P2 - A Way To Prepare One's Heart And Mind For The Lord's Table

Matthew 26:16-19 "Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover."

Introduction:

In our last post we began to think about how one may prepare their heart and mind for the reception of the Lord's table. We noted how we first need to consider the privilege of the cost of following Jesus. The Gospels record Jesus' final meal with His disciples. Prior to that meal was a the time devoted to preparation for it. If only we would take the time to prepare our hearts and minds in our daily walk with God; we would then avoid the tragedy of "going through the motions" that so much characterizes modern day Christianity. In today's post we will conclude with two other considerations of how one may prepare their heart and mind for the reception of the Lord's Table. 

Consider the provisions by Christ for the details of your life.

Matthew 26:18-19; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:10-13 

One remarkable feature of all four Gospel accounts on the time proceeding the Lord's supper with His disciples regards His meticulous knowledge of certain details leading up to that event. The first three Gospels lay stress upon Jesus' detailed instructions to His disciples regarding their preparation for the celebration of the Passover. An example is found in Matthew's record in Matthew 26:18-19 - 

"And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹ The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover."

The other three Gospel account record similar instructions. Jesus knew details such as the particular room in which the New Covenant meal would take place and the individual whom the disciples would connect to make the arrangements. These observations serve to remind us that the Lord not only orchestrates time in general, but also the details in which He carries out His will in the lives of His people.

Throughout the narrative of the events leading up to our Lord's crucifixion, we primarily witness the actions of the man Jesus of Nazareth. However, it must also be recollected that He who ate the bread and drank the cup with His disciples was and ever remained truly God. Christ's meticulous knowledge of such incidental details (i.e. omniscience) points to the truth conveyed in the New Testament about Him as One Person that is truly God and truly man (see John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9).

Understanding Jesus Christ as truly God and truly man causes the Christian to realize why Jesus is able to supply every need in their life. It is healthy to reflect back on how much the Lord has taken care of the Christian. Jesus promises to take care of physical needs (Luke 6:46); emotional needs (Matthew 11:28-30) and of course spiritual needs (John 10).

I find it helpful to reflect on how Jesus has taken care of every aspect of my own life between those times I celebrate the Lord's supper. The New Covenant meal centers around the taking in of the staples of nourishment (bread, fruit of the vine). Whenever the Christian partakes of these elements, the Holy Spirit impresses upon the believer just how much everything in life derives from the hand of Christ.

Thus, preparing for the Lord's Supper not only should include considering the privilege of the cost of following Jesus, but also how He provides for every need in life.

Confess your sins and praise Jesus for what He did for you.

Confession of sin is a major part of this covenant meal. Whenever Jesus and His disciples were getting underway in the institution of that inaugural meal, we find an interesting detail in Mark 14:17-19 -  

"When it was evening He came with the twelve. 18 As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.” 19 They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”

The heightened awareness of one's deficiencies in their spiritual walk is made acute at the Lord's Table. The time of Communion points us to Christ, reminding the Christian that Christ's righteousness not only covered their spiritual nakedness at conversion, but ever dons their imperfect practical righteousness in post-conversion. Anytime God's people gather together to celebrate the Lord's table, consideration of unconfessed sin or disruption of fellowship between believers over such things is crucial. Why? The Table of the Lord is not only a place of celebration for the church, but also of healing.

The disciples grieved over the prospect that one of them could betray Jesus. How often does the Christian exchange their love for Jesus for that momentary indulgence of personal sin? I have found that nothing brings to light my own personal need to confess my sin than when time approaches for the celebration of the Lord's supper (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-32). Thankfully, whenever Jesus had revealed these words, we find Him then blessing the bread and then the fruit of the vine.

The provision for our forgiveness was already to go before the betrayal of sin. The Lord's supper portrays the provision for forgiveness. The provision for the healing of the soul. There might be times I come to the table with the shame of sins I committed since the last time I partook of those elements. However, the Lord's promise to forgive me of such sins at the instant I confess them is rooted in the finished work of the cross emblemized by the bread and the fruit of the vine (see 1 John 1:9; 2:1-2).

Confession of sin ought to be a daily, if not moment-by-moment practice of every Christian. The Lord's table serves to reinforce the provision of God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ. The table of fellowship is predicated upon the restoration of such fellowship that is immediately granted upon confession of sins to the Bishop and Overseer of our souls - the Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 2:25). 

Closing thoughts

In these last two posts, we aimed to offer threes ways one can prepare their heart and mind for the partaking of the Lord's supper. We noted how there was ample preparation in the Gospel portrayals of Jesus' celebration of the New Covenant meal with His disciples. The following three suggestions were made:

1. Consider the privilege of the cost of following Jesus.

2. Consider the provisions by Christ for the details of your life.

3. Confess your sins and praise Jesus for what He did for you. 

P1 - A Way To Prepare One's Heart And Mind For The Lord's Table

Matthew 26:17-20 "Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples."

Introduction:

Preparation. The meaning of the term "preparation" conveys "putting things into order" in anticipation of the main event at hand. Too often in my own Christian walk, I find little time spent in "quietness, stillness and preparation" for whatever God has planned to bring to my attention. The ancient Jews placed much emphasis upon "preparation". The spirituality of the Old and New Testament scriptures was not treated haphazardly. An prime example of this point is in how the Jews prepared for the Passover celebration.

To ready the heart and mind for the reception of the Passover was just as important as the actual event itself. A typical Jewish family would spend an entire year in advance. Central to the celebration of the Passover was the lamb. Lambs that were a year-old and without blemish were fit-candidates for selection by the family. Once the lamb was selected on the first day of the given Passover week (i.e. Sunday, further preparations were made to eventually roast the lamb per God's instructions to His people through Moses in Exodus 12.

Eventually, the Jews were commanded to travel far and wide to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. Preparation focused one's intention and will on bringing pleasure to their Lord. The external rites associated with Passover and the later New Covenant meal of the Lord's Supper were Divinely given to order the interior lives of God's people. To neglect preparation of one's heart and mind in the things of God can lead to a later inability to digest later truths God wants to impart through His word.

What Jesus would do with His disciples in the institution of Lord's Table of communion entailed transferring the Passover celebration into the New Covenant meal for the church. Clearly this process required "preparation". To achieve this event, Jesus told his disciples to "prepare" a place where they would celebrate.

So how can one prepare for participating in the Lord's supper celebration? Let's offer one main point for today and focus on further thoughts in the next post.

Consider the privilege of the cost of following Jesus. Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8  

Each of the four Gospels record Jesus' final meal with His disciples in the closing hours leading to His arrest, trials, tortures and crucifixion. Matthew, Mark and John record the event of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus. John 12:3 records the following details of Mary's act of devotion:

"Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."

Judas' negative reaction to her act reveals the costliness of what she did. The perfume itself was high quality. The fragrance that would suffuse that place would accompany our Lord in that final meal with His disciples, as well as His journey to the cross. No doubt what Mary did was of very great cost. The cost of preparation on her part bespeaks of the much greater cost paid for our salvation by the Lord Jesus. Jesus indicates that what Mary did was to prepare for His pending burial following His crucifixion, as expressed in Mark 14:8 - 

"She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial."

Whenever any Christian is getting ready to celebrate the Lord's supper, they ought to carefully consider the privilege of the price paid to follow Jesus. Jesus Himself reminds His followers of how counting the cost and dying to oneself is at the heart of discipleship (see Matthew 10:39; 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:23-24; 17:33; John 12:21-25). 

Too often Christians complain about inconveniences. The self-indulgence of our Western world is at odds with the call of Christ to "die to oneself". I frequently find myself wrangling with my flesh. The principle of "self", namely "me-in-me", imposes itself on that impulse to follow my Lord. Self must die daily. There is an extravagance expressed in Mary of Bethany's love for her Lord that is absent in so much of Christian living.

Sadly, we never experience an extravagance of love for Jesus until we are willingly or actively giving of ourselves to others for His sake. Jesus Himself commented that what Mary did would find itself expressed in the sharing of the Gospel. The fact we find her lavishing of love on our Lord in the Gospel records confirms this point. So, in preparing for the Lord's supper, one ought to consider the privilege of the cost of following Jesus.

More next time....

What is Palm Sunday? Four Reasons Palm Sunday Is Significant

Matthew 21:1-3 "When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them,“Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

Introduction:

I can recall as a child receiving little "palm branches" to take home after a Palm Sunday celebration in church. This upcoming weekend will mark the celebration of "Palm Sunday" by Christians throughout the world. What is Palm Sunday? Why is this coming Sunday important? Please note the following points...

1. Preparation. Matthew 21:1-3

Jesus was preparing for what would be the week leading up to His crucifixion. In the cycle of Jewish fesitivals, Passover Week was getting underway. The day in which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a Donkey was the day the passover lambs were officially chosen by each Jewish family to begin preparation for what would be their slaughter by Thursday night of that week. 

This particular day was part of the original Passover liturgy instituted by Yahweh to the people through Moses in Exodus 12:3-6 - 

"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.5 Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight."

The lamb was raised for an entire year and named by the family. At the time of the lamb's "selection", it was deemed "ready" for the Passover. Jesus came as "the Lamb of God" - i.e as the "Choice Lamb". He was prepared from before the foundation of the world by the Father (John 1:29; Revelation 5:6). The Son came willingly of His own accord (see Hebrews 10:5-7). and is described in passages such as 1 Corinthians 5:7 as the lamb of God. So Palm Sunday focuses our attention upon preparation to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. 

2. Prophetic Fulfillment. Matthew 21:4-5

Matthew records that when Jesus efforts of riding into Jerusalem were not random. The Jews were looking for a Messiah that would fit their profile of a political conqueror to overthrow Rome. Much of the 1st century Jewish expectation of Messiah was colored by the Jewish revolts led by the Maccabean brothers against the Seleucid armies in 168-165 b.c. According to the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees and the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus, the Seleucids were led by a diabolical leader named Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus' schemes included trying to pervert Jewish worship. The Maccabean revolts not only withstood such attempts, but resulted in temporarily freeing Jerusalem from the tyranny of the Seleucids. Soon after this event, the Jews minted coins with Palm branches commemorating this event.

By Jesus' day, many Jews were hoping to have a Messianic figure that would once more do away with the iron grip of their captors (in this instance, the Romans).

Jesus did not come to overthrow Rome. Instead, the purpose for Jesus' riding into Jerusalem was to fulfill prophecy. Zechariah 9:9, composed by Divine inspiration some 520 years prior to this event, is quoted by Matthew in Matthew 21:4-5 - 

"This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 'Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

Everything that Jesus did was not random nor accidental - but intentional. Even the riding of a donkey was to remind the people that He was the rightful "King of the Jews". The ancient practice of coronation of Israel's kings included them riding on mules (compare 1 Kings 1:38). Jesus was yielding Himself to His Father's will as He made His way to Calvary. So Palm Sunday is important due to how it prepares the heart for Jesus and prophetic fulfillment.

3. Presentation. Matthew 21:6-9

Just as those lambs were formally prepared, they were also presented. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a Donkey, He was presenting Himself as Israel's King. Many people in that scene were asking questions regarding Jesus' identity. One of the aims of Jesus' actions was to send a message to the Jewish leadership and to the nation - "here is your King". According to passages like Isaiah 53, He would be not only be the Lamb of God, but also a rejected Savior. This idea once again reminds us that when Jesus had rode through on that first "Palm Sunday", He was fulfilling prophecy. The people who were crying "Hosanna" would within a week's time shout "crucify Him." So notice the three reasons we've covered thus far pertaining to Palm Sunday's importance: preparation, prophetic fulfillment and presentation of Jesus to His people. Now lets consider one last reason why Palm Sunday is important. 

4. Passion. Matthew 21:10-11

Matthew 21:10-11 records -

"When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Once Jesus had rode into Jerusalem, it was His way of officially concluding the public ministry phase of His first coming and entering into what many theologians call His "passion" (from a Latin root meaning "suffering"). Luke's version includes the following detail of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem following His triumphal entry in Luke 19:41-44  

"When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, andthey will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Jesus' weeping was due to His foresight into what would be the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Readers can consult historic works such as Flavius Josephus (a first century Jewish Historian), who records the horrendous details of that sequence of events that were fulfilled as Jesus had predicted. Jesus' emotional anguish over the people rejecting God's plans and purposes through Him would get deeper by the end of the week. The emotional anguish would turn into physical agony on the cross. The physical and emotional agony would compound to spiritual agony that He would endure in His humanity while at the same time experiencing the anguish of the pains of sinbearing as the Divine Son. As the God/man, Jesus would passionately face crucifixion.

Praise be to God! The true triumph of the pending "holy week" would not lie ultimately in His riding into Jersualem, but rather in His death on the the cross and triumphal resurrection three days later outside the Holy City!

Closing thoughts:

So in today's post we have looked at four reasons why Palm Sunday is significant:

1. Preparation for worshipping Jesus

2. Prophetic fulfillment

3. Presentation of the King 

4. Passion week leading to crucifixion and then resurrection.

P2 - How Jesus Christ Provides For Christians That Feel Spiritually Drained

Romans 15:5-6 "Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Introduction:

In our last post, we considered how Jesus Christ provides for the Christian whenever they feel spiritually drained. We introduced this subject by first identifying the typical spiritual ailments that afflict all Christians. In this post we aim to explore how Christ has specifically provided for any Christian that has experienced what it is like to be spiritually, physically and emotionally drained. 

1. Jesus' incarnation enabled Him to experience fatigue

Jesus did experience, as man, what is was like to get drained. In Luke 8:46 we read of the account where a woman with a severe hemorrhage sought Jesus for healing. She was crawling along the ground among the mob of people encircling Jesus. The woman desired to touch the hem of his robe. In Jewish culture it was common for the men to have tassels on their robes that symbolized the promises and commands of the Torah or God's law.  As soon as the woman did this, Luke 8:46 tells us: “power went out from him to heal the woman”. Jesus sensed this "draining".

To remind the reader briefly: Jesus of Nazareth ever remained God. Isaiah 40:28 asserts that God never grows tired nor weary. Jesus of Nazareth ever remained the Divine Person of the Son. With that said, the reader must remember that from the moment He entered into the virgin's womb, the Holy Spirit joined a truly human nature to the Son of God - resulting in union of two natures within the Person of the Son. Henceforth, the Son of God could experience reality as both God and man. He never grew tired in His deity and yet, He would experience the fatigue of human existence as a man. The Lord Jesus Christ knew what it felt to pour out Himself for the sake of others. 

2. Jesus became incarnate to model how getting alone with the heavenly Father will replenish the spiritual fuel-tank of the Christian

To cite one more example of Jesus' experience of being "drained", consider Mark 8:24. Mark 8:24 plainly states that Jesus was fast asleep in the bottom of a boat. The Son of God did experience fatigue as such experience touched His humanity.

Yet, we never once see Jesus get distressed, delay obedience nor get discouraged over fear that God may had somehow abandoned Him. As one writer has note:

"our Lord was often imposed upon by life, by people and by circumstance, yet, He never once was unsettled in His spirit."

Whenever Paul cites Jesus in Romans 15:3, He describes how Jesus "never pleased Himself". Jesus willing took whatever this world and humanity threw at Him. He put Himself last. Is it no wonder we find Jesus retreating in solitude to get recharged with the Father (see Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 6:12).  Such an example set before the Christian by the Lord Jesus portrays the path to replenishment - namely finding time alone with God.

Most certainly, other important disciplines are needful for replenishment, which the Apostle Paul lays out in Romans 15 (meditating on scripture, making time for God's people and majoring on the Holy Spirit's leadership). Yet, Jesus gives us the foundation for refueling the spiritual tank of the Christian-life - time alone with God. Why? All the other Christian disciplines are but means to this singular goal of knowing the Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Jesus became incarnate to provide the Christian what they need whenever they get drained 

The Apostle Peter's sermon on the life of Jesus in Acts 10 gives abundant testimony of all that Jesus did in the course of His earthly ministry in the Gospel accounts. Acts 10:38 records an excerpt from that address:

"You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."

Jesus went about "doing good". Jesus went about "healing all who were oppressed by the devil". Yet, in the midst of all the business of ministry and life, Jesus never lost His sense of the presence of the Father. Whenever a Christ-follower is able to walk-about with that supreme awareness of God's working in and through them, others will take notice. With the work of ministry and the involvement of one's soul in communion with God comes the draining of one's physical body. Jesus never let the work of God take priority over His time-alone with God. Jesus would get drained - but never empty.

By becoming truly man, the Son of God provided the resources every Christian can access in living daily for Him. The Apostle Peter describes the Christian's access to the benefits accrued by Christ in His incarnation as that of "partaking" or "participation" in the Divine nature (compare 2 Peter 1:3-4). Paul uses different terms to describe this availability every Christian has to get refueled in their spiritual walk by the vocabulary of "union with Christ" and "drinking in of the Spirit" (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

The Person of the Son will ever have residing in Himself the two natures of true deity and true humanity. The wonder of the Christian in union with Jesus is that all He is and all He did makes me a beneficiary of all I need to live out effectively for Him in this world. Quite literally, I'm living the Christian life as Christ, in-turn, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, lives out the life in me (see Galatians 2:20).

P1 - How Jesus Christ Provides For Christians That Feel Spiritually Drained

Romans 15:1-3 "Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. 2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

Introduction:

The Christian life is a call to die to self, put others ahead of ourselves and to fix our eyes on Jesus. Each of the aforementioned elements do not follow from the carnal drives that remain in the Christian. Christ-followers find propensities within themselves to put themselves ahead of others. One author has termed the "self-life" as the "me-in-me" life. The self-life is the number-one competitor to ongoing Christian growth. The goal of Christian-growth is to have "Him-in-me" characterizing Christian-living, rather than the all-to-often "me-in-me" mentality. Thankfully every Christian has access to Christ by the indwelling Person and work of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 3:16; 6:19-20; Galatians 2:20; 5:16; Ephesians 5:18).

What can lead to feeling spiritually emotionally or physically drained

If dealing with oneself is not enough, we find in the opening verses of Romans 15 certain spiritual maladies that affect all Christians. Seasons come into the Christian's walk that are characterized by "weaknesses" and "having no strength" (see Romans 15:1). Such spiritual-liabilities may arise not so much as a direct result of overt sin as through the process of emptying the spiritual gas-tank. Everyone experiences what it is like to get "drained". Following the point beyond what were terming "spiritually drained" is a matter of whether or not the Christian does something about it through the Divinely appointed means of grace through Christ.  

To illustrate, I can recall as a boy how my father would let me borrow the family car. He always told me to make sure that whenever I was done - to fill the tank. My father always ran the car above the three-quarter mark. But do you know, as a teenage boy, I would run that car until it got near to "E". More than one time I would hear him say: "E" means "empty", not "enough". I won't comment further on my driving habits today, however, I too often find myself treating my Christian life much like I did the family car. If I would follow the Heavenly Father by the example set by the Son and empowered by His Spirit on a consistent basis, though I may still experience "drainage", yet, the gas-gauge might be able to never read "E". Each occasion of life is an opportunity for me to either "trust in the Lord" rather than to "lean on my own understanding" (see Proverbs 3:5-6).  

1 Thessalonians 5:14 elaborates for us on the "spiritual maladies already mentioned in in Romans 15:1 -  

“We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Jude adds insight to the garden-variety ailments that afflict God's people, and what their fellow-believers need to do, in Jude 1:22 “....have mercy on some who are doubting.”

In the verses above I identify four maladies, the first resulting from interacting with the needs of others, whilst the remainder follow from the Christian either unintentionally or at times carelessly letting down their guard: drained --> discouraged, delayed obedience, distress.

How Christ is the resource for the Christian that feels drained 

Whenever the Apostle writes about the typical Christian experience, his inclusion of the Lord Jesus Christ is such a relief. Why? Christ came to partake of true humanity for three main reasons:

a). to atone for sin (Romans 5:6-8; 1 John 2:1-2).

b). to defeat Satan by becoming the New Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 John 3:8).

c).  to provide what was needed for His people to gain victory over the world, flesh and Devil in their humanity (Hebrews 2:14).

A quick study of Jesus' life reveals how he would get drained in the course of His everyday life. Spiritual, emotional and physical drainage is part-and-parcel of living in this world. Yet, unlike those of us who follow Him in faith, the Lord Jesus Christ never once lost awareness of who He was nor ever acted carelessly. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:13-14 that "whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst".

As we shall see, although Jesus did experience what it was liked to get drained, He never once had his spiritual gas tank read "E". That is, the Lord Jesus did get saddened but never discouraged (there is a difference, mind-you). He often faced opposition when doing the will of the Father but never delayed in obedience. His heart grew heavier with the pending approach of Calvary, yet, He never got distressed due to feeling like God was no longer in control. To describe Jesus' experience in another way: Jesus never let His well run dry. Three headings will guide us through considerations of how Jesus Christ, by His incarnation, provides everything the Christian needs to not go empty whenever they are feeling drained. To those headings we will look in the next post. 

More next time....