Taking Risks

We often think of Jesus as entirely self-sufficient, not needing human support. Nothing could be further from the truth. He was in utero for nine months, after all! And as he grew, he relied on his friends for their emotional, social, and financial support. (For example, the beginning of Luke 8 talks about his women friends who paid for him to do ministry.)

So when we get to the end of his life, there’s this heart-breaking moment when Jesus reaches out to his friends to keep an eye on him as he’s on the brink of the biggest moment of his life. He just wanted them to show up and be there for him. It’s the last night of his life, and he needs his friends:

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour?” - Mark 14:37

Instead of playing the guilt card with this passage and having us all think about the ways we’ve failed Jesus (those of us with religious backgrounds know what I’m talking about), what if we just took this little verse at face value. Jesus wanted his friends. He needed them. He longed for someone to simply be present to him, not saying anything or doing anything - just being there.

Isn’t that a lot like you?

As we enter into this week of devotionals thinking about taking risks to build community, perhaps the best starting point is to connect with Jesus around our own need for friends. Take some time and talk with Jesus about that - he understands.