LUKE 22:44-46

“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

These three versus in Luke are included in the section about Jesus going out to the Mount of Olives, as was His custom.  Jesus was praying, even on the night, He was betrayed.  Verse 40 of chapter 22 reads “And when he came to the place, he said to them, “pray that you may not enter into temptation.””  Jesus then withdrew a small distance from them and prayed in verse 42, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.  Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done”.  

I’m sure most of you remember hearing about this brief but very impactful prayer, and have read it many times as you have gone back over the events recorded about the night of His betrayal in the garden.  Here Christ teaches us what we should do when we are in times of trouble, or experiencing difficult circumstances….

However, I often skip right over verse 43 and go on to verse 44.  Doing that kept me from more fully understanding the depth of suffering Jesus was already enduring, and the help provided in response to his submissive prayer provided in verse 43 “And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.”   He bore our sins!  He had the iniquity of all of us laid on Him, as stated in Isaiah 53:6.  Galatians 3:13 tells us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…”  No wonder “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground”, as He felt the agony of this great sacrifice for our salvation!

I don’t know about you, but it is very difficult for me to dig deeply into this portion of scripture.  I can not begin to imagine the suffering that Jesus endured because of His great love for all of us…for me!  I am so thankful that Jesus submitted to the will of His Father.  Our salvation was hanging “in the balance” during this night of agony and prayer.  Clearly, the full humanity of Jesus had to be a major part of this night, in His thoughts and His agony.  

Clearly the humanity of the disciples was on display that night in the garden.  They were also worried and sorrowful about what Jesus had shared with them, but they were not praying…they were sleeping!  No doubt I would have been sleeping also, if I had been with Jesus in the garden that night.  Yet in verse 46, He woke the disciples and said “Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  Isn’t it just like Jesus for Him to be encouraging them to pray, knowing that they would be facing testing and trials they have not understood were coming at them.

I really don’t like to ponder the agony of Jesus that lonely night in the garden.  I don’t like knowing that if His trusted disciples could not stay awake and pray with him on this night of his betrayal, that undoubtedly means “I wouldn’t have either”.  So what is “my application” as I ponder and reflect on this section of scripture?

1. To remain thankful that Jesus bore the burden of my sins, for my sake and for my salvation.
2. To be thankful that Jesus chose to make this great sacrifice for all mankind.
3. To be more faithful in prayer for my family, my church family, my community, and all God’s people.
4. To remember where to turn when I encounter difficulties and despair in this life, and to turn to Him first and often.

Psalms 50:15 reminds us “…call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you..”  Prayer is consistently held up as what we should be doing, when we face difficulties in both the Old and New Testaments.  Jesus, himself, provides numerous examples of spending time in prayer.  He went to the garden to pray, “as was His custom”, and that provides us a wonderful example of how to pray when facing extreme agony.  

My prayer is that we all continue to learn from our Savior, and that we all lift each other up in regular and faithful prayers, as we grow in our relationship with Him.

Tom Hoien