“Nevertheless”
Bible Verse of the Day Luke 22:41-44 ESV
And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
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Notes from Today’s Scriptures:
Jesus had spent the evening with the twelve in what men would eventually label “The Last Supper”. He sat at the table of eleven faithful and one not so faithful, serving them all. A discussion eventually broke out among them regarding who “was to be regarded as the greatest” (Luke 22:24). Like all fallen men, the disciples brought talk of the kingdom, thrones, and judgment back to themselves as centerpiece.
Undoubtedly they each imagined themselves seated high upon a throne, regaled in fine garments, judging the twelve tribes of Israel from a place of authority. But the scene that would play out late into that dark night would change the course of the Christian man’s thinking forever.
The authority in the kingdom is not man’s, nor was it ever intended to be. In fact, Jesus lived in a way that undeniably displayed this. While He walked the earth as a man, He remained a servant (Mark 10:45). God’s plan for the world has never been, nor will ever be about the authority of men.
Jesus lived this truth out even to the end as He submitted His authority, praying “Nevertheless, not My will, but yours, be done.” His earthly life was lived to honor and glorify the Father by submitting to his divine authority rather than promote His own.
It is obvious here the anguish and agony of this intimate moment, as Jesus is faced with this looming cup he must drink from; that cup was the wrath of God. “Nevertheless”, He said, and drank deeply from the cup of wrath, becoming for us “sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Is your life lived to exalt the Father’s authority, or promote your own?
Answer this question by letting your flesh take a back seat to the Spirit’s leading today.
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