Into God's Hands (blog)

Jesus went out "as usual" to the Mount of Olives, one last time, and his disciples followed him (Luke 22:39).  It's comforting to know that on the night he was betrayed Jesus went about things just as he had all along, according to God's will and plan.He knelt on the ground and prayed.How many nights had Jesus spent in prayer, seeking instruction and receiving strength and encouragement, and in it all growing ever closer in perfect love and obedience to his Father?Still, that last night was different.  Jesus was in anguish!"...he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." (Luke 22:44)It's disturbing and distressing to see Jesus, who had followed God so faithfully, struggling with The Almighty's perfect plan for salvation."Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me..." Jesus prayed.At the intersection of God's judgement and mercy, did The Savior really falter?"...yet not my will, but yours be done."  (Luke 22:42)With those 8 simple words the plan moved forward.  Heaven exhaled as Jesus made the exchange in his heart, him for us, even before he confirmed it by dying on the Cross in our place.And with those words Jesus fell from God's hands, fell from grace so that we could be taken up firmly in it, in our Father's loving grasp, forever.It must have felt like free fall - the thorns on his head, the searing pain across his back, the insults hurled at him - and all the more piercing because he knew that his pain and suffering were not just allowed but willed by the One he loved and trusted.It must have looked like free fall to all those who stood around Jesus as he hung bleeding and dying, crying out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34)But, at the intersection of abandonment and rescue, Jesus was suspended in God's perfect will.  He did just as his Father instructed, moving the plan forward by dying for our sins so that we can be forgiven and saved.He did what we could never do for ourselves.  He did it in person, so that we can trust in it and come back to it, again and again, when things don't make sense and when we struggle with what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of the people we love.  He did it so that at the Cross, our source of faith and grace, we can find strength and the reassurance of God's sacrificial, eternal, unfailing love."Father, into your hands I commit my spirit", Jesus said, and with his last breath he did just that, as he had all along (Luke 23:46).