Thoughts on Anxiety
“And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” (Mark 14:32-34).
“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).
What appears to be some of the most descriptive words regarding anxiety are in reference to the hours preceding Jesus’ arrest, trial, and ultimately his crucifixion. Words like distress, trouble, and sorrow describe his mental state. That mental state created a physiological response in that he began to sweat profusely, possibly even having a medical event known as hematohidrosis. According to the National Library of Medicine it can occur when an individual is experiencing extremely levels of stress (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Knowing what Jesus knew about his upcoming torture it is completely understandable that would be his response.
The action of sweating blood is, therefore, a “fight or flight” response. That response comes from a place in the brain called the amygdala. It is the seat of your fears and triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response when you face a threat. The amygdala remembers things that are threats and responds to those things or similar things when faced with them. How many times did Jesus walk by a crucifixion in his lifetime and see the pain? How many times in the history of the world had the God-man seen people in the last moments of life struggling for their last breath.
Jesus may have been fully God, but he was experiencing life on this earth as fully man. He could experience the stinging of the thorns on his forehead, the piercing pain in his hands and feet with each nail, and the tearing of his back with each landing of the whip. So, the thoughts of those things were enough to create anxiety in his soul. It was not sinful. It was humanity. Jesus felt what millions of people every year experience.
He knows and He understands. Jesus has experienced the struggles you experience. He has worried about what the next few hours or days may hold. He has been concerned about how He might get through the difficult times that life would throw at Him. We have all been there but how comforting is it to know that He knows how we feel? When you understand what he felt you may come to the realization that Matthew 6:25 is more about comforting those who worry instead of condemning them. The point of that part of the Sermon on the Mount was assurance that He would care for them in those moments.
It shares the same concept that Peter stated as the secret to Jesus enduring the anxious moments before and during the time on Golgotha: “When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). How did Jesus endure the threats he faced (whether in the moment or in his mind as he contemplated them)? He trusted God. “Your will be done” (Luke 22:42). How do we face them? Trust God. He feeds the birds. He clothes the lilies. Seek God and His righteousness and He will take care of you. So try to live in the moment when your mind attempts to wander to the future or the past. Jesus said it best: “Today has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
Ben