Bible Study In the Garden of Gethsemane

[atpollard]

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as [we are, yet] without sin. [Hebrews 4:15 NASB]

When we speak of the precious blood of Christ being shed for us, our thoughts immediately turn to the cross and His death. However, the first sacred drops of blood which Jesus shed for us, were shed long before the cross, in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Peter, James and John

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, "Sit here while I go over there to pray." He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." [Matthew 26:36-38 NLT]

Jesus told his disciples to wait nearby, but took Peter, James and John along with him to keep him company while Jesus prayed. So why take those three in particular along?

Peter, James and John were with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, they had been with him every hour of every day and had been among the first to give up everything to follow Jesus:

• [Matthew 4:18-22 NASB] Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Peter, James and John were the same disciples that had seen Jesus as not only the promised Messiah, but in His glory as the transfigured Son of God:

• [Matthew 17:1-5 NASB] 1 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!"

From Jesus own lips, His soul was being crushed and, as a man, he did not want to be alone.

• "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." [Matthew 26:38 NIV]
• For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. [Hebrews 2:17-18 NIV]

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Have you considered the depth of meaning in those words as Jesus spoke them?

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." [Matthew 26:39 NLT]

Jesus was being crushed by the Father under the weight of the sins He had begun to carry for us. He already told us that his soul was crushed to the point of death (Matthew 26:38). In response, Jesus sought out His Father in prayer and worship, but not any type of prayer and worship ... Jesus fell prostrate before God and cried out from the agony of his innermost being.

“If it is possible” ... Jesus begins his prayer with a revelation of the fear in his human heart. Jesus flesh cries out for God to take away the “bitter cup” that He must drink. “your will to be done, not mine” indicates that the ultimate desire of Jesus’ spirit is to do the will of the father.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

• We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? [Romans 7:14-24 NIV]

Jesus, our High Priest, knows EXACTLY how it feels to struggle with the flesh wanting one thing and the spirit wanting another ... yet without sin (in Jesus’ case) except for our sin.

• God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV]

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, "Couldn't you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!" [Matthew 26:40-41 NLT]

The reprimand was given to Peter and is generally good advice for each of them and all of us. We should all “keep watch and pray, so that (we) will not give in to temptation.” On the other hand, Jesus had already dealt with Peter and his future denials, even assuring Peter that he would return to Christ and be restored:

• And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift [you] as wheat. "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to [Me], strengthen your brethren." [Luke 22:31-32 NKJV]

So one must wonder if something more is going on here, and I believe that there is. Jesus was afraid. Jesus was facing the most terrifying struggle of his human life ... not death, Jesus KNEW that Glory awaited him ... not physical pain, because as terrible as that is, many people face physical pain ... the greatest struggle is the battle that takes place in the heart and in the mind. Ask anyone that has ever struggled through depression or despair. The pain of chemotherapy pales besides the constant terror of the word “cancer” brings.

Jesus was facing the battle between the flesh and the spirit. In the grip of human fear, Jesus had looked to his three closest disciples to pray with him. To be with him as Jesus struggled. Jesus was afraid to struggling alone ... he knew OUR ETERNITY was at stake. Jesus was called to fight our fight so that we could have victory in him. Was a little company for the struggle too much to ask? Then he finds his “prayer warriors” asleep before even an hour had passed.

There is a human trait called projection. People who struggle with the truth, think everyone else is lying to them. Jesus may have been frustrated and disappointed that those he sought to stand with him had failed and may have projected some of Jesus struggle onto them. From his prayer (Matthew 26:39), Jesus’ flesh clearly wanted God to find another way, and Jesus’ spirit clearly wanted God’s will to be done. From his statement (Matthew 26:41), the weakness of the body and the willingness of the spirit was clearly something that was on Jesus’ mind.

 

[atpollard]

David faces Goliath all alone.

Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, "My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done." When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn't keep their eyes open. [Matthew 26:42-43 NLT]

The second time Jesus goes off to pray, his prayer is slightly different. Jesus is no longer asking for the cup to be taken away. “If this cup cannot” indicates that Jesus still fears the cup and does not desire it. The attitude now feels more like a desire to “hurry up and get this over with”. When we are involved in some struggle, our first instinct is for God to come and just take the problem far away from us. Just fix it. If God will not deliver us FROM the struggle, then our second instinct is for God to hurry up and deliver us THROUGH the struggle. If the pain cannot be avoided, the we want to just get it over quickly.

When Jesus returned and again found them asleep, he did not even bother to wake them or reprimand them. Perhaps Jesus had come to accept that this was a struggle that he had to face alone. There is a lesson in that for us as well. No matter how much we want someone to come along side and share our struggles, some struggles we must ultimately face alone.

Just remember that Jesus really does understand EXACTLY how you feel and he faced it so that you could find victory IN HIM.


The New Covenant in My Blood (Luke 22:20)

So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 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. Up, let's be going. Look, my betrayer is here!" [Matthew 26:44-46 NLT]

Something different happened the third time. First notice that Jesus accepted that it was his struggle to face alone. He had stopped looking to men to share the burden and was no longer angry or disappointed at men for their failure to do what man could not do. This was why Jesus had to face the struggle between the flesh and the spirit and win victory FOR MANKIND ... we were incapable of winning our own victory.

To discover what happened the third time, we must look to another Gospel account of the event:

• Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. [Luke 22:43-44 NLT]

Another important lesson for all of us is that when we reach the point in a struggle where men cannot help us, God will send angels to strengthen us so that we can complete our journey and finish the race well. Here Jesus stopped looking to men to hold up his arms (as men held up the arms of Moses), and turned to God to give HIM the strength to run HIS race.

An important aside, the stress required to cause the physical phenomenon of sweating blood is a medical fact, but it is usually fatal. One reason that Jesus had to struggle to overcome for us, is because we would not have survived even this struggle.

The cross was not the first blood shed by the Savior for his people. The cross is just the climax on the road from Gethsemane to Pentecost. The first blood shed for us by Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. The place where the olives were crushed to obtain the precious oil contained within. The place where Jesus’ soul was being crushed to obtain the precious oil of the Holy Spirit that would anoint His Church on Pentecost.

[a huge debt of gratitude goes out to Pastor Les Lynn @ Freedom Worship Center for his inspiration on this topic]