DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- TROUBLED IN SPIRIT

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – TROUBLED IN SPIRIT

"When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.' " (John 13:21)

In this short verse, we get a glimpse into the humanity of Jesus. He was troubled in His spirit. To be troubled is to be agitated, to have inward unrest, to be stirred up, like boiling water. We all know what it feels like to be troubled.

This feeling of being troubled in his spirit was not a new experience for Jesus. Just a short time earlier, Jesus had visited the tomb of his dear departed friend, Lazarus. He saw the grieving of the remaining loved ones. "Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled" (John 10:33).

Just knowing that the cross was the Father's plan for our salvation, nor the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 13:2), did not mitigate His abhorrence of the physical and emotional pain He would suffer. He did not want to go through that suffering and He had previously told His disciples, " 'Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour' " (John 12:27).

Now, in the upper room, He had just told His disciples "He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me" (vs. 18). Now He tells them plainly, " 'One of you will betray me.' " How difficult that must have been for the Master, who had poured His life into his disciples whom He loved – that one of His close associates would betray Him to death. If you have ever been betrayed by a close friend, then you might understand some of the turmoil Jesus was feeling.

Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He was arrested, He was struggling with this, when He said to His disciples, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death," and prayed, "Father, let this cup pass from Me" (Matthew 26:38-39). It was bad enough that He knew that He was going to be beaten, humiliated, and crucified, and on top of that to bear the sins of the world. Add to this the knowledge that He was about to be betrayed by one of His disciples. That is heaping pain upon pain.

Scripture says that the Lord Jesus was tested in all points just as we are. He knows what it means to have agony of spirit. When we are troubled in our spirits, we can go to Him. He is there and we can commit it to Him.

Love, Dad