayed by one of His closest friends to be handed over to the religious leaders of the time for execution. It says in this passage, “he became anguished and distressed.”

But even in his pain and fear, He still turned to God. He prayed three times. He brought things before God and pleaded with Him. I think that if we go through hard times, that’s the best thing to do; bringing our burdens and pain to God, pleading with Him, and talking to Him. Because God hears us and cares about our pain. He might not always change the circumstances but I am convinced we don’t have to go through them alone. Jesus knows what it feels like. That is a comforting thought to me.

Another interesting thing in this passage: He asked his friends to pray with Him. It’s interesting how Jesus still has community in mind, even if things get hard. He wanted to share this situation with them, wanted them close. It keeps on surprising me how Jesus constantly wants us to be part of His story. He was born a little child dependent on His parents, he asked his friends to pray with him. He loves us so much, that He lets us take part in His great story.

Even thought I struggle to connect with the Christmas message, I do want to try and remember, that ultimately, it is a marvelous thing that the God of the universe came into our world. He became part of our mess and did all of that to make a way for us to be reconciled with God. He sacrificed His life so that we can have new life. He came as light into our darkness and He wants a relationship with us.

If Christmas is hard for you too, maybe talking to God about your struggles could help. Or, like Jesus did, reach out to friends to pray together and to share the burden. If you would like to connect to Community Church, we’d be happy to get to know you and pray with you.

And lastly, let’s not forget that Christmas is hard for some. So consider meeting with someone for coffee or checking in with someone how they are actually doing. Maybe that will make a huge difference to them in this season.