Gethsemane

The night of Gethsemane offers a most revealing picture of Jesus’ heart.  Jesus implored Peter, James, and John to keep watch and pray with Him.  They fell asleep.  He asked again.  They fell asleep again.  He came back to see them once more.  They were embarrassed, but then just fell asleep once more.

There are few other instances, if any, where Jesus pressed for something with such repeated insistence.  Perhaps if the disciples where able to keep watch with Jesus for even one hour, they would have felt the anguish, heard the wrestling, even see the angel come to sustain Him – and through it all, have the words from the Creator of the universe, “Your will be done,” be seared into their hearts.  Perhaps with that, the disciples would have been imparted with the strength and authority founded on self-denial.  Perhaps with that, they would have handled their disappointments and fears differently.  Perhaps with that, Peter may not have wept when the rooster crowed.

The disciples’ spirit was willing, but their flesh was weak.  This time around, we set our anticipation for MTC on the “repeated insistence” of Jesus.  We set our expectation on God to bring the impartation of self-denial – from those still wrestling in their “Gethsemane,” and maybe crippling along with a divine limp.  Our fervent prayer is that He will cover us in the grace to overcome the weaknesses of our flesh, and stand in watchful fellowship with our ministers…because our spirit is willing…

Blessings.

The four gospels devote 149 verses to cover the 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection, where John says that Jesus performed many miracles.  Conversely, the scripture devotes 297 verses to narrate the hours between the Last Supper to Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.  By dividing the number of days in each period into their respective verse count, we get 297 verses/day for the Last Supper to Gethsemane, versus 3.7 verses/day for the spectacular “post-resurrection” days.  That comes to an astounding 80 times difference in “verse density” between the two periods.
 
This seems to run against conventional thinking.
 
We like the victory and the “happy ending” of Jesus’ post-resurrection days.  We, by nature, are attracted by miraculous power and authority, and may have even wished that John wrote more about those spectacular events.  Our works of ministry reflect that, where we strive to attract participants by designing programs and inviting ministers that can fulfill our demand for the spectacular and manifestation of Kingdom authority.  Conventional thinking places first priority on delivering a “post-resurrection” sensation.
 
MTC 2019 is committed to flow against conventional thinking, and will strive to seek God’s heart on His reasons for the 80X – or 160X if we count by half day.
 
There is something powerfully precious about the few hours of wrestling for the disciples and Jesus from the Last Supper to Gethsemane.  On many levels, those were moments packed with tension, disappointment, confusion, anxiety, depression, helplessness, loss, betrayal, fear, and seeming failure – for the disciples and for the Son of Man.  But in the sum of all that, in the absence of any spectacular victory, Jesus bestowed to us in the Garden a most powerful invitation to self-denial, a demonstration of “not my will, but Yours be done.”  Perhaps this is the Kingdom gem, the treasure in the field or the precious pearl, that Jesus has called us to purchase with all that we have.
 
MTC 2019 will have many ministers who can testify to their “post-resurrection” authority, but our priority will be to first seek Jesus’ “Garden Model,” to train our focus and expectations on the 80X of Gethsemane.  In the coming week, we will try to share more on what this might look like in the program flow, the schedule, and the roles and responsibilities of the participants.
 
If you are planning to join us, please take a few minutes to register and make your hotel reservations.  That really helps out with the administration.
 
I see a joy set before us for this year’s MTC like I’ve never seen before, and it would be my honor to share those moments with you.
 
Blessings.