Thursday, March 29, 2012
Luke records Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane this way:
Here is what we can learn from Jesus in the Garden. I need a place of prayer. A place to unplug and plug into the source of real power - God. I need to take some people with me. Sleepy Christian friends are better than no friends at all. Do you have some people who will go to the Garden with you? I need the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain me. It's through sustaining prayer that our will is submitted to the will of God and His power strengthens me for the task. A few days ago, I was at the Garden of Gethsemane.We sang that wonderful hymn, I surrender all. What a blessed time! The olive tree you see is one of the trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's estimated to be over 2,000 years old. It's been through some years, some storms, it's been split it's twisted and gnarly. But every year new growth comes out of that twisted wood. New fruit emerges. What appears to be full of stress and strife bears fruit. That is exactly what can happen to us as we go through pressing times and allow God to strengthen us. Out of our struggles can come life giving fruit for the glory of God!
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and
his disciples followed him. On reaching the
place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into
temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw
beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from
me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and
strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more
earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:39-44)
Our text tells us
that Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, to this grove of olive
trees called Gethsemane. Gethsemane means olive press. This is certainly the place where Jesus was pressed out. He would have left the
walls of Jerusalem, descended down the slope, crossed the Kidron valley (John
18:1), and ascended up to the this grove. I really believe Jesus loved solitude
and needed it. Jerusalem would have been packed with pilgrims celebrating
Passover and Jesus needed this time to prepare Himself for what was ahead of Him. I
think it’s very important and very instructive that our Lord needed this time
away. If He did, I do. Why did He need this time away? I see at least three reasons.
1. He was in deep sorrow. Verse 44 lets us know that Jesus was in
anguish. Matthew 26:38 and Mark record,“My soul is overwhelmed with
sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep
watch. ( Mark 14:34). Jesus, of course, knew the cross
was coming and what it entailed. This is difficult for us to fathom, but it was
sorrow which threatened life itself. Isaiah correctly prophesies of Messiah in
the 53rd chapter, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows and familiar with suffering.” Jesus needed to get to Gethsemane
because his soul was racked with suffering and sorrow. Never doubt for a moment
that Jesus doesn’t understand our own sorrows, our own suffering.
2. Because He needed to pray. Concerning this prayer we can piece together
from the other Gospels what happened. Jesus first went to his knees (v. 41) and
then on His face (Matthew 26:39). There on his face he prayed, the substance of
his prayer in our text (v. 42). In all of Jesus’ anguish there was
unconditional submission to His Father. What a picture of true submission! We
see the human part of Jesus not just wanting to escape the suffering but
desiring the will of God more than his own will. Such concern with doing the
Father’s will is culminated in this amazing act of submission. The writer of
Hebrews sums it up this way, “During the days of Jesus on earth, he offered up
prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him
from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he
was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:7-9). If the actual Son of God needed a life of
dependent prayer to fulfill God’s will, how much more do we as adopted sons and
daughters?
3. Because He needed to be strengthened. What a contrast! The disciples grow sleepy, Jesus grows stronger. Prayer can strengthen us like nothing else.
Here is what we can learn from Jesus in the Garden. I need a place of prayer. A place to unplug and plug into the source of real power - God. I need to take some people with me. Sleepy Christian friends are better than no friends at all. Do you have some people who will go to the Garden with you? I need the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain me. It's through sustaining prayer that our will is submitted to the will of God and His power strengthens me for the task. A few days ago, I was at the Garden of Gethsemane.We sang that wonderful hymn, I surrender all. What a blessed time! The olive tree you see is one of the trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's estimated to be over 2,000 years old. It's been through some years, some storms, it's been split it's twisted and gnarly. But every year new growth comes out of that twisted wood. New fruit emerges. What appears to be full of stress and strife bears fruit. That is exactly what can happen to us as we go through pressing times and allow God to strengthen us. Out of our struggles can come life giving fruit for the glory of God!
All to Jesus, I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee,
Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
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