There are four unsung heroes in the New Testament. Four friends who carried a buddy on a stretcher to the house where Jesus was teaching. Unable to get to Him through the door, they open up a section of the roof and let the stretcher down through the ceiling. Jesus, upon seeing THEIR faith forgives the sick man of his sins and heals him. (Mark 2:3-12). We all need friends like that. Sometimes, though, people are in need in ways that are not so physically obvious. They need a friend to lift them up, to listen and just encourage them.
To encourage someone is to put courage in them. In Latin, the word cour means "heart." We give someone heart. In the New Testament the word is Parakaelo, PARA, meaning "beside, near, with, alongside," and KALEO, meaning "to call or summon." In scripture the Holy Ghost is called the Paraclete, literally the "one who comes alongside." Jesus promised the Holy Ghost to His apostles, to walk beside them, to lift them, to encourage them. He also promised himself as a paraclete "I will not leave you comfortless (encourage-less); I will come to you" (John 14:18). The translators chose to render this word "paraclete" or encourager with the English word "comforter."
On the night of Gethsemane Jesus took His three closest disciples with Him into the inner Garden. He knew that His hour was upon Him. The Great Atonement could be wrought by Him alone. But He takes Peter, James and John with Him. There are many reasons why they went with Him, and one of them is because He needed them. They were there to encourage Him, to come alongside, give heart, and encourage. They were His friends. He asks them repeatedly "watch with me." In the sorrow "even unto death" Jesus felt the need for His friends to lift Him and to help Him go on through the darkest hour. He was in need of comfort.
In Matthew 26:41 He says to the three, "the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak." The usual interpretation is that the disciples were weak because they kept falling asleep. And that is true. But also, Jesus was a mortal man. His flesh was weak, too. He was spiritually prepared to do all that was required, but physically He was being ripped apart. His body was breaking down under the stress. The agony was such that He was falling on His face, He was sweating blood. Three times He comes back to His friends. They were not awake. Perhaps, the simple act of thinking of them and checking on them relieved some of the pressure of the moment. Perhaps, it was a temporary diversion. The JST of Mark 14:43 has the disciples saying to Jesus "The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." In other words "we're doing the best we can." Maybe, they knew they were also there to encourage the Lord but found they could not endure Gethsemane's gloom.
Jesus completely submitted His will to Heavenly Father. And in doing so, the spirit was completely withdrawn from Him as He became "sin for us." In that hour, without His mortal friends to help Him, the Spirit withdrawn from Him as He endured the wrath of Hell, The Father did send comfort to His son. "And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43). The effect was positive because the next verse reads that "being in an agony he prayed more earnestly" (v 44). The angel was the paraclete that gave encouragement. In China, there is a special bamboo. Once planted the bamboo does not grow for four years. All during those four years it has to be watered and cultivated. If neglected during the first 4 years it never grows. The fifth year it does. It often reaches a height of 90 feet. We have great potential, evidenced by the price paid for us. We just need comforters to encourage us along.
No comments:
Post a Comment