“The best of intentions”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, September 1, 2023

Mark 14:27-42 (Forward, p. 34) CEV p. 1048

There is a famous old saying, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ and certainly that is quite true when it comes to us humans. We can, in all sincerity, promise something or intend to do something, but then, when the time comes, it doesn’t happen. The reasons for this are legion: we may forget, we may be overly busy with other things, or we may, as in today’s case with Peter, be either overcome with fear or drowsiness.

Poor Peter is so much like most of us. At the one point, he is so full of courage and bravado, promising that he’d always stand by Jesus, even to the point of dying with Him. But, only a short time, after he has seen Jesus arrested, and gets accused of being with Him, he wavers and wilts like a less than hardy flower in the hot sun and denies even knowing Jesus. He is, quite obviously, afraid for ‘his own skin.’

And then, in the Garden, he, plus the other two, wilt yet again, this time when they are supposed to be keeping awake and watching with Jesus. They are ‘supposed’ to be there to keep company with Jesus in His terrible ordeal, but once again, they fail. They are overcome with drowsiness and simply can’t keep awake. I wonder, was it just the late hour that accounts for this, or was it all the hectic and traumatic events of that day? We simply don’t know, but like us all, the previous ‘good intentions’ just don’t ‘cut it.’

However, by way of contrast, we do have some good intentions that did come to pass, namely, the good intentions of Jesus. He promises, even to His great sorrow and pain, to do exactly what His Father desired, and, as we will later see, He follows through with that—even when it was more than ‘inconvenient.’

So, maybe, we can take two lessons from today’s account. First of all, we can learn from Peter, who failed miserably in his ‘good intentions’ but was still welcomed back, restored and forgiven. In like manner, we can know that God will do the same for us—which is so desperately needed as we all flub it so frequently. And secondly, we can learn from Jesus. Human as we are, He faced His trials armed with the very same resources as we have, and yet He stood steadfast in spite of the circumstances. He lived up

to His ‘good intentions’ when all else would have impelled Him to do otherwise. And, if He could do it, so can each of us. Thanks be to God.

Forward notes: “[Jesus] said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me, yet, not what I want but what you want’” (verse 36).

“Night has fallen. Jesus and his disciples are not asleep indoors but on the move. When they reach Gethsemane, Jesus appears shaken to the core. His feet shuffle away from his companions until his knees finally buckle. From his mouth come raw, aching pleas to God as he clings to the ground.

“I have heard many sermons that lift up Jesus’s Gethsemane prayer as a model for obedient submission to God. But when I take in this story in Mark 14:27-42, I hear Jesus praying in a difficult situation, and I read in his words support for the times I have prayed during struggles in my own life.

“I think Jesus opens space in Gethsemane for prayers of falling apart. Turmoil, confusion, and desperation have a chance to cry out to God here. Protest can plead here. Bodies can crumble or scuffle with God, Jacob-style (Genesis 32:24-32), here. And there’s space for you and me to fall apart in prayer here too.”

Moving Forward: “If life feels overwhelming, take comfort and turn to God, even with prayers of falling apart.”