“And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,”
Luke 22:41
WHO KNOWS WHAT JESUS IS THINKING as he entered the Garden? His disciples followed Jesus but scripture states that he proceeded ahead of them. He knew He must find some much-needed strength through prayer— this verse tells us he went “a stone’s throw.”
Often we share in the sorrows of the people closest to us, and Jesus wants His disciples to follow him. And they do, but not all the way. They came very close but didn’t really understand the full nature of the pain that was beginning for Jesus. They slept while he agonized. He was for the first time perhaps, needing someone close.
Some who are reading this will make the same trip to the garden.
Perhaps every believer makes the trip to ‘Gethsemane,’ but not as mere observer or tourist. The garden is a distinct place of testing and of sorrow. And each disciple will experience it for themselves. “The servant is not above his master.” We must follow the Lord Jesus, and it’s not going to be easy.
I’ve gone to the Garden myself, sitting in the dark, waiting for Him to come. And He does. And He is my light.
Jesus is very close. He stands by us. He listens and watches.
He completely understands what it means to be alone with sorrow. The believer can lean on Jesus as the pain continues. He sends his “Comforter” to each, as He personally escorts us through this time in the “garden.” He comes in grace and is completely kind. He truly is just a stone’s throw away.
“God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.”
Psalm 46:1
“No physician ever weighed out medicine to his patients with half so much care and exactness as God weighs out to us every trial. Not one grain too much does He ever permit to be put in the scale.”
Alaska Bible Teacher 