Gethsemane

I like this painting. It’s honest. It’s real. It’s raw. Jesus was dying on the inside in Gethsemane. He was dying to His own will. There is death in those eyes. Satan’s cloud of darkness had surrounded Him. You can almost see Satan’s lies in His eyes. “You’re departing from Elohim to save these who will never accept you. You saw it yourself. They hate you. Return to the comfort of your Father.”

The word agony comes from the Greek word agon which means contest. Agony is a contest against pride and despair. Holding on to faith and hope through the darkness. When God’s light surrounds you, it’s easy to have the humility to trust in His plan. But how can you trust someone that thrust you into a pit? It’s in the pit that Jesus’ blood gets mingled with yours. His mind becomes your mind.

So He prayed “Father, if it be Thy will, take this cup away from me; yet not my will but Thine be done!” It’s easy to read that. It’s easy to read these stories just like it’s easy to breathe when you’re not under water. Drink the cup of bitterness like Naomi did to the extent that she renamed herself the very word. She became Mara. Ugly, rough & bitter to the world but a sweet smelling fragrance to God.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead

2 Corinthians 2:15-16

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.