In Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-46; John 18:10-12

GOLDEN TEXT: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”—Matthew 26:41

NO MAN ever lived who had more faith yin God and in His promises than did Jesus, and while His faith enabled Him to envision the joys of His future association with the Father and the privileges that would be His of glorifying His Father’s name and bestowing blessings of life upon the fallen race, yet withal He was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” In order to be the Redeemer and High Priest of the people, able to succor and give them life, it was necessary that He be touched with a feeling of the world’s infirmities. It was necessary, too, that, in taking the sinner’s place, He should experience the sorrow that is the common lot of all from whom the smile of the Father’s favor is withheld.

After entering Gethsemane Jesus took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee apart from the others and confided in them that His soul was “exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” How strange this must have sounded to the disciples! Jesus, the One who was ever ready and happy to comfort others; the One whose faith in His Father was so supreme that it had held Him up under the most trying circumstances, was now seeking comfort from those who formerly had been comforted by Him.

But the disciples could not help, Jesus. They had hearts of gold, but lacked the spiritual vision and understanding which would have enabled them to speak that much-needed word of comfort that would have meant so much to the Master in His great time of need. But even this was a part of the cup which the Father had poured for Him. The Holy Spirit had testified beforehand that of the people there would be none with Him. (Isa. 63:3; Mark 14:50) Jesus, in His consecration, had agreed to do all that had been written of Him in the “volume of the book,” so now, failing to obtain even a slight measure of sympathetic help from those closest to Him, He went into the garden a little farther and poured out His heart to the Father, saying, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” (Matt. 26:39) These words reveal no uncertainty of Jesus’ determination to carry out the whole will of the Father, but they do indicate that up to this time He was not sure as to all that was in the cup which had been poured for Him.

Jesus knew that He was to die as man’s Redeemer. He had made that plain to His disciples when He said, “My flesh I give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) But was it the divine will for Him to go through harrowing experiences of ignominy and sorrow with no human being at all to stand by and give Him courage and comfort? To this question He was seeking the answer, so He went back to His disciples, but found them asleep. “Could ye not watch with Me one hour?” was the question His breaking heart prompted Him to ask. What an opportunity was presented to these three disciples! Their failure to grasp it was not due to lack of interest, nor to willfulness. No, as Jesus explained, their spirit was willing, but their flesh was weak. Their flesh was weak in the sense that it was long past their customary time of retiring for the night, hence they were sleepy; and it was weak also in the sense that not having the Holy Spirit, their imperfect human minds could not grasp the significance of the experiences through which their Master was passing.

After bidding His disciples to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation, Jesus went deeper into the garden to pray. This time His prayer reveals that He was beginning to grasp the full intent of the divine will. He was beginning to realize that He could not expect any help from His human-minded disciples. Note His words: “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.”

Then He came back to His disciples again and found them asleep. Then He went to the Father in prayer the third time, following which He came back to His disciples and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

From this time forward there was no question in Jesus’ mind concerning the Father’s will. He knew that He could not expect any help from human sources. Mark’s account tells us that He was comforted by an angel, but He knew that He was not to be delivered from the trying ordeal that lay immediately ahead of Him. And now that He was certain of all the details involved in the divine will, He was fully resigned to it, and voluntarily pushed forward to its accomplishment.

Judas was on hand to betray his Master, and the impulsive Peter was ready to defend Him; yea, tried to do so by the use of his sword, but the Master intervened. Jesus had apparently made sure that there were some swords possessed by His disciples in order that it might be the better demonstrated that He voluntarily gave Himself up to arrest—that His disciples would have fought for Him had they been permitted. He emphasized the voluntary nature of His sacrifice still further when later He explained that if He wished He could ask His Father and the Father would send Him twelve legions of angels to protect Him.

Probably His accusers couldn’t believe this, but they could comprehend the implication of Jesus’ refusal to allow Peter to use the sword in His defense. By healing the wounded ear slashed by Peter’s sword, the Master manifested His love even for His enemies. What object lessons these were for those disciples who later were to be used so mightily to carry the Gospel of Christ to others.

QUESTIONS:

Was there any uncertainty in Jesus’ mind as to whether or not it was God’s will for Him to die?

Why was it necessary for Jesus to experience the sorrow of the world?

What was there in this lesson to indicate that Jesus’ sacrifice was wholly voluntary?

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