Remembering the Story: 

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week--2013

Tuesday:  Garden of Gethsemane & Arrest:  Sleeping on the Job

Sing:    Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter’s power;

your Redeemer’s conflict see, watch with him one bitter hour. 

Turn not from his griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

“Go to Dark Gethsemane” by James Montgomery.  Hymn No. 290 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:   Luke 22:39-53

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

“Why are you sleeping?”  Did the Lord really expect an answer?  Or was he simply stating the obvious?

It was the Lord’s hour of greatest crisis, and He knew that it would become their crisis as well.  A crisis in which they would need all the strength and power of heaven to stand firm with their Lord, and an hour in which the Lord would need the strength and comfort that his Father in heaven and his friends and followers on earth could provide.  His Father remained faithful; but his friends fell asleep.

“Pray that you may not come to the time of trial.”  Earlier that evening, Simon Peter had bragged that he was “ready to go with [Jesus] to prison and to death!”  (Luke 22:33).  Jesus knew Peter—not only Peter’s strength and boldness, but Jesus also knew Peter’s weakness.  “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.”  (Luke 22:34).

It is one thing to brag before the time of testing, but you have to get ready.  When his time of testing came, Peter fell asleep.

What a contrast we find when we see how Lord prepared for his time of trial.  He knew that the strength he needed would come not through physical rest but by resting in the Lord.  This wasn’t the first night that Jesus spent in that garden on the mountain; he came here regularly.  It was “his custom” (Luke 22:39).  It was his custom to pour out his heart and soul to the one he called “Father.”  “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).  He was aware of his own conflicted emotions about the test that was to come.  He also was aware of his purpose, of the reason he came here.  His custom of prayer empowered him to say “not my will but yours be done” (v. 42).

Jesus set the example, but his disciples slept.  “Get up and pray,” Jesus told them.  “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial” (v. 46).  While Jesus was speaking, the trial came.  It still does.

Reflect on Your Story:

1.      When have you faced a difficult challenge in your life—not just a tough project to complete, a presentation to make, or test to take, but a moral challenge, a crossroads that called into question who you are and whom you serve?  Jesus had a custom of prayer to prepare for his challenges.  What is your custom?

2.      Jesus was aware—He was aware both of his own human vulnerability and of his divine purpose.  Because Jesus was aware of his human vulnerability, he could rely on his Father for strength to remain true to his divine purpose.  What weaknesses threaten you in your time of challenge?  What is your purpose?  What customs and practices help you to cultivate awareness of your weakness and your purpose?

3.      When the hour of testing arrived for Jesus, he was able to place God’s will in front of his own human will.  What test are you facing at this moment?  How are you responding?

Pray:    “Do not bring us to the time of trial, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).