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Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

troubled_heartHis was in distress.                                                                     His heart was deeply troubled.                                                 The hours between Jesus and the Cross were quickly ticking away.  So he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  With a troubled heart, Jesus sought the will of the Father.  He prayed for there to be another way to save mankind.

But there wasn’t another way.  The Father’s answer to Jesus’ prayer wasn’t to spare him from the trouble but to give him the gift of peace to face that trouble.  Jesus rose from that place of prayer with a peace that stilled his troubled heart.

No sooner had Jesus finished praying, when a contingent of Roman soldiers and religious guards entered the Garden on a mission to arrest Jesus.  With torches and swords in hand, they were ready for a struggle.  They were prepared to pursue him.  But there was no struggle.  There was no pursuit.  Because when Jesus saw them enter the Garden, he didn’t hide or flee.  To their bewilderment,

“He stepped forward to meet them.  Who are you looking for?” he asked.

“Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I AM he, Jesus said.”

Jesus stepped forward to meet them.  He had the strength to face His divine destiny of suffering, because his troubled heart had been calmed by the Father’s gift of divine peace. Continue Reading

Aside published on January 19, 2015 |

To Hear and Understand

Before he was apprehended in the Garden of Gethsemane,

before he was beaten and scourged,

before he carried his Cross through the streets of Jerusalem,

before he was laid in the tomb and resurrected on the third day,

Jesus had foretold His disciples what would happen.

They heard the words, but they didn’t understand.  They listened to what he said, but they didn’t embrace its meaning.

But there was one disciple among them, though not one of the Twelve, who understood the truth of Jesus’ words, and her name was Mary.  Mary, along with her sister, Martha, and her brother, Lazarus, were good friends and devoted followers of Jesus.  Mary would sit at the feet of Jesus and listen intently to his teaching, listening with an understanding that the Twelve Disciples failed to grasp.  When Jesus predicted his suffering, death, and his resurrection, she embraced this difficult truth which compelled her to take a bold step of faith.

Mary interrupted a meal held in Jesus’ honor.  She knew what she was about to do would seem foolish to others in that room, but she was determined to act with obedient faith.  So with great care she carried a jar of precious perfume, knelt before Jesus, and anointed his feet.  She didn’t just pour out a few drops of an inexpensive perfume.  No, she poured out a whole jar of nard – a costly perfume worth a year’s wages.  This perfume was of such great value that the disciples who looked on harshly, chided her action as being a foolish waste.

But not Jesus.

He commended her act of obedience – for understanding what the disciples failed to understand.  Jesus knew that Mary anointed his feet in preparation for his death and burial, because she believed in his resurrection.  Her seemingly act of foolishness in the eyes of the disciples was an act of obedient faith that touched the heart of Jesus.

Mary heard.

She understood.

And she responded with obedient faith.  She put her faith into action, even at the risk of being foolish in the eyes of others.

At the start of this New Year, I want to be like Mary.  Not just to hear God’s Word but to clearly understand its truth.  And then comes the hard part – to act with obedient faith, even when it isn’t easy, even when it may seem foolish to others.

Perhaps you would like to start this New Year like Mary as well?

Aside published on January 5, 2015 |