LET THE LORD’S WILL BE YOURS
Matthew 26:36-50
WALKING WITH JESUS
V: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."
In times of trouble, Jesus teaches us how to pray.
First, He goes to a place of solitude. He retires from the
distractions of the world.
In this case, He takes His enter circle, Peter, James, and
John. These three He had taken to
mount of Transfiguration.
Why these three? Peter and John would be the first leaders of
the Church. James would be the first Apostle to be martyred
by Herod.
Jesus instructed them to stay and watch for Him. Not that He
needed
they, but Jesus shows us the importance of corporate prayer
in matters that concern the
church.
He explains the agony and sorrow that his soul experienced.
Deep in His soul was the pain of
death. Jesus was in
view of His death at the hands of the ones He came to save.
He was free of sin, never touch sin or entertained sin. He
would become sin for the billions
of people in the world, past, present, and future. This had
never been done before and will
never be done again.
What was His agony?
Was it the burden of sin or the Father who allowed Him to become the sin
sacrifice for all time? He knew He would survive the ordeal
because of the third-day resurrection.
Because Jesus knew all things, He knew the extreme agony His
soul would experience. You and I
are used to sin. We were born in sin. His agony is beyond our
comprehension.
NOT MY WILL BUT THE FATHER
WILL
V: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 shows us the right poster of humbleness before the
Father. Face down on the ground. We are
nothing, He is everything. Often time our prayer is for our
will not the Father’s will. We never know
how much enduring our trouble will encourage someone else. If
we focus on the will of the
Father, our prayers will be less about us and more about Him.
Prayers that are focused on Jesus
are pleasing to the Father. Prayers focused on the will of
the Father will be answered because
they give Him glory.
WATCH AND PRAY
V:40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them
sleeping. "Could you men not 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 body is weak."
In times past the angels were there to strengthen Him. In
this final hour, Jesus brought His
enter circle to watch and pray with Him. This show how little
emphasis we place on the prayers
of others. We want to pray, but the flesh distracts us. We
yield to our own desires, neglecting our
prayer responsibility. In times of trouble, we need to know
the importance of fervent prayer.
Notice it is a constant prayer that is a tool to fight
temptation. We feed the spirit with a prayer to the
Father. When others are praying we need to be actively
engaged so we hear their needs of them which
ultimately affect us. If two or more are gathered in the name
of the Lord, He is present. What
better way to begin church service than in prayer?
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
V: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."
The Father heard Jesus' prayer the first time. Jesus teaches
us to be constant in our prayers.
The Father enjoys our conversation with Him. When we go away,
we face other things
that come our way. Jesus found His enter circle sleep. Maybe
in addition to His prayer,
He prayed for the strength of His disciples. The cup was
filled with the bitterness of sin and
corruption. Jesus knew His purpose for the hour had come. He
came to fill the promise
of salvation. There would be no salvation unless He drank
from the cup. His time on earth
would be useless unless He did what He came to do.
When we face difficult situations, constant prayer is
necessary to hear the voice of the Father.
Constant prayer forces us to tune ourselves to God’s guidance
and directions. We must remember
we are never alone in prayer, because the Holy Spirit comes
alongside us to comfort and
enlighten us.
JESUS IS FOCUSED ON OUR
GOOD
V: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.
Three is a divine number. One prayer for the Father, one
prayer for the Holy Spirit, and one prayer
for the Son. We miss the opportunity to communicate with
Father when we sleep. Notice in our
sleep, the Father is with us and understands our weaknesses.
Even in our sleep, Jesus intercedes
for us. He never sleeps or slumbers. His mind is always
focused on our best interest
RISE UP AND FOLLOW GOD’S
DIRECTIONS
V:45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them,
"Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son
of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my
betrayer!"
Satan is always on the warpath. He influences those close to
you to betray you. If we rest, we must
pray first for the Lord to keep us as we sleep. Satan is
always walking around to see who he may
devour. Our defense is the Word of God. Satan can only do
what Jesus allows. The actions
of Satan are no surprise to Jesus. Jesus put himself in a
position to be betrayed. Jesus did not
run from the cup, He ran to the cup. Strengthen by His prayer
with the Father, He was ready to do
battle with Satan on a spiritual level. The body may be bruised, but the spirit will
survive.
You and I must rise up for the spiritual battle with Satan.
We will come face to face with the
enemy. There is no fear for those who trust the Lord, for the
battle is already won. Each day
put on the full armor of God so you will be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.
The battle is won one trial at a time.
FACE THE ENEMY WITH THE
COURAGE OF THE LORD.
V:47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve,
arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the
chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a
signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49 Going
at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.
Your betrayers will come with greeting smiles and kisses. You
will know them by the company
they keep. The betrayer may come with an entourage of men
powerless to do only what God allows.
Their deception will be evident because they will do what
they have never done before.
We do not have any indication that Judas ever kissed Jesus
before. We have no indication that Judas
ever had the audience of the Chief Priest and the elders
while he walked with Jesus.
Judas was always in the background stealing money from the
money bag. In this case Judas
was leading a pack of thieves.
Always be suspicious of a person who has a sudden change of
attitude toward you.
Be suspicious of a person who who has a sudden change of
friends. A tiger never changes
his stripes. One addicted to certain vices, does not change
suddenly.
It was the kiss that sealed Judas' faith in destruction. It
was the kiss that started the trail
of salvation opening the door to eternal life for
believers.
The will of the Father is played out in your life on a daily
bases. Rise up daily ready to
follow the path God has prepared for you. Each day will bring
trials and tribulations
God allows for your good and the good of all believers.
DETERMINED TO DO HIS WILL
V:50 Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for."
God uses the evilness of man to perform His will. The Greek
word for friend used here is
“hetarie” which means companion. Judas was certainly no friend of Jesus, but a
friend of
the men who came to kill Him. Judas walked with Jesus under
the influence of the devil
which was his destruction.
Notice, Jesus did not resist the enemy. The enemy of Jesus
was carrying out the will of
the Father. He was resolved to allow the plan of the Father
to be completed in his life. His
betrayal, trial, and death fulfilled the will of the Father. The will of the
Father is
the resurrection of Jesus and our resurrection into eternal
life.
The lesson to all believers is we are all in God’s divine
plan which will result in our
eternal life.
Rev. M. Mitchell
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