Rachel Workman: 31 On the way, Jesus told them,
“Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,
‘God will strike[e] the Shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ How many times have I deserted Jesus in my lifetime?
32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”
33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” If only I could be like Jesus here. His soul was crushed with grief, yet he said God I want your will not mine. Too many times I've wanted my own will with no regard to God's will.
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[f] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”
‘God will strike[e] the Shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ How many times have I deserted Jesus in my lifetime?
32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”
33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” If only I could be like Jesus here. His soul was crushed with grief, yet he said God I want your will not mine. Too many times I've wanted my own will with no regard to God's will.
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[f] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”
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Allen Michaels: 31 Then Jesus told them,
“This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into
Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of
you, I never will.”
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very
night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you,
I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same. All the disciples declared that they would die before
disowning Jesus. But a few hours they were “gone”, they all scattered. Talk is
cheap. It’s so easy to say we are devoted to Christ, but our claims are meaningful
only when they are tested in the crucible of persecution. I often question how
strong my faith really is. Is it strong enough to stand up under intense trial?
I think we’re all going to discover real soon how strong our faith really is.
We often cannot help someone in their weakness and failure until we have
suffered similar trial and shame. Because Jesus "himself has
suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted"
(Hebrews 2:18).
Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He
took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be
sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is
overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with
me.” Because of the anguish Jesus
experienced, he can relate to our suffering. Jesus’ strength to obey came from
his relationship with God the Father, who is also the source of our strength.
This is explained better in John 17:11, 15, and 16.
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the
ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from
me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus was not rebelling, or
trying to get out of his destiny. In fact, he reaffirmed his desire to do God’s
will by saying, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” His prayer reveals to us
his terrible suffering. His agony was worse than death because he paid for ALL
sin by being separated from God. (The mystery of that separation is far too
deep even for the most mature believer to fathom. But God has revealed the
basic truth of it for us to accept and to understand to the limit of our
ability under the illumination of His Spirit. And nowhere in Scripture can we
behold the reality of Jesus’ sacrificial death and the anguish of His
separation from His Father more clearly and penetratingly than in His suffering
on the cross because of sin. In the midst of being willingly engulfed in our
sins and the sins of all men of all time, He writhed in anguish not from the
lacerations on His back or the thorns that still pierced His head or the nails
that held Him to the cross but from the incomparably painful loss of fellowship
with His heavenly Father that His becoming sin for us had brought.) The sinless
Son of God took our sins upon himself to save us from suffering and separation.
In times of suffering people
sometimes wish they knew the future, or they wish they could understand the
reason for their anguish. Jesus knew what lay ahead of him, and he knew the
reason. Even so, his struggle was intense—more wrenching than any struggle we
will ever have to face. What does it take to be able to say “as you will”? It
takes firm trust in God’s plans; it takes prayer and obedience each step of the
way.
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them
sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak.” Jesus used Peter’s
drowsiness to warn him about the kinds of temptation he would soon face. The
way to overcome temptation is to keep watch and pray. Watching means being
aware of the possibilities of temptation, sensitive to the subtleties, and
spiritually equipped to fight it. Because temptation strikes where we are most
vulnerable, we can’t resist it alone. Prayer is essential because God’s
strength can shore up our defenses and defeat Satan’s power. Paul the Apostle tells
us in 1 Cor. 10:13: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to
man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your
strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you
may be able to endure it"
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father,
if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your
will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping,
because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away
once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of
Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go!
Here comes my betrayer!”
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Tomorrow's Reading for Matthew 26:47-56
47 And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples,
arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by
the leading priests and elders of the people. 48 The traitor, Judas, had given
them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him
with a kiss.” 49 So
Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the
kiss.
50 Jesus said, “My friend,
go ahead and do what you have come for.”Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.
52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands[g] of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”
55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. 56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.
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