The Prayer in Gethsemane (3)

[Luke 22:39–46]

As we reflect on what happened before and after Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, I pray that we would recognize and be assured that Jesus loved His own to the very end. John 13:1 says:
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
This verse tells us that Jesus, knowing the time had come for Him to return to heaven from where He came, loved His own in this world to the very end.

Events That Took Place Before Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane

(These events occurred during the Last Supper, before the Passover):

1) Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.
John 13:8 says:
“Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’”
Jesus washed the disciples’ dirty feet in order to form and maintain a relationship with them (“If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me”).
Because Jesus is holy, a relationship could not exist if uncleanness remained (even an established relationship could be broken).
Since sin is the most defiling thing and only Jesus can cleanse it, He demonstrated His love for the disciples by washing their dirty feet.

2) Jesus instituted and administered the Lord’s Supper.
Luke 22:19–20 says:
“And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.’”
Here, the bread symbolizes the body of Jesus, and the cup, His blood.
Matthew 26:28 says this about Jesus’ blood:
“For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus loved His disciples to the end, even to the point of giving His body, blood, and life for them.

3) Jesus gave several important teachings:

• (a) Teaching on loving one another
  John 13:34 says:
  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

• (b) Teaching that Jesus is the only way to the Father
  John 14:6 says:
  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

• (c) Teaching through the vine and branches metaphor
  John 15:1, 5 says:
  “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser… I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

• (d) Teaching about the presence and work of the Holy Spirit
  John 16:7–8, 13–14 says:
  “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment… When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.”

• (e) Jesus interceded in prayer for His own
  Jesus prayed for individuals.
  Luke 22:31–32 says:
  “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
  Jesus prayed that Simon Peter’s faith would not fail.
  Jesus also interceded for all the elect.
  He began His prayer with:
  “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You” (John 17:1),
  and ended with:
  “I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).

What Happened on the Way to the Garden of Gethsemane

(This is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

On the way to pray in Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples (excluding Judas Iscariot):
“You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”
This was a quote from the prophet Zechariah (who lived about 500 years before Jesus), specifically Zechariah 13:7.

Jesus’ prophecy can be summed up this way:
God the Father (“I”) would strike the Shepherd (Jesus, His own Son) for the sake of all people, and the sheep (the disciples) would be scattered. (Romans 8:32 and Zechariah 13:7)

After saying this, Jesus also told His disciples that after He had died on the cross, He would rise again on the third day and go ahead of them to Galilee (Mark 14:28).

At that, Peter declared:
“Even though they all fall away, I will not” (v.29).
Jesus replied:
“Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times” (v.30).
Peter then insisted emphatically:
“Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You.”
And all the disciples said the same (v.31).

Scripture says that when God strikes the Shepherd (Jesus), the sheep will scatter.
Yet the disciples declared that they would never deny (or abandon) Jesus—even if it meant dying with Him.

What Happened After Jesus Was Arrested Following His Prayer in Gethsemane

This is what happened when Jesus was arrested after His prayer in Gethsemane.
John 18:8–9 says:
“Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.’ This was to fulfill the word he had spoken: ‘Of those you gave me I have not lost one.’”
Even as He was being arrested, Jesus said to those arresting Him, “Let these men go,” because He did not want to lose any of the people whom God the Father had given to Him.
Jesus made it so that all His disciples could escape.

Peter, after fleeing, returned and followed Jesus at a distance as He was taken into the house of the high priest Caiaphas (Luke 22:54; John 18:13).
While Jesus was being interrogated before the court of the high priest Caiaphas, Peter denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of Caiaphas’s house (John 18:15).
At the very moment Peter was uttering his third denial, the rooster crowed (Luke 22:55–60).
Even though Jesus was being questioned, He turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord’s word—“Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” He went outside and wept bitterly (in repentance) (Luke 22:61–62).

What Happened While Jesus Was Carrying the Cross to Golgotha

Luke 23:27–28 says:
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.’”
Jesus told the large crowd of weeping women, “Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”
Why? Because days of great tribulation were coming.

What Happened While Jesus Was on the Cross

Luke 23:34 says:
“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’...”
From the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them.”

Luke 23:42–43 says:
“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”
One of the criminals who was crucified alongside Jesus said,
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In this way, Jesus loved His own to the very end, even as He suffered on the cross.

Our Lord loves us to the very end.
Our Lord loves us eternally.
Let us all have full confidence in the love of the Lord, who loves us both to the end and forever.