Gethsemane: An Expose' in Surrender

When we think about surrender, most of the time we don’t have happy soothing thoughts.   We tend to see surrender as weakness, giving up, or even defeat.   But in the Kingdom of God, surrender is where we find strength, peace, and victory.  

If we want to see a perfect example of surrender, we need look no further than Jesus Christ.   He knew what was coming and submitted anyway.   He walked straight into suffering with full knowledge of what was coming and still chose to entrust Himself to the Father. 

“And while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”   (Peter 2:23)

Jesus knew the betrayal, the agony, and the cross were ahead. He knew Judas would hand Him over. He knew Peter would deny Him. He knew every disciple would scatter. And still—He surrendered.  Because of His surrender, we never have to be separated from God. Jesus experienced that separation so we wouldn’t have to. 

Unlike Jesus, we don’t know what’s coming. In some ways, that feels harder. In other ways, it might be easier. Not knowing means we should only face one moment at a time. But, Jesus faced the entire weight of what was coming, and still submitted.

We can get in our mind that because Jesus is God, He walked fearlessly and effortlessly to the cross.   However, Scripture tells us something entirely different.   The truth is that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was clearly distressed and this was anything but “easy” for Him. He was clearly overwhelmed with sorrow; wanting His friends to be there with Him. So what do we see Him doing? 

We see Him asking God the Father for another way.. not once, not twice, but three times!   We see Him praying to the point of sweating drops of blood.   His anguish was real.   His struggle was real.   His surrender was real.   As He prayed, we see that He was strengthened by angels (Luke 22:43) and set His face like flint (Isaiah 50:7).   He was determined to say the least. 

Bigger than that though, is the fact that He trusted. 

“Everything is possible for You… yet not My will, but Yours.”  (Mark 14:36) 

Jesus fully believed God could do it another way. But He surrendered to what God would do. 

The Gospels aren’t the only place where we find evidence of Jesus’ surrender.   Throughout Scripture we see moments where His spirit was troubled, grieved, and burdened.   He got hungry, exhausted, felt pressure, and sorrow.   Jesus lived a lifestyle of surrender to the Father.  He endured because He saw beyond the suffering to the joy and glory yet to come.  He didn’t surrender because it was easy or painless, but He knew eternity – and you and I – were worth it. 

What happens though when what you believe about God and what you experience don’t appear to line up?   This is where spiritual struggle begins; it’s where theology and reality seem to clash.   Job and many others in Scripture experienced this and you may be in this space right now.    Hear this loud and clear my friend, spiritual struggle is not a sign of weak faith – it’s a sign that God is calling you deeper.   Job said:  “My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.”  Isn’t it true that sometimes the only way to know God more fully is to walk through what we never would have chosen for ourselves?

We, being human and sinful by nature, can sometimes wonder why God doesn’t do what seems best in our minds.   The answer might seem simplistic, but time spent pondering on it, proves otherwise.   Our earthly parents didn’t allow us to “just do what seemed right” because they knew better.   They knew we’d become spoiled.   They saw potential dangers that we didn’t.   And ultimately, as children, we just didn’t have the capacity to reason as an adult.   So it is with God.   He would not be loving if He left us to our own desires.  We don’t know what we need, but God does and that’s why we should trust His plan for our life and not our own. 

The core of this faith is surrender and trust.   Believing and acting on what God said rather than what we’re seeing and experiencing.   In the garden, Jesus’ situation didn’t change.   He still had to face the cross, but He was strengthened to endure it.   That’s often how we see God working in our own lives.   Our circumstances may not shift.   The suffering might not disappear.   The prayer may not be answered in the way we want.   But God strengthens us and gives us grace to walk His path.

Surrender is not “giving up”.   It’s truly handing everything over to the One who loves us beyond measure, knows more than we do and sees what we can’t.   In the end surrender is not loss.

It is freedom.

It is peace.

It is victory.

It IS where we find Him.

THINK ABOUT IT

When you face a trial, do you find yourself trying to control the outcome, or are you able to pause and trust God with it? Why?

How do you respond emotionally when what you experience doesn’t match what you believe about God? How could you bring that tension to Him in prayer?