GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE PRAYER  MATT 26

    After the Lord Jesus had solemnly celebrated the Passover feast with His disciples and had given the Lord’s supper, ‘they sang a hymn, and went out to the mount of Olives, a special place where our Lord often retreated. ( v30 )  How could God’s Son sing on the eve of His death by the cross?  The music and lyrics were surely part of the Hallel, a group of  Psalms from 113 to 118.  The mount of Olives  was East of Jerusalem, and had a garden full of olive trees and many palms.  The garden of Gethsemane meant a place of olive pressing, typical of our Lord’s suffering, for the crushed olive gave the oil, symbolic of God’s Holy Spirit, and used frequently in the temple worship.  Christ said, ‘The Holy Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’    

Our Lord predicted Peter’s denial of Him, even the ultra-confident fishing expert of Capernaum, when He said, ‘ All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written, I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’  The Saviour continued, ‘ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. ‘ ( v32 )

Then followed a remarkable exchange between our Lord and Peter, who answered,

‘ Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.’  That’s why Jude wrote, ‘Now unto Him, Who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before His presence with exceeding joy.’ ( v24 ) Peter was proud.  He would stand secure, even if all others failed their Lord.  What lessons Peter must learn, even after three and a half years of teaching by the Son of God.  He was a disciple. Oh, how much does it say about us?

The omniscient Lord responded, ‘ Assuredly I say to you, that this night, before the cock crows ( Mark says twice ), you will deny Me three times.’ We notice that the Creator predicted that a rooster, a lesser creature, would crow, when man, God’s highest workmanship, would disown His Maker and Lord.  Such details build our faith.

Peter’s self-assurance justified himself, ‘even if I have to die with you, I will not deny You.’  The rest of the disciples agreed with Peter. (v35). Peter’s confidence was not in his dear Lord, but in his fallible self.  He dragged others into that false security.  They had not yet learned to trust in the illimitable resources of their eternal Friend. 

Our Saviour must spend time with His heavenly Father, hence He headed to ‘a place called Gethsemane.’( the oil press )  Father and Son had spent the eternity in closest union, and our Saviour yearned for that sweet fellowship with His Father, especially with Calvary suffering imminent.  Prior to action, soldiers needed the comforting prayer and counsel of their Chaplain before going into battle.   In this bitter struggle, Christ had no chaplain, but only the sweetest oneness with the Father, whom He addressed as ‘Abba Father’ or dearest Daddy.   Today, we call on the Name of the Lord in the hours of struggle.  He delivers us, for we are never alone. 

‘Jesus came with them to a place called ‘Gethsemane’ , aptly meaning oil press,  for the Saviour’s life would be squeezed from Him in the awful bruising and heavy suffering to follow.  He said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ ( v36)  Our Lord Jesus Christ totally depended on His Father for strength ; He must pray. We also! 

Even God’s Son needed close fellowship, so ‘He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee , and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. ‘( v37).   His did not sorrow for His own failing, for He was sinless and holy – but for our wrongs. His deep distress was understandable as He prepared Himself to bear God’s crushing judgment on the sins of the whole world, including those with Him, and our shattering ones also.

Christ was completely open with them as ‘He said, ‘ My soul is exceedingly sorrowful , even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.’ ( v38)  He kept back nothing from the men who would soon lead the vibrant christian church.  Our Lord taught the principle that close fellowship is essential in prayer warfare; for even the Son of the eternal One longed for that. 

In hospital life, we must stay close to the suffering , holding their hands  and securing them before the Father in prayer.  I recently prayed with Rob as he was dying, with our arms around each other’s shoulders.  Rob longed for human closeness as our dear Saviour yearned for manly fellowship on that distressing night.

Our Saviour slipped out of their presence, as‘ He went a little farther and fell on His face’, saying, ‘O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ (v39)   Tenderly and intimately He spoke to His Father in heaven, calling Him ‘My father.’ In His humanity, He cried out that ‘if it were possible let this cup of suffering pass from Me.’ Understandable! The sinless One knew that He would carry the weight of  fallen man and woman with their individual sins.  No wonder He shrunk from that cursed load, which would crush Him, as indeed it did at Calvary.

He was triumphant as he sobbed, ‘ Not My will, but as you will’.  In life, He had preached, ’ I have come to do Your will, O my God’.  Now facing death, He remains submissive. 

Dr Luke told ‘How an angel appeared from heaven strengthening Him. And being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly.  And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the earth.’ ( 22:43,44 )  One of my patients sweat blood with a severe, toxic reaction to treatment , demanding urgent hospital care.

The sin of the world was spiritually lethal to the Holy One.

God’s great men and women have learned that their lives are ‘hid with Christ in God.’ Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, David Livingstone, Ida Scudder of Vellore,  Elisabeth Elliot of Ecuador had submitted to the Father’s will.  

The Bible accurately reported that ‘He came to the disciples and found them asleep,’ and said to Peter, ‘What, could you not watch with me one hour?’ (v40)  That was  Peter’s failing, and our’s also.  Sporting can fill our hours, but our Lord’s sweet voice is constantly heard, ‘Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Church or missionary prayer attracts only a ‘favoured ‘few. Does Christ plead with us to pray? 

Although facing crushing evil, Christ spoke comfortingly, ‘ Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ As the great Physician, he prescribed the remedy for temptation, so gloriously effective today. 

As you watch with your Lord, He promises abounding strength.

‘He went away and prayed a second time,’ ‘O My father, ( such tender embrace) if this cup cannot pass from me  except I drink it,’ Your will be done.’ The Saviour affirmed that He must drink that cup of bitter suffering to the last dreg, so that the dregs of fallen mankind ( such as you and me ) can be rescued. Courageous and determined He accepted the father’s perfect will.  The cross loomed in His vision; so did the crown that would follow His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection.

His chosen three were unaware of the spiritual struggle their Lord faced, as ‘ He came and found them asleep again , for their eyes were heavy, overcome with emotional and spiritual exhaustion, while close to their Lord.  ‘He left them, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.’ ( v44)  These were not sentence prayers, but the condensed prayer of  hours of bitter weeping and sobbing at the Father’s knee.  Like Abraham and Isaac, the ‘Father and Son went together’. ‘I and My Father are one.’ 

He gently rebuked them, coming to them ‘ Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man ( His human title ) is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  His face reflected heavenly glory and eternal strength as He directed them ‘ Rise let us be going.  See, he who betrays Me is at hand.’  Satan had entered into Judas, but the battle had been won! Christ the Son of God had triumphed in prayer, and led the way even to the shameful humiliation of false trials and death by the cross.

Bow before Him.  Worship Him.  Adore Him.  Your Saviour prepared Himself for the suffering of Calvary during a night of prayer in the Mount of Olives.

Lord, teach me to pray!