Sunday School Lesson 8 - Luke 22:41-53 - SURRENDERED TO GOD
BACKGROUND: Last week, in Luke 22:7-20, we came into the lesson as Jesus was making the necessary preparations to host and preside over the well-known event that we call the Last Supper. As we studied that lesson, the key word Jesus' gave His disciples was "remember." When Jesus took bread and broke it and gave it to them, it represented the breaking of His body, which would take place on the cross in less than 24 hours. While apostles did not comprehend the analogy at the time, they would forever remember after His death. With the wine, he told them, this cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood, and Jesus ratified that New Covenant by pouring out His own blood on the cross. The two main points were: (1) We must remember the redemptive significance of the Lord's Supper: Without the shed blood of Jesus and His death on the cross as our substitute, we would have no hope of salvation. (2) We must remember the personal significance of the Lord's Supper: Yes, while Jesus did die for everyone-the whole word-He also died for you and me as individuals. Therefore, observing the Lords' supper carries personal significance because Jesus calls every one of us to remember that He gave His body and His blood for you and me, individually.
This week, in Luke 22:41-53, after observing the Passover meal and instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus spoke to His disciples at length and prayed for them (see, John 14-17), then He led the group from the upper room and away from the city, crossing the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives, which overlooked the city. During His stay in Jerusalem, it was Jesus' habit to teach in the Temple by day and spend the evenings on the Mount of Olives, where he frequently prayed. Though Luke doesn't name it, the other two synoptic gospels call this place the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36; Mark 14:32), which translates to "olive press," where the olives were crushed; and ironically, the Son of God would be crushed here, too. As they enter the garden, Jesus tells His disciples, "Pray that you do not come into temptation" (Luke 22:40b). He is giving them the same advice that He Himself will shortly follow: How to pray in a crisis. Temptation is a fact of human life that neither we nor Jesus can escape; however, the prayer is that they won't give in to temptation. So, how do we resist it? Through prayer, and that's the simple but vital lesson that his passage will teach us.
Read Luke 22:41-42 - YET NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS BE DONE
41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."
v. 41a: "And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw," - Here Jesus moves deeper into the garden, away from His disciples. The point is Jesus is now alone but still within hearing distance.
v. 41b: "and He knelt down and began to pray," - His posture here is different from any other time we see Jesus. The typical Jewish position of prayer was standing, with eyes open, facing upward. But in this instance, we see Jesus assume a posture of complete submission before His Father.
v. 42a: "Father, if You are willing," - Jesus use of the word "Father" (Aramaic, Abba) is an intimate personal expression. The "if" is a conditional sentence, which implies that Jesus' request might be possible. We are on very, very holy ground here as we see Jesus' human nature struggle with the Father's will. There is a sense of course in which all things are "possible with God" (Matthew 19:26); yet, this is true only to a point, because there are things that are morally impossible for God-to sin, lie, break a promise, or do anything contrary to His nature. In this case it wasn't morally possible for God alone to atone for sin and redeem humanity apart from providing the perfect sacrifice that Jesus was preparing Himself for in this garden.
v. 42b: "remove this cup from Me;" - The "cup" to which Jesus referred didn't represent His death; Jesus was unafraid of death. The cup represented judgment, because it was filled with the wrath of God for the sins of mankind. It meant that Jesus, in a manner of speaking, was preparing to become the enemy of God, and would be forced to "drink" the cup of His Father's righteous wrath so that we -mankind-would not have to drink from this cup, i.e., suffer eternal damnation. This, not torture and death, was Jesus' greatest trial.
v. 42c: "yet not My will, but Yours be done." - For you and me, on a personal level, this may be the single, most important proclamation of the NT. Here, we see Jesus reach a point of decision at Gethsemane. It wasn't that He had not consented or decided before this time; but now, He had achieved a firm point of decision. Here's the significance we need to see: While Jesus drank (past-tense) the cup on the cross at Calvary, He decided (present-tense) once and for all to drink it at Gethsemane. The main truth is that the struggle of the cross was won at prayer in Gethsemane.
APPLICATION 1: The truth of Gethsemane resides in the power of effective prayer, with Christ Himself as our model. Like Jesus, each of us should have a private place-our own Gethsemane-completely free of outside distractions (e.g., TVs, SmartPhones, iPads, computers, food, other people, etc.), where we can pray to God with complete focus, humility, and surrender.
Read Luke 22:43-46 - BEING IN AGONY HIS SWEAT BECAME LIKE DROPS OF BLOOD
43 [Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground]. 45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and He said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not come into temptation."
v. 43: "[Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him." - Notice that this verse and the next are bracketed because they don't appear in the earliest NT manuscripts, and don't appear at all in Matthew's or Mark's accounts. Even so, they provide a wonderful picture of God sending His mighty angel to strengthen Jesus. In this view, God's answer was not to remove the cup but to provide strength for the coming ordeal that Jesus must face.
v. 44: "And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground]" - Most likely this is metaphorical for normal perspiration appearing in very large drops but could possibly have been hematidosis, an actual mingling of blood and sweat in cases of extreme stress.
v. 45: "When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow" - The emotional and physical exhaustion isn't limited to Jesus; His disciples have been overwhelmed by circumstances they can neither control nor understand. Sleep would be a normal human reaction.
v. 46: "and He said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not come into temptation." - The disciples were sleeping not only physically but also spiritually, where they were most vulnerable. I think Jesus' words can sometimes fit your description and mine. We don't watch, or we forget to pray, or we don't remain spiritually alert. It seems like the days on which temptation is the strongest are those when we haven't prepared ourselves in prayer. Been there, done that?
APPLICATION 2: As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to remain spiritually alert day-by-day. It requires daily discipline and planning. When we don't watch, or forget to pray, or don't remain spiritually alert, that's when we become most vulnerable to evil temptations. The forces of evil are all out there just waiting for an opportunity to attack. Do you agree?
Read Luke 22:47-50 - A CROWD CAME, JUDAS LEADING THE WAY
47 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading the way for them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" 49 When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
v. 47a: "While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came," - This wasn't the ordinary "crowd" that typically followed Jesus from place to place. These were people armed with swords and clubs sent by the chief priests to arrest and apprehend Jesus.
v. 47b: "and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading the way for them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him." - This was Judas' prearranged signal with the chief priests, to make sure they apprehended the right man in the darkness. Ironically, in those days, it was quite customary for a disciple to greet his teacher with a kiss.
v. 48: "But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" - Judas had not just betrayed anyone; he had betrayed the "Son of Man," the Messiah foretold by centuries of prophecy, the hope of the nations, the desire of all people, and the world's Redeemer. Every word of this must have gone to the very soul of Judas.
v. 49: "When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" - The phrase "those who were around Him" referred to the eleven disciples who had accompanied Jesus to the garden. Seeing the mob approaching, they understood that Jesus was in danger, and not knowing what to do, asked, "shall we strike with the sword?" It wasn't at all uncommon for people-even disciples of Jesus-to arm themselves with swords for protection against thieves and robbers, especially after sundown.
v. 50: "And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear." - Before Jesus could answer, one of His disciples lashed out with his sword and sliced-off the ear of one of their attackers. John's gospel confirms that it was Peter who struck out, and the victim was Malchus, a slave of the chief priest. (John 18:10). Some commentators speculate that the man must have ducked, so that Peter only took off his ear rather than his entire head.
Read Luke 22:51-53 - THE POWER OF DARKNESS ARE YOURS
51 But Jesus responded and said, "Stop! No more of this." And He touched his ear and healed him. 52 And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a man inciting a revolt? 53 While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours."
v. 51a: "But Jesus responded and said, Stop! No more of this." - This declaration by Jesus can mean several things: (1) cease all violence, (2) allow this to happen to Me, and (3) the struggle is over.
v. 51b: "And He touched his ear and healed him." - Only Luke records this healing-as a physician, this interested him. The text doesn't reveal whether He restored the ear or simply healed the wound. But by doing this, Jesus draws attention to himself and gives His disciples an opportunity to escape.
v. 52: "And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a man inciting a revolt?" - The inference Jesus is making here is that the religious officials had acted clandestinely, outside of the general public's knowledge; and they did this in order to a avoid a potential riot against the people who would very likely have come to Jesus' defense.
v. 53: "While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours." - First, Jesus wasn't a rebel in any sense. He was very transparent about who He was-the Son of Man-and taught openly in the Temple for anyone to hear. When Jesus refers to "this hour," He means it was the prophetic appointed time for His enemies to arrest and apprehend Him; the time when the forces of "darkness" (i.e., the powers of evil) would do their worst deeds to defeat God's plan. Or so they thought.
APPLICATION-3: All of the events leading up to Jesus' being arrested and apprehended showed that Jesus was actually the One in charge. When He said it was "this hour," he meant the prophetic appointed time that had been predestined for His enemies to arrest and apprehend Him. At this point, the forces of "darkness" (i.e., the powers of evil) thought they had defeated God's plan, when, in fact, everything was proceeding perfectly on God's timetable.
