Reflective Bible Study

Following the meal Jesus eats with His disciples, the eleven remaining disciples have a little bit of time alone with Jesus while Judas Iscariot is off getting the soldiers and mob to arrest Jesus. While John’s gospel describes in detail what Jesus shares with the disciples during their trip to the garden, the remaining gospels focus on what Jesus does after they have arrived at Gethsemane.

Let’s read our passage and discover what we can learn from what Luke tells us happened. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 22, and we will read from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 39, Luke tells us that:

³⁹ Jesus left the city and went, as he usually did, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples went with him. ⁴⁰ When he arrived at the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”

⁴¹ Then he went off from them about the distance of a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed. ⁴² “Father,” he said, “if you will, take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my will, however, but your will be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

⁴⁵ Rising from his prayer, he went back to the disciples and found them asleep, worn out by their grief. ⁴⁶ He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation.”

As we read this passage from Luke, several things jumped out at me. The first thing is how passionately and fervently Jesus prayed. Verse 44 describes Jesus’ sweat was “like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Some people point to this detail and say Jesus was literally sweating blood or that blood was mixing with His sweat. While this sounds crazy, this is actually something that is possible and has been documented on a number of occasions. I don’t remember what this is called, but if I did, I doubt I’d be able to pronounce the word correctly.

Another way I can understand this description of Jesus’ sweat that only Luke includes is that Jesus was sweating so profusely that it was dripping off Him like blood might drip out of a wound.

However, whichever way we want to view this small detail that sounds crazy, this detail isn’t very significant in the big picture of this passage.

Another big detail that I see in this passage reflects a big theme we looked at last week about persisting within God’s will. Looking closely at Jesus’ prayer reveals the powerful truth that Jesus was willing to follow God’s will even through what is likely the worst abuse and death imaginable. Jesus prayed in verse 42, “Father, if you will, take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my will, however, but your will be done.”

Jesus’ prayer to God reflects how we are challenged to pray. When we come before God in prayer, it is worthwhile to bring our requests to Him. However, we also are challenged to frame our requests as being less important or significant that His will. While we might try to push forward in our own strength what we believe to be God’s will, our timing and our perception doesn’t always mirror God’s.

Jesus prayed a prayer with a request for help, but He also prayed that He would remain firmly within God’s will for His life – even if that meant that He would face the cross the following day. Jesus’ prayer here in the garden is a powerful example for us when we decide to go before God in prayer. Jesus’ prayer teaches us how to bring our requests to God while also praying that we stay within God’s will for our own lives.

Speaking of prayer, this leads us to what might be the biggest truth and challenge I see tucked within this event. In verse 40, prior to Jesus walking away from the group to be alone to pray, He tells the group of disciples to “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”

This is powerful when we look closely at it. Of all the nights these disciples would face, and of all the nights in the history of the world, this night was likely one of the darkest. While the following night would appear to be a victory for Satan with Jesus in the tomb, the night before the cross was filled with more temptation directed towards Jesus and all those closest to Him than we likely could imagine.

Leading into this night filled with temptation, Jesus challenges His closest disciples to pray for strength to avoid temptation. While it is difficult to know whether all His followers heeded His words or not, we do know that the two big predictions Jesus made about that night came true. Peter ultimately denied Jesus even though he strongly denied Jesus’ suggestion about what would happen. Also, all the disciples scatter and leave Jesus to be arrested as the scripture predicted would happen.

Aside from these two fulfilled predictions, I suspect that these disciples did ultimately pray for strength to avoid temptation and they received help as an answer to their prayers. None of the disciples aside from Judas Iscariot the betrayer was ultimately lost from this group, and Judas Iscariot was only truly lost because he took his own life. I suspect that Judas Iscariot could have been forgiven if he had first forgiven himself, humbly repented before God in prayer, and not taken such drastic measures as he did. Suicide is sometimes referred to as the permanent solution to a temporary problem, and if given enough time, the problem faced is always less than the solution suicide provides.

In this event, we discover that at the darkest points in history, our prayers should be for help to avoid temptation. At the darkest parts of our lives, we are the most prone to falling into temptation and we should focus more intently on prayer for God’s help and guidance. I believe that when we come before God asking for help to stay away from sin and for help withstanding temptation, He is more than happy to double, triple, or in some other way multiply our own power to resist temptation.

I doubt God puts forth much effort to help us resist sin if we are only half-hearted in our request. However, if we are sincerely committed to resisting sin, I believe God is more than happy to step in and help when we ask Him for help and to fill in any gaps in our strength that might exist. With God’s help, we can have a willpower that is stronger than we might expect or realize!

When our lives are hard and when times are dark, lean into God and ask Him for help resisting temptation! I know that when we claim this prayer, God is more than happy to step in and walk with us along the path He has called us to walk!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue to seek God first in your heart, in your mind, and in your life. When things get tough and times are challenging, lean into God asking for strength to keep moving forward with Him!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow a strong personal foundation. While praying and studying with others is beneficial, don’t neglect your personal prayer and study life. Through personal prayer and study, discover God’s truth for your life and open your heart to Him!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue looking at Matthew’s gospel, we also continue looking at what happened when He was arrested and placed on trial. This passage also continues the theme that we have been looking at over the past couple of episodes that emphasized Jesus choosing the cross.

While Jesus was already arrested, and while the religious leaders had already judged Jesus as worthy of death in their minds, they still lacked a piece of concrete evidence that would justify Jesus being executed.

Because they needed this piece of evidence and a public judgment making Jesus worthy of death, the religious leaders hold a trial.

However, far from being a fair trial, they hold this trial in the middle of the night, and with a hastily gathered group of questionable individuals to bring Jesus to justice. We know this was all put together at the last minute because the religious leaders had previously decided to wait until after the festival to look for a way to arrest Jesus, and after Judas Iscariot came to them with an opportunity, they were waiting for Judas Iscariot to present them with the time for the arrest. While there could have been some preplanning the religious leaders could have done, they were rushed on the timing because they wanted this over with before pausing to celebrate Passover.

However, in this rushed, last-minute trial, when everything is about to fall apart, Someone steps in to help keep things progressing smoothly. Let’s read and discover what happened.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 26, and we will read it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 57, Matthew tells us that:

⁵⁷ Those people who arrested Jesus led him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders were gathered. ⁵⁸ Peter followed far behind to the courtyard of the high priest’s house, and he sat down with the guards to see what would happen to Jesus.

⁵⁹ The leading priests and the whole Jewish council tried to find something false against Jesus so they could kill him. ⁶⁰ Many people came and told lies about him, but the council could find no real reason to kill him. Then two people came and said, ⁶¹ “This man said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God and build it again in three days.’”

⁶² Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer? Don’t you have something to say about their charges against you?” ⁶³ But Jesus said nothing.

­­­­Let’s pause reading for a moment because at this point in this trial, things are beginning to fall apart. All the false witnesses were contradicting one another, and none of the lies added up to anything worthy of death – or anything that would even be remotely valid in a court setting.

While Jesus said nothing, the trial descended into chaos.

In an interesting parallel, when people reject God in their hearts, societies descend into chaos. Also, when people reject God, we shouldn’t be surprised if God chooses to stay silent.

However, divine providence determined for this to be the time Jesus would die, so in a desperate attempt to find something worthy of judgment, the high priest then turns his attention towards Jesus. Jumping back into the passage at this point, let’s look at what happened. Backtracking briefly and rereading from verse 62:

⁶² Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer? Don’t you have something to say about their charges against you?” ⁶³ But Jesus said nothing.

Again the high priest said to Jesus, “I command you by the power of the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴ Jesus answered, “Those are your words. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.”

Let’s pause briefly again, because what Jesus has said is too significant and easy to miss. The high priest knows that this fake trial to judge Jesus as guilty is falling apart. The case these leaders have against Jesus is falling apart. Nothing in this trial is turning up anything that would judge Jesus as worthy of death.

So the high priest commands Jesus by God’s power to answer one question: Is Jesus the Christ, or in other words God’s Messiah and God’s Son?

The religious leaders had already rejected Jesus, and while I think about the possible responses Jesus could have given, if Jesus had simply said yes to this question, there still would not have been a case against Him. Instead, a simple yes would simply implicate Jesus as being against Rome and the religious leaders would have had a political case against Him. With the religious leaders’ rejection of Jesus, they had firmly allied themselves with Rome and they tried to play both sides of this issue. By rejecting Jesus, they ultimately reject God in favor of Rome, while they subtly opposed Roman opposition wanting a Messiah to free them from Roman rule.

Jesus wasn’t against Rome any more than He was against Greece or any of the earlier empires. Instead, Jesus focused on the individual and on helping those who were hurting and those who needed to feel God’s love. A simple yes answer would have brought with it all the baggage and preconceived ideas these religious leaders had placed on the role of the Messiah.

If Jesus had stopped with the response, “Those are your words. [Period]” then the trial against Him would have fallen apart completely.

Instead, Jesus follows up with a response that says in essence, “I am God’s Son, but I am not the Messiah you think I came to be.”

How do the religious leaders respond?

Continuing in verse 65, Matthew tells us that:

⁶⁵ When the high priest heard this, he tore his clothes and said, “This man has said things that are against God! We don’t need any more witnesses; you all heard him say these things against God. ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

The people answered, “He should die.”

⁶⁷ Then the people there spat in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. Others slapped him. ⁶⁸ They said, “Prove to us that you are a prophet, you Christ! Tell us who hit you!”

In this trial, we discover that it would have fallen apart if Jesus hadn’t given these leaders something to clearly accuse Him of. And when we look at the details of what happened, nothing in Jesus’ testimony is worthy of death. In Jesus’ testimony, He shares that He is the One who had been prophesied about, and only those who were already closed-minded towards God missed seeing this huge truth. If God were to send His Son into the world, would we expect anyone less than Jesus?

Jesus came to show us God’s love, and while there are those who believe God is unloving or unlovable, Jesus came to challenge their belief by living out how much God loves us. Jesus chose the cross to show us God’s love, and through Jesus we can come to know the God who loves us so much that He gives Himself up to redeem us from the consequences of breaking His law!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Understand that Jesus chose the cross for you and for me not only to redeem us from sin and the penalty of death, but to show us how much God loves each of us. If death for our sins was Jesus’ only goal, there was no need to go to the cross. Jesus could have jumped off a boat in a storm or let the mob throw Him off a cliff like they wanted to at the beginning of His ministry. Instead, Jesus chose the cross to show us God’s love for us and how far God was willing to go to redeem us.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through the pages of the Bible, discover a God who loves you with all of His heart, and a God who wants to redeem you. While other people can tell you this, God’s truth only becomes personal when you personally learn it for yourself!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!