“Lord, let this cup pass…”
Maundy Thursday involves the emotional problem of unanswered prayer, “God, I cannot continue…”
We often fail to remember the humanity of Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, overwhelmed by the soon to be events, Jesus poured himself out to the Father. He was honest with Him about his desires, and ultimately came to a place of saying, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Sometimes in the midst of suffering, we find our strength not in defiance or denial, but in our acceptance of it. We enter down into the pain willingly, knowing there will be something greater on the other side, whatever it may be.
<aside> 🗨️ Jesus showed us that the way to overcome the world, the way to subvert the reign of darkness, is sometimes not to stand and fight but rather to submit like a lamb being led to the slaughter (see Isa. 53:7) (p. 117).
</aside>
<aside> 🗨️ There is faith for life, and then there is a darker faith for death. There is faith for miracles, but also for pain. There is faith for God’s will when it’s our will too, but there is also the grace to trust God when His will is not what we would choose (122).
</aside>
“My God my God, why have you forsaken me…”
Good Friday involves the intellectual problem of unanswered prayer, “Why have you, God?”
For many of us who struggle with unanswered prayer, we find ourselves regularly asking the question, Why?
Greig (reluctantly) gives a tabled checklist to reference when struggling with the intellectual questions of unanswered prayer. Sometimes an answer is clear, however more often it is not.
“…”
Holy Saturday involves the spiritual problem of unanswered prayer, “Where are you, God?”
Seasons of silence are to be explored and engaged. We should invest time in God’s word, go to safe places, and safe people as we wrestle through these times of silence.
We need a better theology of suffering. If we’re not comfortable with pain, suffering, or unanswered prayer, then we’ll pull, scratch, and claw for any reason to explain it. This, at times, at the expense of the sufferer. It is often pain, not joy or blessedness, that spurs us on into deeper relationship with Christ.
<aside> 🗨️ We cannot remove Gethsemane and Golgotha from the reality of life in Christ (159).
</aside>