Please open your Bible and read: Matthew 26:36-46

Sometimes following the path God sets for believers requires that we trek through a personal Gethsemane. In the Garden of that name, Jesus struggled, knowing His impending crucifixion meant separation from His Father. At no other time in the gospels do we see the Son of God more brokenhearted than in these last few hours of freedom before He is seized by the Pharisees’ men.

We, too, experience periods of intense turmoil and distress, and the Word of God can be a beacon at such dark times. Matthew’s illumination of the Lord at Gethsemane teaches us how to respond to sorrow so that our painful experiences are not wasted.

God does not squander hurt or brokenness; rather, if we willingly accept His ministrations, He utilizes our vulnerability to teach us faith – building principles. Jesus asked that the cup of suffering be removed. The metaphorical chalice was filled with the wrath of a holy God against sinful mankind. When Christ drank, He accepted all the wrongs of man – and the righteous fury of God – on Himself. As a result, He effectively severed His tie with the Father, who cannot tolerate or associate with sin. But in Gethsemane, the Son did not plead for release from the pain; instead, He prayed three times that the Father’s will be done.

As we follow Jesus’ example and release ourselves to God’s will, inner turmoil is calmed by a sense of peaceful contentment. External circumstances may be unchanged, but in our inward Gethsemane, we are hand in hand with a loving Father.

Question: What examples can we take away by observing, with awe and reverence, Jesus’ sacrifice at Gethsemane?

About the Author: Charles Stanley

“…wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” Matthew 26:13

In just a few short hours Jesus will agonize in the garden and go to the cross. But for now he is in Bethany with his friends, where at dinner a woman — most likely his dear friend Mary — approaches with an extravagantly expensive gift of perfume which she pours on His feet. The disciples are displeased at this seeming waste of money, but Jesus quietly dismisses their reaction (“Leave her alone”), graciously accepting her humble, sacrificial act as evidence of deep faith and love.

We immediately read that, at this point, Judas — as keeper of the common purse — has had enough of Jesus’ disregard for what he perceives to be the “real” needs of the people. He goes to the chief priests and offers to sell the Savior for 30 silver coins.

Two people. Both remembered. One for faith without seeing, the other for seeing without faith. What will I be remembered for?

Thank You, Father, for loving me and for Your grace which accepts my too-small sacrifices and somehow transforms them into offerings which glorify you. May I each day humbly offer myself to You so that the world will see Christ in me and long to know Him.

Question: What we (you and I) be remembered for?

About this Author: Marilyn Ehle

Our immediate reaction to these questions might be to answer: “For one thing, Christ predicted that would happen.  For another, by the cock crowing just at that particular time, Peter realized the awful sin he had committed and went out and wept bitterly in repentance.”

We know the Lord loved Peter.  We know also that He dearly loves each one of His followers. Thus Christians can be assured that if He had a rooster crow at the right time for Peter, then He is ready to alert us when we stray off the path of righteousness!

Could it be that our downward path toward disobedience and sin starts in the same way as Peter’s?  When Jesus predicted that His disciples would desert Him, Peter declared, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (Matthew 26:33)!

Oh, how sure we get of ourselves sometimes!  We get so sure that we find ourselves relying on our own instead of the Lord’s strength.  The longer and stronger we go with the Lord, the more prone we seem to do this, for we may become proud of our own Christian strength!

Then we go to sleep, as Peter did in the Garden of Gethsemane.  “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” Jesus asked Peter (Matthew 26:40).  We may get so wrapped up in our ritual of “serving the church” that we go to sleep; we lose our vision for winning lost souls to Christ.  We are in a nice, restful rut.  We tell the Lord we would never deny Him, but we fall asleep when He needs us most.

Ah, but we still have some spurts of zeal!  See, as the soldiers come to arrest Jesus, Peter leaps up with his sword and lops off an ear!  On the surface, this looks pretty brave, but if we look closely we find that Peter had not stopped to pray about it, even when he had been told by Jesus what would happen.  In the flesh, Peter lopped off an ear; in the Spirit Jesus restored it (Luke 22:51).  Sometimes in our spurts of zeal for the Lord our efforts might drive lost souls further from Him.  How careful we must be in all His work to be led by His Spirit!

Now Peter’s faith was low.  His Lord had been arrested and led away for trial.  In the darkest hour before dawn, temptation struck and Peter fell.  He cursed and lied, but worst of all, he denied three times the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Similarly, temptation strikes us at the darkest hour when we are totally unprepared..  After we have relied upon ourselves, gone to sleep, worked in the flesh, then temptation strikes!  And like Peter, we may fall.

Then God has a rooster crow for us.  It may be a sermon, a devotional message, a Bible lesson.  Or a difficult circumstance may cause us to awaken from our sleep.  When God confronts us and we realize how we have sinned against Him, then like Peter, let us repent with tears of sorrow.  Then forgiven, we can lift up our heads, and living in the Spirit we can go forth to make our lives count for Him in His power.

Father God, I do work hard, often with zeal of my own, neglecting to spend time in prayer listening to Your still small voice of guidance. Thank you that You keep my heart on course by the nudging of Your Holy Spirit to reveal the sin in my life. Help me to respond quickly and willingly and allow You to fill me with fresh joy and zeal that comes from You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Questions: Tell us of a situation where you served the Lord with much zeal but forgot to pray about it. Why do we need to pray and listen to what the Lord tells us?

About the Author Dr. Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, We Serve God by Serving Others, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Go with me for a moment to witness what was perhaps the foggiest night in history. The scene is very simple; you’ll recognize it quickly. A grove of twisted olive trees. Ground cluttered with large rocks. A low stone fence. A dark, dark night.

Now, look into the picture. Look closely through the shadowy foliage. See that person? See that solitary figure? What’s he doing? Flat on the ground. Face stained with dirt and tears. Fists pounding the hard earth. Eyes wide with a stupor of fear. Hair matted with salty sweat. Is that blood on his forehead?

That’s Jesus. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Maybe you’ve seen the classic portrait of Christ in the garden. Kneeling beside a big rock. Snow-white robe. Hands peacefully folded in prayer. A look of serenity on his face. Halo over his head. A spotlight from heaven illuminating his golden-brown hair.

Now, I’m no artist, but I can tell you one thing. The man who painted that picture didn’t use the gospel of Mark as a pattern. When Mark wrote about that painful night, he used phrases like these: “Horror and dismay came over him.” “My heart is ready to break with grief.” “He went a little forward and threw himself on the ground.”

Does this look like the picture of a saintly Jesus resting in the palm of God? Hardly. Mark used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see a “man of sorrows.” (Isaiah 53:3 NASB) We see a man struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments, and yearning for relief.

We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.

The writer of Hebrews would later pen, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.” (Hebrews 5:7 NIV)

My, what a portrait! Jesus is in pain. Jesus is on the stage of fear. Jesus is cloaked, not in sainthood, but in humanity.

The next time the fog finds you, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane. And the next time you wonder if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this dusty planet, listen to him pleading among the twisted trees.

The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you’ll ever get to God. Watch closely. It could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog is a pierced one.

From The Great House of God
Copyright (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: How does Jesus’ own suffering encourage you in times you suffer?

About this Author: Max Lucado