Going a little farther

In the Gospel of Mark we find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and Mark writes, Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him (Mark 14:35).

Jesus knew what was ahead when prayed in the Garden. He had always known, but now the hour had come. He went a little farther because of His love and adoration for His Father.

Two years before His crucifixion, the apostle John tells us in the fourth chapter that Jesus had to go through Samaria; but He really didn’t have to go through Samaria. He could have, as His disciples would have preferred, taken the longer route and gone around Samaria like all good and godly Jews did in that day. But Jesus wasn’t like the other Jews of His day. He wanted to lead His disciples a little farther out of their comfort zone. So, Jesus came into Samaria and then sent His disciples into the nearest village to buy some food. When they returned they found their Master sitting by a well talking to a woman. For a Jewish rabbi to talk to a woman was nearly unheard of, but even more astonishing to the disciples was the fact that Jesus would soil Himself by to talking to a Samaritan woman about Himself as the Messiah. Jesus was teaching His disciples something very important. He was showing them what it means to go a little farther in their understanding of who God is and what He is like.

Several months before His crucifixion, Luke tells us this, Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). The crowds had grown huge by this time in Jesus’ ministry and the religious leaders were making plans to kill Jesus and He knew it. He knew what was coming in Jerusalem, but He determined to go a little farther. He knew the sacrifice He was going to make for all humanity. He was aware of the scourging that He would endure. He knew the horror of the Cross. Yet, He was determined to always go a little farther.

You and I, who have come to Jesus, don’t always know the sacrifice ahead of us, but when we determine to go a little farther with Him there may be sacrifices that we will have to make. There are some people who might be inclined to be dogmatic about it or even legalistic, saying that we must go a little farther. But Jesus never told us we had to.

I have learned over the years that when I know that Jesus is inviting me to go a little farther with Him the most important thing for me to do is to pray for the desire to go with Him. Without that desire I can wind up just going through the motions thinking that I must do it. But Jesus simply invites me to go with Him. He never forces me nor tells me I must.

Our love for Christ, coupled with the grace of God, are what leads us to desire Him more and more. And when we desire Him and the affection He has for us, we naturally want to go a little farther with Him. Will I encounter difficulties? Probably. Because going a little farther with Jesus means leaving something behind that I have been holding on to. But letting it go only brings freedom I had never known before.

We can stay right where we are in our walk with Jesus and He will continue to love us. That’s just His nature. However, His greatest desire is for us to experience the absolute joy of growing closer and closer to Him. And the only way to do that is to go a little farther with Him.

Greg Barnes is associate pastor at New Song Bible Church.