The One Whom God Hears

Today at church, the sermon and the Bible study corresponded in a way that I found interesting. As we continued in Luke, we read Luke 7:1-10 about the centurion who requested Jesus come heal his servant. One of the points was 'What kind of people find the Savior?' and the answer was one who shows humility, submission, and trust. In fact, the passage notes that Jesus "was amazed" at the centurion's faith, which I think is interesting. How much faith does it take to amaze Jesus? He said that as much faith as a mustard seed could move mountains, and apparently the centurion had enough faith to save his servant.

In the Bible study, in which we study the questions that Jesus asked, we focused on the time in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed and the disciples slept (Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22). I always find stories of Jesus praying fascinating because it seems to blur the line between his humanity and his divinity. I'm not breaking any news when I say the God-Man aspect of Jesus is hard to get my head around. We believe that he is completely God and completely man ("God in the bod" as Dawson McAllister used to say), but was there a place where one ended and the other began? Also, how does Jesus experiences really relate to me? I mean, he was God so did he struggle as I do- to pray or live a godly life? Hebrews says that he was tempted as any person is and yet was without sin. So, if nothing else, Jesus can play a huge role as a model for us. In these passages, Jesus is the perfect illustration for prayer and an extension what we can learn from the centurion. He showed humility in that he fell on his face before the Father. He showed submission in his statement that he would follow his Father's will. He showed trust in the Father by acknowledging that all things were possible with him.

The main difference between the experiences of the two men (the centurion and Jesus) is that one received the answer he hoped for while the other seemingly did not. However, look at Jesus once he gets up from that prayer. The seeming conflict that he experiences in the garden is suddenly gone. He doesn't back down and is the picture of grace and power, guarding his disciples and never flinching in the face of demonic attach. Is is too crazy to say that Jesus was strengthened and empowered by the time in prayer he had in the Garden? As is always said when discussing Jesus' experiences in prayer, if he needed his time with with Father to approach the cross, how much more do we need to seek his face in our time of need.