Slices
Prepare
Have you ever messed up? You’re in good company!
Bible passage
Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’
Jesus arrested
47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’
49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, should we strike with our swords?’ 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour – when darkness reigns.’
Explore
We can all find it hard to stay awake sometimes, whether it be in front of the TV, after lunch on Christmas Day or during the Sunday sermon! This can be embarrassing or inconvenient, but in today’s passage we see the disciples falling asleep during a prayer time hours before Jesus’ death. What shame they must have felt! It is, however, only the first of three examples in this passage of Jesus’ disciples messing up and disappointing him. After the disciples struggling to stay awake (v 45) we read of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus (v 47) before another disciple violently attacks a servant (v 50). Luke diplomatically leaves out the identity of the angry disciple, but John tells us it is Peter (see John 18:10).
Three acts of human frailty and sinfulness: the physical tiredness of the sleeping disciples; the hypocrisy and cowardice of Judas; and the angry revenge and violence shown by Peter. These three acts are in stark contrast to Jesus’ powerful and sacrificial submission to the will of his Father which precedes them: ‘not my will, but yours be done’ (v 42). The disciples had their will and agenda, whereas Jesus submitted his will and agenda to his heavenly Father.
Respond
We are all sinful individuals who mess up from time to time as we pursue our will rather than God’s. Thank God today for his kindness in forgiving your mistakes and submit afresh to the will of God the Father.
Deeper Bible study
Lord, grant me a willing heart to obey you and do your will.
Looking west from the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus would have seen the Temple in all its beauty. Annually, thousands of animals were sacrificed, their blood staining the altar – but the blood had no real power to forgive.1 In his final moments on earth, Jesus wrestled with the cup that he had to drink, while his disciples could not stand alongside him at his hour of need. Instead, they slept, despite Jesus’ pleading with them to keep awake and pray so that they might not fall into temptation (vs 40,46).
After Jesus’ prayer, the narrative shifts to his arrest. Luke emphasises that, even in his arrest, Jesus remained in control of the situation. He questioned Judas about betraying him with a kiss (v 48). He rebuked one of the disciples who drew the sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant – and he then proceeded to heal the servant (vs 49–51). He went on to declare that he was the one the authorities were looking for and he surrendered himself (vs 52,53). Jesus was able to be in control because he understood that intrinsic to his mission on earth was to drink the cup the Father had given him – the cup of suffering (v 42).
The disciples could not fully comprehend the cost of discipleship at the most crucial hour. Jesus was prepared to drink the cup, but they were not. Do we have the courage to drink the cup too? Perhaps, you are carrying such a heavy burden in following Jesus and you feel like giving up. What could be the ‘cup’ that you know the Lord has asked of you but you find so difficult to drink? Will you surrender to God, just like Jesus did, by praying, ‘not my will, but yours be done’?
Merciful Father, whose Son Jesus agonised and prayed in the garden that he might obey your will: strengthen our weakness and deepen our desire to do your will.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Joshua 6,7; Romans 11
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Local Mission Partner Engage as they share the Christian message in educational settings in the Woking area. This includes Prayer Clubs and detached playground work in primary schools and Prayer Spaces, and mentoring and wellbeing work in secondary schools.
