He went a little further and fell to the ground and started to pray, asking if it were possible that this moment for him might be averted. “Abba – LORD, everything is possible for You – please let this cup be taken from me – yet not what pleases me but what pleases You.” (Mark 14:35-36)
Is Jesus confirming his role and relationship with God?
“The most important of all the instructions is, ‘Hear O Israel – the LORD our God is our only Lord – and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’ – this is the most important instruction." (Mark 12:29-30)Jesus is not referring to himself here. He is referring to someone besides himself - and it must be someone because love is placed on a person, not an impersonal force or monolith. Jesus is thus teaching us to love someone - someone he knows and loves.
Let's use an example. Let's say that you are taking a walk in the park and you see a couple walking towards you. So you greet the woman and begin speaking to her while ignoring the man she is with. How will the man feel? He will feel offended that you are speaking with his girlfriend without even the courtesy of acknowledging his presence.
The woman will also feel offended. She will also feel offended that you are talking with her while ignoring the man she cares about.
This would be a natural reaction because it is recognized as common courtesy to respect and acknowledge a relationship when those in the relationship are present. So it would be expected that you would recognize both of them, even if you talked primarily to one of them. This might especially be the case for a woman who sees her man as her protector - protecting her from strangers who try to approach her.
This is comparable with respect to the relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being. Jesus sees the Supreme Being as his protector and his guardian. Jesus has a loving relationship with the Supreme Being. To ignore the Supreme Being while trying to engage with Jesus would thus be offensive to Jesus. But it would also be offensive to the Supreme Being as well.
Is Jesus demonstrating his relationship with God?
Let's understand this clearly. This indicates first that Jesus and the Supreme Being are two different individuals. They each have their own individual will. If there are two people and one of them wants to do what the other person wants, what will that person say? They will say something like, 'what do you want me to do?' They will request that they want to do what the other person wants.
That indicates that the person subjugates their will to the other person. They might have wanted to do one thing if the other person wasn't involved. But because they are with the other person, they want to do what the other person wants to do.
Such a scenario completely eliminates the other speculative doctrine that claims that God is a vague impersonal trinity described as "God the Father," "God the Son" and "God the Holy Spirit." Such a position removes the individuality and the potential for a relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being. This impersonal trinity eliminates what is being demonstrated here: That there are two individuals involved in a loving relationship.
Is Jesus God's representative?
“My food is to do what pleases Him who sent me and to complete His work." (John 4:34)Jesus also illustrated that it was the Supreme Being who arranged for Jesus to teach others.
"No one can follow me unless the Creator who sent me guides them, and I will raise them up at the end of their lifetime." (John 6:44)Jesus is stating that God must guide the person to Jesus in order for Jesus to have an impact upon his life. God is essentially arranging to have His representative influence someone. And that a person who this is arranged for must be ready to hear from God's representative.
Such an arrangement might be compared to an introduction. A person might go to a party and see lots of different people. But he will typically not come to know anyone unless he is specifically introduced to that person. In the same way, God's representative is introducing us to the Supreme Being. And in order to gain that introduction, we must be guided to that person by God in the form of the Holy Spirit.
What is the Trinity?
The real Trinity is a relationship between three parties. The three parties are:
- The Supreme Being
- Jesus, the Representative of God
- The Holy Spirit communicating directly with each of us
The real trinity denotes the relationship between the Supreme Being and God's beloved representative. It illustrates the intimate relationship between God and His loving servant who is sent to the physical world to introduce us to God.
The reality trinity is also about God's expansion, the Holy Spirit who connects with each of us personally. The direct outreach of the Supreme Being to each of us comes in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Supreme Being is able to connect with each of us from within our spiritual hearts through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit illustrates God's ability to expand His energies throughout the individuality present in the physical world, and connect and communicate with each of us. This is illustrated as Jesus stated:
This doesn't mean that His representative becomes Him, however. It is essential that His representative maintains their own individuality. This is because the role of His representative is not just to introduce us to God. But it is to demonstrate practically, how we can each reestablish our relationship with the Supreme Being.
God's representative shows us not only through their teachings but by their example. This is why we have been given a glimpse of the relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being through this prayer the night Jesus was arrested.
We can see through this prayer the commitment and the dedication Jesus has for God. That he was ready to subjugate his will to please the Supreme Being. He was willing to sacrifice his life in the service of God.
This doesn't mean that God wanted Jesus to be crucified. God did not. What God did was give everyone the freedom to love Him or not. He also gave everyone the freedom to condemn and even harm His representative. If God didn't give everyone this freedom, then love of God - which must come from freedom - wouldn't exist.
The Holy Spirit illustrates God's ability to expand His energies throughout the individuality present in the physical world, and connect and communicate with each of us. This is illustrated as Jesus stated:
"But they will capture you and arrest you. Don’t think about what you will say beforehand – nor should you plan: But whatever will be given to you at that time you will speak – because it is not you that speaks, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 13:11)The bottom line is that God can communicate with each of us through these two facilities - His representative and His Holy Spirit.
This doesn't mean that His representative becomes Him, however. It is essential that His representative maintains their own individuality. This is because the role of His representative is not just to introduce us to God. But it is to demonstrate practically, how we can each reestablish our relationship with the Supreme Being.
God's representative shows us not only through their teachings but by their example. This is why we have been given a glimpse of the relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being through this prayer the night Jesus was arrested.
We can see through this prayer the commitment and the dedication Jesus has for God. That he was ready to subjugate his will to please the Supreme Being. He was willing to sacrifice his life in the service of God.
This doesn't mean that God wanted Jesus to be crucified. God did not. What God did was give everyone the freedom to love Him or not. He also gave everyone the freedom to condemn and even harm His representative. If God didn't give everyone this freedom, then love of God - which must come from freedom - wouldn't exist.
But what is important is that Jesus was willing to do whatever it took in order to stand up for his teachings, which he did on behalf of the Supreme Being:
"Truly I say to you, he that hears my teachings and trusts in Him who sent me, has eternal life and will not be judged, but crosses over from death into life." (John 5:24)
