Devotion in Gethsemane

This is the devotion that I shared with the 20 pastors on our WELS clergy familiarization tour of Israel. The setting was the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." 30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 33 Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." 34 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." 35 But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the other disciples said the same. 36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

Joy, excitement, relief, accomplishment.

After working with fiancées for six weeks in pre-marriage counseling and then joining the two as one in the Lord’s house, there is a sense of joy, a sense of excitement, a sense of relief, a sense of accomplishment.

We receive these feelings as pastors after leading new people into God’s Word for 16 weeks and then hearing their vows of faithfulness as they stand before the Lord’s altar and then receive Christ’s body and blood for the very first time in their new congregation. We receive these feelings after talking with a family a number of times and then standing with them before the Lord’s baptismal font as they are baptized and brought into God’s holy family through these baptismal waters.

Joy, excitement, relief, accomplishment.

Maybe we receive these feelings after a building project we have been working on. It may be something relatively small like spending $30,000 on a bathroom renovation. Or it may be something much larger like spending $2 million on a school expansion and new gymnasium. Maybe it is an increase of ministry like adding a Preschool or adding an additional teacher or calling an associate pastor or starting a daughter congregation.

Joy, excitement, relief, accomplishment.

Yet when you read the accounts of Jesus in Gethsemane recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus certainly was not feeling any joy or excitement or relief. He says that He was sorrowful, troubled, and distressed to the point of death. So after teaching and praying in the Upper Room with His disciples, after instituting the New Covenant in His body and blood, Jesus leads them out to a familiar place of prayer for Him – the Garden of Gethsemane in the Mount of Olives. They sing a hymn, then Jesus leaves 8 of His disciples in the outer part of the Garden. He takes Peter, James and John deeper into the Garden. He needs their presence to comfort and strengthen Him. He asks them to remain awake and watchful at this late hour for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is week.

This Garden quickly became for Jesus a Garden of slumber with His disciples falling asleep. It becomes a Garden of betrayal with one of His close friends betraying Him with a kill. It becomes a Garden of the prediction of Peter’s denial, of arrest of Jesus and of escape by His closest friends (who have just promised that they will always stand by Jesus).

This then became a Garden of accomplishing the Father’s will. It is what Jesus was born to do. It is what Jesus had been living for His entire life. It is what had been His Father’s plan since before creation.

For all the times we have been lazy and slumbering in our daily walk as Christians or apathetic in our ministries as servants of the Gospel, Jesus stayed awake and alert. For when we have drunk deeply from the Kool-Aid of ease and temptation, Jesus drank every last drop of the cup of God’s wrath. For when our flesh is weak and our spirit isn’t even all that willing, Jesus remained strong and ready to do His Father’s will. When we have run away from confrontation because of our connection to Jesus, Jesus always accepted us back and reinstated us into His ministry.

It is truly amazing what is happening in this Garden. Here is the Lord of life praying in the darkness. The One who is beyond all time asking for one simple hour of faithfulness. The gentle, mild face of the newborn Babe is the One who is sweating profusely with the agony of what is going to be happening over the next few hours. The One who comforts is the One needs to be comforted by an angel in the Garden. The Good Shepherd is being led to the slaughter by the sheep, for the sheep. The Son of the vineyard owner is being killed by the tenants of the vineyard.

And Jesus prays … and He prays … and He prays yet again.

He prays a simple yet eloquent and effective prayer: “Lord, not my will, but yours be done.” Truly astounding when you consider that He is praying, “Lord, though I am God, I want to accomplish your divine will.”

This is a Garden of prayer. A Garden of solemnity. But certainly not a Garden of joy or excitement or relief. But it does become a Garden of accomplishement.
For Jesus is accomplishing His Father’s will. The Seed of the woman is stepping down upon the head of the Ancient Serpent. The male child is raising His arm to bring His sword down upon the seven-headed dragon. Abraham’s great descendant is heading off to die so that we Gentiles might be called Abraham’s descendants and be numbered as the stars in the sky or the sand along the seashore. Great David’s greater Son is heading into David’s holy city, singing the Psalms of Ascent for He will be laid in the bowels of the earth.

As Christians, we celebrate the cross and the empty grave. And we are right to do so. For there at Calvary’s cross, Jesus accomplished our atonement. There at the Easter tomb, Jesus secured our resurrection from the grave.

But in this Garden Jesus is praying to accomplish His Father’s will. What was once broken in one Garden – Eden – Jesus is accomplishing in another Garden – Gethsemane.
Amen.