Hosanna Restoration Church

Was part of the anguish that Jesus experienced in the garden do to His concern over whether or not the disciples were ready to take over the ministry that He had begun? We will never know for sure in this life, but I am inclined to think that it was part of the discussion with His Father. If that is the case, then it may well be that the very words that Jesus encouraged His disciples with are the ones that God encouraged Jesus with. Can’t you hear His Father saying, “Now Son, don’t worry about them, they will come around, and these signs will follow them. Besides that Son, you will still be working with them. Remember, I am raising you up on the third day. This will be a great confidence builder for them. And remember, we are sending the Holy Spirit too, so you don’t need to worry.”

No matter what God told Jesus when He went to pray, we do know that He came out of that prayer time ready to face anyone and anything. He took confidence in what His Father told Him and never looked back. We know the rest of the story. We know how they crucified Him, just like He said they would do. We know that God raised Him up by the power of the Holy Spirit, just like He said He would do. We know that in between His death and resurrection Jesus went and served satan notice that his power was no longer effective against the Name of Jesus. We know that the power of God was such that when Jesus did rise there were a number of others that came out of the grave in the wave of His presence. We also know that after several days of encouraging His followers, Jesus rose up into heaven before their very eyes and that He will come back the same way.

How do we know all these things? We know these things are true by faith in the Word of God. We know that God always does what He says, and that He has proven Himself over and over. Since we know all of this, then we should live like we know it. We can walk with the same confidence that Jesus did. We can expect Him to work with us just as He worked with the first disciples. We do not need to be swayed or distracted by what we see or hear that makes it appear as though God has missed something.

Even when Peter denied Jesus, and all the disciples fled, Jesus had the assurance from His Father that they would come back and do might works and lead many people into the kingdom of God. Before He went up into the air, he told them all to go and wait until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. God told Him that He would send the Holy Spirit and so Jesus told them to wait. Do we have the confidence to wait on what God says He is going to do? Do we have the faith to encourage others to wait? None of us are very good at waiting, but if we wait in faith, then we wait as though we already have what we are waiting for. It has been ordered and shipped, and now we are waiting for delivery. Therefore, we can take comfort from the fact that God has never failed, and He never will. Jesus is working with you. Rejoice!!