Today’s passage is Luke 22:39-53. Jesus prays in the garden on the Mt. of Olives. He tells his disciples not to fall into temptation, then he prays to the Father to take away the cup of his suffering but nevertheless let things be according to God’s will. The disciples fall asleep and he wakes them up. Judas arrives with a crowd of chief priests and armed servants and tries to kiss Jesus. There’s a scuffle but Jesus stops it, saying the hour belongs to the people of darkness.
Why does Judas use a kiss to indicate who Jesus is?
Why do the disciples keep falling asleep?
“A stone’s throw”(41)
When my life collapsed and I lost my family, my job, and my fantasy hopes, I wanted to throw rocks at God.
And I did.
I threw stoney works and I threw rocks which never hit him because I saw them land in the woods or in the water. How I blamed God for my own mess of life!
The mess I found myself in was the result of the accumulation of my sins.
My sins kept God a stone’s throw away from me.
When Jesus went a stone’s throw away from the disciples to pray fervently to the Father to avoid his upcoming suffering of the cross, he likely prayed with groans and cries.
Mark’s gospel says he fell on his face.
I think Jesus wanted to spare his disciples the shock of seeing him in agony.
But he knew that if we withdrew from them they would fall into temptation and sleep, as they did, allowing Judas and the crowd to arrive without warning.
And then they acted badly, starting a fight.
God gave me his Holy Spirit to be in me so that Jesus is never a stone’s throw away.
But when I sin, I’m trying to throw God away.
I push him away with my lack of love, my greed, my self-indulgence instead of self-sacrifice, making excuses for why I need to buy an expensive smoothie I can’t afford instead of water.
As soon as God is a stone’s throw away, I make even more sin, falling asleep to my own salvation. God looks at me from that distance with sadness.
The nice thing about God being only a stone’s throw away is that it’s not really so very far.
As soon as I repent he’s there beside me again.
God is like the children in a playground that I didn’t want to play with and threw stones at to keep them away.
They wait, and when I call or motion to them to come, they run to join me in a game.
A stone’s throw is both far away and near at the same time.
It’s God’s distance from me, made by my sin but it’s close enough for me know that God is there waiting for me to wake up and repent.
Application: Stop throwing stoney words at people but speak words of kindness and encouragement.
Lord, stay close to me, I pray. Let me not fall into temptation and fall asleep to my salvation. Keep me awake and praying
