Please Read Matthew 26:30-46, Mark 14:26-42,
Luke 22:35- 22:46 and John 13:36-38, 14:20-18:1
After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:30 TLV
After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:26 HCSB
“I will not talk with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has nothing on Me. But in order that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.
“Get up, let’s go from here!” John 14:30-31 TLV
And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, did you lack anything?”
They said, “Not a thing.”
And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword should sell his garment and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be completed in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its completion.”
And they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.”
And He said to them, “It is enough.”
And He came out and went as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. Luke 22:35-38 LSB
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12 NIV
Yeshua said of the ruler of this world: “he has nothing on Me.” This is variously translated: “he has no claim on Me”; “He has nothing in common with Me”; “there is nothing in Me that belongs to him”; and “he has no power over Me.” Whenever we sin we put ourselves in the place of having something in common with Satan, it gives him a claim on us and power over us for our sin provides something in us that belongs to the evil one. Yeshua lived totally free from any claim of Satan, and He died to give us that same freedom.
Despite His innocence and sinlessness Yeshua would be “numbered with the transgressors” just as Isaiah had prophesied, for all of God’s word is fulfilled.
God had supplied all their needs when Yeshua sent them out on mission trips without money belt, bag or sandals but this was no mission trip, this was the garden of Gethsemane (derived from the Aramaic ܓܕܣܡܢ (Gaḏ-Šmānê), meaning “oil press“) they were going to, the place of trial and testing, the place where their weaknesses, faithlessness and failures would be exposed. Here they could take everything they relied on for worldly success and find it inadequate. There could be no reminiscing “if only we had this or that we would not have abandoned or denied Him“, they had all they could take, and it made no difference. Their scattering was not for lack of money or sword, but lack of strengthening of heart. Yet even this was as the prophets had long ago foretold, even this was part of God’s plan of salvation. He works all things for good.
Even so, having carefully arranged for this last supper to be in a place not previously known to the twelve so Judas could not inform the authorities where this would be, now Yeshua returned to known patterns and places (as was His custom) – the time had come for what He had declared over the Passover Seder to be fulfilled.
Then Jesus said to them, “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.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”
Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”
And so said all the disciples. Matthew 26:31-35 NKJV
And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”
And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same. Mark 14:26-31 ESV
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed earnestly for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once you have returned, strengthen your brothers.”
But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.” Luke 22:31-34 LSB
“Master, where are You going?” Simon Peter said to Him.
Yeshua answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow Me later.”
Peter said to Him, “Master, why can’t I follow You now? I’ll lay down my life for You!”
Yeshua answers, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Amen, amen I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times! John 13:36-38 TLV
“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered Zechariah 13:7 NIV
Peter wasn’t the only one who would fail this night – all were going to stumble and fall away, not one of the twelve would be left standing with Yeshua in His hour of greatest need. As Zechariah had prophesied about 500 years before, when the shepherd was struck all His sheep would scatter. Yet, knowing this, Yeshua had still called them friends and shared with them all that the Father had given Him.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
“Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. I am no longer calling you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. Now I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I selected you so that you would go and produce fruit, and your fruit would remain. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. These things I command you, so that you may love one another.” John 15: 9-17 TLV
THE WORLD’S HATE
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for the sake of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me also hates My Father. If I had not done works among them that no one else did, they would have no sin. But now they have seen and have hated both Me and My Father. So is fulfilled the word written in their Scripture, ‘They hated Me for no reason.’ John 15: 18-25 TLV
Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice. For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land. Psalm 35: 19-20 BSB
More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me for no reason. My treacherous enemies, those who would destroy me, are countless. Must I now give back what I didn’t steal in the first place? Psalm 69:4 CEB
SPIRIT OF TRUTH
“When the Helper comes—whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—He will testify about Me. And you also testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning. I have spoken these things to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will throw you out of the synagogues. Yes, an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they have never known the Father or Me. But I have spoken these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to the One who sent Me, and not one of you is asking Me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have spoken these things to you, grief has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away! For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I still have much more to tell you, but you cannot handle it just now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; but whatever He hears, He will tell you. And He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said the Ruach (Spirit) will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.” John 15: 26-27, 16:1-15 TLV
SHALOM IN CHRIST
“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again in a little while, you will see Me.”
Then some of His disciples said to one another, “What does He mean by telling us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again in a little while, you will see Me’? And, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
They kept on saying, “What’s this He’s saying, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what He’s talking about!”
Yeshua knew that they wanted to question Him, so He said to them, “Are you asking each other about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again in a little while, you will see Me’? Amen, amen I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will celebrate. You will be filled with sorrow, but your sorrow will turn to joy! When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you! In that day, you will ask Me nothing. Amen, amen I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Up to now, you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in metaphors. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in metaphors, but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day, you will ask in My name – and I’m not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
His disciples say, “See, now You’re speaking plainly and not in metaphors. Now we know that You know everything and have no need to be asked anything. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”
Yeshua answered them, “Do you now believe? Look, the hour is coming – indeed has come – when you will be scattered, each to his own, and you will abandon Me. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have shalom. In the world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!” John 16:16-33 TLV
Yeshua spoke these things; then, lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so the Son may glorify You. Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, so may He give eternal life to all those You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah, the One You sent. I glorified You on earth by finishing the work that You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world came to be. I have made Your name known to the men of this world that You gave Me. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You. The words, which You gave Me, I have given to them. They received them and truly understood that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf. Not on behalf of the world do I ask, but on behalf of those You have given Me, for they are Yours. All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name that You have given Me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You. I say these words while I am still in the world, so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I make Myself holy, so that they also may be made holy in truth. I pray not on behalf of these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their message, that they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory that You have given to Me I have given to them, that they may be one just as We are one – I in them and You in Me – that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me. Father, I also want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory – the glory You gave Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world did not know You, but I knew You; and these knew that You sent Me. I made your Name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
When Yeshua had said these things, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
John 17:1-26, 18:1 TLV
Just four days before, Yeshua had entered Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate (in Hebrew, Sha’ar Harahamim, the “Gate of Mercy”) on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) and been acknowledged as Messiah. Now He left Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate and, by the light of the full moon, trekked down the steep slope of the Kidron valley (John 18:1), across the bridge, then onwards towards an enclosed garden, or olive orchard (κῆπος), at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The word “Gethsemane” means literally “the place of the olive-press,” whither the olives which abounded on the slopes of the mountain were brought, in order that the oil contained in them might be pressed out. This night Yeshua would be similarly pressed.
Then Yeshua comes with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He tells the disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
And He took along Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Then He tells them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me! Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Then He comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping; and He tells Peter, “So couldn’t you keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Again for a second time He went away and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, let Your will be done.”
And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them again and prayed a third time, saying the same words once more.
Then He comes to the disciples and says to them, “Still sleeping? Taking your rest? Look, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of sinners. Get up, let’s go! Look, My betrayer is near.” Matthew 26:36-46 TLV
And they went to a place called Gethsemane.
And He said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
And He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
And going a little farther, He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”
And He came and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer Him. And He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, My betrayer is at hand.”
Mark 14:32-42 ESV
Now when He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Luke 22:40-46 LSB
To this familiar spot, with its many happy associations from much time spent there together, Yeshua led His talmidim, after such rich teaching along the way. They may have simply expected to pass the night there, as many Passover visitors were accustomed to camp in the open air since the city was overflowing with pilgrims for the festival. This was no happy occasion, the weight of it pressed heavily on Yeshua as the full horrors of the cup He was to drink assaulted Him: “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death”.
In keeping with the practice which He had recommended, Yeshua usually went aside by Himself to pray; but this time He felt the need of having friends nearby – friends on whose sympathy He could rely. As He had done on a number of occasions before, Yeshua took Peter, James and John with Him to witness this pivotal moment. This time it was not His power and glory they were going to behold close at hand, as when He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead or was transfigured on the mountain; but they were to witness His human weakness and deep humiliation. So great was His torment that He sweat drops of blood, which would likely have left His face red and swollen, the disfigurement had begun even before man laid a hand on Him.
Only Luke, a physician by profession, and whose writings manifest an intimate acquaintance with the technical language of the Greek medical schools of Asia Minor, provides us with this detail of Yeshua’s suffering. Luke referred to Yeshua’s sweat (idros) – a much used term in Greek medical language – as consisting of great drops of blood (thromboi haimatos), a medical condition alluded to by both Aristotle and Theophrastus. The Greek term thromboi (from which we get ‘thrombosis’) refers to clots of blood. In modern medical terms this rare condition is called hematidrosis and has been found to be caused by severe mental distress rupturing the tiny capillaries in the sweat glands, thus mixing blood with perspiration. While the extent of blood loss generally is minimal, hematidrosis also results in the skin becoming extremely tender and fragile, which would have made Christ’s pending physical insults even more painful. Even before Yeshua endured the torture of the cross, He suffered far beyond what most of us will ever suffer. His penetrating awareness of the heinous nature of sin, its destructive and deadly effects, the sorrow and heartache that it inflicts, and the extreme measure necessary to deal with it, make the passion of Messiah beyond our comprehension.
This cup, in which so many bitter ingredients besides death were mingled, such as treachery, betrayal, desertion, mocking, rejection, false accusation, injustice, torture, the horror of all our sin being laid upon Him even as He suffered being forsaken – the inconceivable separation of God from God. Prayer was His refuge, as it must be ours. The soul that can cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ does not walk in unbroken night. Whatever the weight laid on Yeshua by His bearing of the sins of the world, it did not take from Him the consciousness of sonship. But, on the other hand, that consciousness did not take from Him the dark awareness that the world’s sin lay upon Him. Yeshua recoiled at the horror of what He was to undergo, yet He chose the Father’s will none-the-less.
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In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…
* Jesus knows all the ways in which we will fall and fail – from His response to knowing how the disciples would fail Him how do you think He reacts to our failures?
* Luke 22:31-32 states: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed earnestly for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once you have returned, strengthen your brothers.” Why do you think that God would concede to Satan’s demand? How do you think Peter’s denial of Christ was related to his ability to later strengthen his brothers?
* Jesus prayed in John 17 firstly that the disciples would be one as He and the Father are one, and then that we would be one as He and the Father are one – what evidence is there that God has answered those prayers?
* In obeying the Father’s will Jesus suffered terribly – what is our response when obeying God involves suffering?
* Describe a time in your life when prayer has been your only refuge, there was none you could rely upon except God.
