the Third Week after Easter
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Mark 14:32-54
The One who has taken the form of a servant is now going to show just how far His obedience will take Him. Will it be unto death . . . even the death of the cross? (Philippians 2:7-8). Satan does his best to turn the Lord Jesus aside from the path of His perfection. In this decisive struggle, his weapon is to overwhelm the heart of the Lord, who weighs up the full horror of the cup of God’s wrath against sin. The weapon of the Lord Jesus is His dependence. A name which we only hear used here expresses the deepest intimacy of such a moment: "Abba, Father," He cries in the knowledge that this perfect communion will have to be broken when He becomes the sin-bearer. But it is precisely His love without reserve for the Father which leads Him on to an obedience without reserve. "Not what I will, but what thou wilt."
In the presence of such a conflict, how unpardonable is the disciples’ sleep. A little earlier, their Master exhorted them to watch and pray (Mark 13:33). He asks them again earnestly three times over . . . in vain. But He is ready. Here comes the traitor with the people who are going to take the Lord. Then they all forsake Him and flee including, finally, this young man wrapped in a fine linen cloth: the figure of Christian profession which does not stand the test.
