It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion. It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble. It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote. It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag, It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag, to all who are serving and have served: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
Jesus surrenders to His Father’s will LK 22:39-46
I. His prayer lets me know how much God loves me.
Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane helps me understand Jesus better and love him all the more. It is a simple prayer, but not complex. It is profound. We must use it in its context. Jesus gave this prayer on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as the route from Jerusalem to Bethany and the place where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem. Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples, including the Olivet discourse, returning after each day to rest it includes Jesus' descriptions of the end times and Jesus' warning to his followers that they will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God and also coming there on the night of his betrayal. At the foot of the Mount of Olives lies the Gethsemane. The New Testament tells how Jesus and his friends sang together "When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives". Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mt of Olives as recorded in the book of Acts and it will be the Mt of Olives to which he is to return as stated in the book of Acts."Jesus went out as usual "according to his habit or custom." Luke explains, "Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives". It was a rhythm of life that week of the Festival, days in the temple, evenings on the Mount of Olives, located across the Kidron Valley from the city.
II. HIS prayer helps me know how to come to the Father.
Matthew and Mark mention that Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him, and then moves a bit farther from them. How far is a stone's throw? The point is that Jesus is alone. The usual Jewish prayer posture of the day was standing, with eyes open and lifted to heaven. Here Jesus kneels, perhaps because to reflect his urgency and humility. It is remarkable that we see Jesus in this posture only once, but that in our day kneeling is considered by some traditions preferable over standing for prayer. Our prayer posture should not be decided by tradition but by our relationship and the needs of our communication with God. If we stand or walk whatever suits the situation, then that is proper. If kneeling or bowing or lying prostrate fits, then that is correct. There is no Jewish model for folding hands in prayer, and much indication that hands would be lifted in prayer. The content of Jesus' prayer no doubt heard and remembered by disciples who later fell asleep, is amazing. "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
III. His Prayer lets me know I can Resist Temptation.
Jesus gives his disciples the same advice that he himself will shortly follow: to pray in the crisis, that the temptation will not get the better of them. Jesus doesn't encourage them to pray that they won't be tempted. They will be tempted. Temptation is a fact of human life that neither we nor Jesus can escape. But He prays that they won't "enter into" or give into the temptation. How do we resist temptation? It is through prayer. In our relationship with God, He helps us to be strong in our spiritual life.
I would like for us to focus on four parts of this prayer. Jesus is surrendered to the will of His Father.
A. He Addresses the Father.
The disciples had the advantage of watching Jesus when He was under a great amount of difficulty. Jesus' simply said, "Father". Jesus is Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, Only Begotten, Suffering Servant, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Bright and Morning Star, Alpha and Omega, Lamb of God, Jesus has nothing to prove. When he prays, he simply calls God "Father." He is still our Father when our whole world seems wrong. I recall when my son was at a young age; broke his arm and we were far from home. They put him in a cast but said he would have to stay in the hospital overnight with his arm in an elevated position. He looked at me and said, “Please will you stay with me?” I could have said “NO” but as a father I knew I needed to stay with him. So God is forever Father. Jesus says “if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Jesus states a condition in this prayer: "If it is possible," Or Everything is possible for you." Jesus is asking if the Father can, in the realm of his will and purpose, create a way for Jesus to avoid the cross. We can fail and get out of the will of God, but when we surrender, God can create a whole new future for us. But Jesus' desire is for the Father's best, for the Father's highest, for the Father's desire and intention. Only if Jesus' prayer can be answered within the scope of his Father's intention does he want it answered.
Jesus takes time to listen. Two other gospels record that Jesus prayed this prayer three different times. He doesn't ask if the Father will permit it; he asks if the Father desires it a huge difference. Only, Father, if you desire it, do I make this petition.
B. He makes a Petition.
Jesus asks the Father to remove the cup from him. Remove originally means "take away, carry away, remove."The Greek word for "cup” in the Old Testament refers to the infliction of punishment associated with the wrath of God. Jesus has a mission and a destiny. On earth, Jesus wasn't all knowing. This was part of the glory of divinity that he had willingly laid aside for a time when he "emptied" himself. As a baby, he did not know all things; he learned them. As a boy he began to grasp. In his teen years he knew more. And as he prepared for his ministry before and after his baptism, and then in the desert, the Father revealed to him the full scope of the "cup" that he would drink, the destiny to which he was called, the mission he was sent to accomplish. The scriptures spoke to him as his Father interpreted them to him. He is the Sacrifice itself. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He doesn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. He is the sin-bearer for the people. He is the righteous one who dies for the sins of the unrighteous to bring them to God. 1 PT 1:18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. But the destiny of the sin-bearer is utter ruin as the disgusting and shameful sins of mankind begin to weigh upon him with an unbearable weight of filth before the Lord. Just to name a few like lust and hatred, greed and deceit, anger and murder, selfishness and betrayal. Sins that deserve death, sin that certainly drive their doers into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. In the Garden he feels what it will be like tomorrow when the weight of the sins of all people plainly takes His life. His communion with his Father will be cut off? What of sweet fellowship and trust? Of prayer and joy in his Father? There is no fellowship with sin or the sin-bearer. No wonder that he in agony shouts out on the cross the cry of desolation "My God, my God, why have you utterly forsaken me!" We have felt pain and agony perhaps, and might imagine what it might be like to be tortured to death until we suffocate upright, too weak to lift our bodies to take another breath. But the crushing load of sin? How can we understand? We can imagine the pain to the Son, but can we imagine the pain to the Father? Can we imagine how the very unity of the Trinity is threatened by the cross? Can we imagine the tension of love stretched to its very limits in putting to death the Son for sin? Does Jesus pray this prayer to spare the Father the pain of separation? We cannot know. But we do know that "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life" (JN 3:16).
We do know that Jesus, "for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (HB 12:2).
We do know that Christ Jesus, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!" (PHIL 2:6-8)
He took on himself the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin. Can we fault him for praying, "Take this cup from me"?
C. He shows Submission.
"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." He prays, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done." By New Testament times, the word group means much the same as the word group discussed before. The conjunction used here indicates "on the one hand ... nevertheless" or "indeed." It is a strong contrast. In spite of Jesus' petition, this clause stands: Your will is the main thing, mine is inferior. Jesus yields, submits, surrenders to the Father's decision. Jesus has a preference, that the cup be removed. But he willingly surrenders that preference if the Father's will differs.
Too often we make the mistake of praying surrender prayers without ever owning up to our own will in the matter. Instead of petitioning God to do any specific thing at all, we pray: "Let your will be done." That is good, but that is not real petition, and sometimes it can be a cop-out for determining how we really should pray. It is not wrong to come to God with a preference. But, following Jesus, after we have clearly stated our preference openly, it is then appropriate to pray, "Yet not my will, but yours be done."
If we never surface and state -- and deliberately set aside for the moment -- our own preference, we run the risk of "hearing" God say what we want him to say. It is important to sort out what we want and ask for that -- it is not wrong -- before submitting to God's will, whatever that might be. Our will may very well be God's will. But it may not be. To discern God's will, we must state our own will and then surrender it to God -- become neutral about the outcome if God were to desire some other outcome than ours. That is real surrender.
In this prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, we have one of the foundational prayers of the entire Bible. Let us learn its lessons well.
D. He is Strengthened by an Angel.
We are given in this picture of Jesus in Gethsemane a story not given in Matthew and Mark.
"An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him." Angelic help is found in various places in the Bible. Jesus is strengthened by angels after his temptation by Satan in the desert. The angel "appeared to him," or "become visible." Jesus saw this angel. But the angel also assisted him. This raises a question. Is Jesus the only one who rates being strengthened by angels? How about his followers? There is no doubt that many believers have been visited and strengthened by angels at the times of their extreme struggles. We may or may not be aware of the angels. They may appear as human encouragers. Indeed, I am sure that God sends humans as well as angels to strengthen his children. A few minutes after Jesus' prayer in the Garden, he is strongly aware of angels, for he reproves his disciples not to the soldiers. God's answer to Jesus' prayer was not to remove the cup but to provide strength for the trial. Jesus' need for strength is emphasized by the degree of stress he was under, and as he received strength from the angel, he was enabled to pray even harder. "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." Luke describes Jesus as sweating plentifully in this earnest contest of prayer. "When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.’Why are you sleeping?' he asked them.’Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.' “Jesus has been pouring out his heart in prayer, but his disciples have fallen asleep. Why does Jesus come back to them? MT and MK record that Jesus prays and then returns to his disciples three times. He is seeking their friendship and support in his struggle. Sadly, he does not find it in those closest to him. They have fallen asleep. They were "exhausted, from sorrow." They are suffering grief. "They have heard their Leader agonizing a few steps away; they can sense his struggle and are confused at the same time as they are grieved by it. But they cannot stay awake. "'Why are you sleeping?' he asked them.’Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation' “. Though they cannot help him that night in the Garden, they must help themselves, for they, too, are about to undergo a crisis in a few hours that in the dark of this night is indescribable. They will see their Master arrested, spat upon, tried, convicted, sentenced, crucified, dead, and buried before night falls tomorrow. They will not getaway the temptation that awaits them.
Jesus' words, of course, fit your situation and mine, too. Too often we sleep spiritually. We don't watch. We don't tarry in prayer. We don't stay spiritually alert. And we don't "arise", "stand up, and get up". As Jesus urged his disciples to do in the Garden, but are content with our spiritual apathy.
We must pray if we expect to avoid entering into temptation. And we will be tempted; there is no doubt about that. It seems like the days on which the temptation seems the strongest are those days when we haven't prepared ourselves in prayer. Jesus was strengthened by prayer. He did resist the temptation of avoiding the cup that was so horrible to him. He did the Father's will no matter the cost. If Jesus needed to pray to resist temptation, how much more do we?
