Matthew 26:30 / Mark 14:26 / Luke 22:39 / John 18:1…
They had eaten the Passover. Jesus had finished His priestly prayer to the Father. They sang a song. Now it was time to go to the place of betrayal, and abandonment. This was the next necessary step on the way of destiny set for Jesus by the Father. It was not to be avoided, but to be embraced, even though it was the most difficult step Jesus had yet taken in His earthly life.
There is a certain pressure that will come upon a person as they begin to draw closer to Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul was speaking of in his yearning for an increasingly intimate, experiential knowledge of Christ (Philippians 3:10). To enter into resurrection power means walking into the fellowship of His sufferings. The life that Jesus wants for us is on the other side of our most difficult steps (1 Peter 4:13-14). This is the path we must pursue if we are to know His passion in our personal experience.
Walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17, 25) means that we will be led to places of pain that prove the overcoming power of the Spirit within us (Romans 8:14-17). We are tempted to step back, as we discover that we are going to the garden, where we will be left alone, to face trials to suffer and temptations to struggle. Yet we must go to the garden, in order to get to the cross, if we are ever going to practically live in resurrection power (1 Peter 4:1-2).
To walk away is to turn back from our destiny.
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