Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this Friday,
Of course, one week from today is “Good Friday”, the day this year we honor the Friday of that Passover/Easter weekend on which Jesus was crucified. For the past few weeks, we’ve been carefully looking at the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ journey to that cross and recently we’ve been in the upper room with Jesus and His disciples as recorded by John the disciple. (John 13-16) Today, let’s focus on Jesus’ prayers that Thursday night, as recorded in both John 17 and Matthew 26.
As you read through John 17, you’ll see Jesus was praying for His disciples and others who had believed in Jesus and His message, and also those of us who would believe in Jesus through their message. (John 17:20,21) That of course, includes you and me and hundreds of millions of people who have believed the Gospel of Jesus, even though we’ve never seen Jesus. I see three important things Jesus prayed for us…
* First, that we would all be convinced that Jesus, God the Son, was SENT here to earth by God the Father and that Jesus fully accomplished the Gospel mission for which God sent Jesus here. (John 17:8, 9, 18, 21, 23, 25)
* Second, that God the Father would protect the followers of Jesus by His great power. (John 17:11, 12, 15)
* Third, that we would understand Jesus’ message; the relationship between Jesus and God the Father; and that we would be drawn into that relationship with God. (John 17:6-8, 10, 14, 17, 21-23, 26)
All four Gospel writers tell us Jesus then led His disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane for a more intense time of prayer. (Matt. 26:36) Jesus invited Peter, James and John to join Him further into the garden and there He admitted to them that “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” (Matt. 26:37,38) Pause. We cannot overestimate the gut-wrenching emotions and deep soul anguish Jesus was experiencing. He fully understood all that was about to happen; and the global, eternal, spiritual implications for every human being. But the disciples were oblivious. Why?
Several times already Jesus had told them He would be tortured and killed, (Matt. 16:21; Luke 18:31-34) but they refused to believe it. In the upper room teaching and His prayer Jesus had made it very clear HE would be leaving them, (John 16:28; 17:13,24) but they refused to believe it. How much of Jesus’ agony was because His closest friends refused to grasp what He was telling them? We need to pay close attention to that, my friends. Do we cause Jesus great pain, even today, when we refuse to discern and grasp what God is telling us?
Jesus left those three disciples, went He further into the garden and falling on his face Jesus prayed in great agony: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matt. 26:39) In this moment of agony, Jesus, God the Son, alone in the garden, reached the most critical juncture of His time on earth.
God’s entire Redemption plan for the human race was dependent upon Jesus, God the Son, going all the way through the suffering and death experience in order for the full sin debt payment for the world to be accomplished. No other person could pay that sin debt price, since no other person is either sinless or divine. The humanity and divinity of Jesus battled with each other.
The dark kingdom, we must presume, was powerfully present in that garden working hard to convince Jesus that the human race is NOT worth His atonement death sacrifice. Put yourself there with Jesus, my friends. What do you understand was happening in His soul… His mind, heart and will? Our salvation and our eternal destiny hung in the balance.
The Gospel writers tell us Jesus returned to the three disciples He had asked to watch and pray, and Jesus found them sleeping! (Matt. 26:40) Jesus awakened them and said: “Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt. 26:40,41)
These three men were seasoned fishermen who did much of their fishing at night, yet here, in this quiet garden, when asked by Jesus to stay awake, alert and pray for Him, they fell asleep. Oh, my friends, it’s a sad picture that convicts me, what about you? How often do we miss the significance of what is happening around us? How often are we distracted or even asleep when we could be fully engaged with Jesus in something significant He is inviting us to experience with Him?
Matthew tells us twice more Jesus went further into the garden alone to continue His agonizing prayer with His Father regarding the price He was about to pay for the rescue of our human race! (Matt. 26:42-44) Finally, Jesus came back to His disciples and awakened them with this shocking news: “Are you still sleeping…Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes My betrayer.” (Matt. 26:45,46) Very likely we’ve all had the experience of being roused out of a deep sleep, so we can imagine how the disciples were shaken to wide awake with those words from Jesus! What had they missed? What was Jesus warning them was about to happen? What should they do to prepare themselves?
The record next says: “While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs…” (Matt. 26:47) The stillness and darkness of the garden of Gethsemane was shattered, suddenly turning into a torch lit battleground of betrayal, fear, confusion and confrontation. Pause. What do you understand and see in your mind’s eye, was happening here in this garden, in these first hours of this early Friday morning?
We cannot overestimate the significance of what we’ve looked at today, so we must pause for deeper reflection. I urge you to re-read John 17 and this garden scene in Matthew 26:36-47, asking the Holy Spirit to help you fully grasp all God wants you to see here. The “Lessons Learned” notes just below will help you, and the worship song will engage your heart in worship, and of course we’ll meet right here tomorrow in this same garden.
Today’s Scripture: John 17; Matt. 26:36-47.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Matt. 26:36-47
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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