Surrendering to God's Will
Pastor Chang Kim
Luke 22:39-46
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Introduction
He came to the garden to pray the night before His final confrontation with sin, Satan and suffering. There in the garden of Gethsemane, He asks God the Father for strength to carry out His Father’s will.
There may be deep significance to the fact that in these final hours Jesus faced temptation in a garden. Remember man fell into sin because of temptation in the garden, the garden of Eden in Genesis 3. And man’s deliverance from sin comes about in spite of further temptation in a garden. Jesus, the “last Adam”, did not fall to temptation, but followed the will of God which the first Adam failed to do.
Prepare ourselves through Prayer vv39-42
Notice the phrase “as was His custom.” Prayer was a way of life for Jesus.
Jon Courson writes “Prayer is not only for procurement, but for protection. In other words, prayer is not simply to ask for things you need or want—but also to protect you from things you don’t need or want. Stop praying, and you will be tempted unnecessarily. Stop praying, and your kids will be vulnerable to attacks of the Enemy. Stop praying, and your marriage will be attacked constantly. Jesus said one of the keys to protection from temptation or trouble is prayer. We’ll never know until we get to heaven just how important our prayers are.”
This cup refers to the unimaginable suffering and death.
He freely places Himself at His Father’s disposal. He reveals His absolute willing subjection and obedience to His Father.
The pattern for our prayers should be that of our Lord, who prayed, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
2. Prayer Provides Protection vv43-46
Every life has at least one Garden of Gethsemane. But every Gethsemane has an angel sent by God. The Lord will send an angel into your Gethsemane too in the form of an unexpected person, a Bible study, podcast, sermon, a book in order to strengthen you in your time of need.
In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam stood in rebellion against God, In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Last Adam knelt in submission to God.
Satan had won the battle against the disciples, but Jesus had won His battle, and with this victory He would ultimately win the war.
Conclusion: I trust from this troubling event that all of us have become more aware about our need to pray. Only the one who had diligently communed with God remained strong during the next few hours.
Jesus prayed fervently for His trial to pass, but He submitted Himself to His Father’s will for Him.