Gethsemane Prayer (2)
[Luke 22:39-46]
Matthew 26:36-38 says, “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.’” Here, the conjunction “Then” (v. 36) is a link that connects with the preceding word, and Jesus went out (Lk.22:39) after praying to God as the high priest (Jn. 17). The conjunction “Then” (Mt.26:36) is a link that connects the preceding words, Matthew 26:31-35, with the words that follow. Jesus said, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’” (v. 31). Here, the words “it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’” is Jesus quoting the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7 – “’Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,’ Declares the LORD of hosts ‘Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.’” Here, the meaning of what Jesus said, “it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered” (Mt. 26:31) means that Jesus prophesized that God the Father (“I”) will strike the good “shepherd” Jesus, the Son of God (Jn. 10:11, 14) so that Jesus’ disciples (11 disciples excluding Judas Iscariot), the sheep of the flock, would be scattered. Hearing this word of Jesus' prophecy, Peter said, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (Mt.26:33). Jesus said to Peter, ‘I tell you the truth, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times” (v. 34). At that time, Peter assured, ‘Even if I die with you, I will not deny you’ (v. 35). And all the other disciples said the same (v. 35).
After this, Jesus followed his custom and went to the Garden of Gethsemane in the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39) with his 11 disciples, excluding Judas Iscariot, who had gone out to sell him [(Mt. 26:36) “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane …”]. And Jesus placed 8 disciples at the entrance of the Garden of Gethsemane and said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray” (Mt. 26:36). And He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons (v. 37), James and John (Mk. 14:33), and went into the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-37). Jesus, who was about to leave, was troubled and grieved (v. 37), and said to Peter, James, and John, “My heart is deeply grieved, to the point of death. Stay here and stay awake with me” (v. 38). And Jesus left the 3 disciples and went as far as a stone's throw (about 10 meters), got down on His knees, and prayed (Lk. 22:41). Here, Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, “Watch with me” (v. 38), which meant that Jesus said that the 3 disciples, together with Jesus, watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation (v. 41). Here, Jesus did not tell the 3 disciples to watch and pray for Himself, who was troubled and grieved (v. 37) and was deeply troubled in heart (v. 38) [because Jesus did not come into this world to be served and to be helped, but rather to serve and help others (20:28)]]. Just as Jesus quoted the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah and said, “It is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the flock will be scattered” (v. 31), when Heavenly Father strikes Jesus, the shepherd, all of Jesus' disciples will abandon Him and scatter (v. 31). Also, in the case of Peter, he would deny Jesus as Jesus said, “Before the rooster crows tonight, you will deny me three times” (v. 34), Jesus told the disciples to ‘watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation’ with Jesus for their own sake (v. 41). However, Jesus' disciples were willing in spirit, but their bodies were weak (v. 41), so they could not stay awake and pray with Jesus and fell asleep due to sorrow (Lk. 22:45; Mk. 14:40).
Jesus, with the death on the cross the next day in front of Him, prayed fervently (Lk. 22:44) in Gethsemane, so that He could drink the cup of suffering (v. 42) according to the will of Heavenly Father (v.42) for us and won. However, Jesus' disciples listened to Jesus' words, “remain here and keep watch with Me” (Mt. 26:38), that is, “Keep watching and praying” (v. 41) together with Jesus so that they would not fall into temptation. But because of this weakness (v. 41), they fell asleep without being able to stay awake and pray with Jesus (Lk. 22:45; Mk. 14:40), and eventually fell into temptation and committed a sin. We are no different from the disciples of Jesus. We, too, are sinning against God because we do not watch and pray with Jesus so that we do not fall into temptation. Our hearts want not to commit sins by watching and praying with Jesus, but our flesh is weak and we are committing unwanted sins against God because we do not watch and pray with Jesus. What should we do?
First, we must hold on to Romans 8:26-27 and 34 by faith: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. … who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
Second, the Holy Spirit helps our weakness (Rom. 8:2) and strengthening us (Cf.: Lk. 22:43) so that we do not fall into temptation (Mt. 26:41). According to God's guidance, we must watch and pray (Mt. 26:41) together with Jesus, the Son of God (Mt. 26:38; Rom. 8:34).
Third, we must continue to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the seed of God (1 Jn. 3:9) that dwells within us, that is, the incorruptible seed and the gospel of God, which is the eternally living word of God (1 Pet 1:23-25), and the power of God that gives salvation to those who believe (Rom. 1:16) and overcome by faith in Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 5:4-5).
We must overcome the temptation of wanting to forsake the Lord, the temptation of wanting to deny the Lord, or the temptation of wanting to leave the Lord by faith. Even if we are in tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword (death), in all these things we are more than conquerors because of Him who loves us (Rom. 8:35, 37). I hope and pray that all of us can overcome the temptation by imitating Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.