Gethsemane Prayer (5)

[Luke 22:39-46]

                When did Jesus pray in Gethsemane? (Time of prayer)  Jesus prayed in Gethsemane when He was distressed and deeply grieved, to the point of death (Mt. 26:37-38).  The disciples of Jesus should have prayed not to fall into the temptation when they were tempted.  Here, their temptation refers to all abandoning Jesus and running away, that is, scattering (vv. 31, 56).  Among them, Peter followed Jesus from a distance to the courtyard of the high priest's house and denied Jesus three times (v. 58).  On the third denial (v. 58), Peter cursed and swore, denying that he knew Jesus (Mk. 14: 71).

                Where did Jesus pray in Gethsemane? (Place of prayer)  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).  The place where the 8 disciples were sitting was their prayer place.  After that, Jesus took the other 3 disciples, Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee (v. 37), James and John (Mk. 14:33), and went into the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-37) and that was their place of prayer.  After that, Jesus went about a stone's throw away from the place of prayer where the 3 disciples stayed (Lk. 22:41) and prayed, and that was the place of prayer for Jesus.

                Why did Jesus pray with 8 and 3 disciples at a distance like this?  The reason is because Jesus wanted to show the Jerusalem temple system.  In the temple, there was the court of the Israelites, the court of the priests, and the holy of holies, which only the high priest could enter once a year.  Jesus put the 8 disciples at the entrance of the Garden of Gethsemane (the court of the Israelites), and the3 disciples, Peter, James, and John, entered the Garden of Gethsemane and put them there (the court of the priests), and from there Jesus went as far as a stone's throw (the holy of holies) and prayed to Heavenly Father alone.  Here, the holy of holies was the place where God dwell, and there were three things: (1) The ark [in which (a) the Ten Commandments written by God Himself on two stone tablets, (b) At the time of the Exodus, when the Israelites lived in the wilderness, there was a pot of manna containing manna sent down from heaven by God and (c) Aaron's rod that budded], (2) The mercy seat [two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide, covering the Ark of the Covenant made of pure gold (Exod. 25:17)], (3) Two cherubim [two cherubim were placed at the two ends of the mercy seat so that the wings of the cherubs covered the mercy seat (25:18-20; 37:6-9)].  Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest took the blood of the sacrifice and entered the holy of holies and sprinkled the blood on and in front of the mercy seat to atone for the sins of Israel (Lev. 16:14-19).  Look at Exodus 25:22 – “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.”  At the mercy seat (“There”) Jehovah God (“I”) met Aaron (“you”) the high priest.  In other words, the mercy seat symbolically means the place where God meets the Israelites (Exod. 30:6; Num. 7:89).  In other words, the place to meet God was above the mercy seat in the holy of holies.  The place where Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane, put Peter, James, and John, and was about to throw a stone there, was the holy of holies where God met.  Jesus entered the holy of holies and prayed before God.  We too must come close to God and pray.  Where is the mercy seat now?  God is everywhere.  Therefore, we must pray to God as our spirit goes out to God through the Holy Spirit.  Look at Ephesians 6:18 – “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”

                How did Jesus pray in Gethsemane? (Attitude of prayer)  Jesus knelt down and prayed with His face on the ground.  Look at Luke 22:41 – “And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray.”  Look at Mark 14:35 – “And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.”  Look at Matthew 26:39 – “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, ….”  This posture of prayer shows how terrifying it is to go out and pray when there is a holy God.  Even though Jesus was sinless and righteous, He took all our sins and went out before the glorious and holy God.  So, He knelt down and prayed with His face to the ground.  We must ponder deeply the attitude of Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane.  What is our attitude of prayer?  Are we really in the attitude of praying while going out in front of the glorious and holy God?  Since Jesus also knelt down on His knees and, with His face to the ground, prayed to God, how much more should we not imitate Jesus’ attitude of prayer?  Our souls must bow down to the bottom and humbly pray to God.  We must pray with an attitude of reverence for God while feeling pain and sorrow for our sins.