TEXT: Luke 22:39-44

SUBJECT: Surrender

The Lord’s Supper recalls the death of Christ. Its two elements stand for His "Body which is broken" and for "the blood of the New Covenant shed". We’re to partake of it—Christ said—"in remembrance of Me".

What was His death? It depends on whom you ask. To the Roman soldier it was a routine execution. To the Jewish rulers, it was a necessary evil. To the thief, it was a miscarriage of justice. To His people, it was an atonement.

But what was it to our Lord Himself? It was a surrender of His will to the will of His Father. Did our Lord know what the cross was? And what shame and agony it entailed? He did. Was he eager to go to the cross? He wasn’t. In the Garden He recoiled from its horror, and prayed to escape it—if escape was consistent with God’s will.

He prayed three hours that night, apparently saying the same thing over and over again,

The prayer was so earnest and the fear so ravaging that He sweated great drops of blood. So dire was His condition that night that God had to step in to save His life.

But as the prayer went on, it became clear to Him that it was not possible that the cup should pass from Him. His Father was giving Him the cup of suffering and telling Him, "Drink it all, Son".

When He was sure of God’s will, the Lord submitted to it without argument, without hesitation, and without regret,

In taking the Lord’s Supper, we’re reminded of His perfect submission to the will of Heaven. Some time before, He said,

It was no idle boast. In the shadow of the cross, Jesus Christ gave up His own wishes in favor of His Father’s will.

We ought to greatly admire Him for that. And not only admire Him, but imitate Him.

The example of our Lord urges us to lay aside our own desires to do God’s will. When we think of surrendering our wills to His, we have to be careful in our thinking. Two separate surrenders are necessary:

1. There is the surrender of our sinful wills. We call it repentance. This is hard.
3. But there’s something even harder--the surrender of our innocent wills. We all have plans, hopes, dreams. We have them for ourselves; we have them for our children. The plans may be good, the dreams holy, the hopes innocent. But they don’t always square with God’s will. He may have something else for us—something hard, painful or embarrassing.

Are you willing to accept God’s will for your life? Even when it runs counter to your own will? It won’t be easy. It’s something like bearing a cross—our Lord said. It demands self-denial; it orders us give up personal liberties for the sake of other people. It’s nothing less than a living sacrifice.

But beyond the pain of self-surrender, there is joy. The self-willed man is the unhappiest of men. Why? Because his will is always stymied. And, even when he gets his way, it proves disappointing. The man who surrenders His will to God, however, finds true and lasting happiness. For God’s will is never foiled. And, in the end, it’s sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

In taking the Lord’s Supper, then, let us remember Christ’s self-surrender. And do the same ourselves.