Last Words of Jesus (1)
Last Words of Jesus (1)
I have never forgotten the words of my elementary school headmaster. He must have been quoting someone as he would often say to us, “The last day of a man is very tempting and the end of everything is the most important.” This is true as we observe and study Jesus on the road to the cross.
Jesus knew exactly where he was heading to, the cross. The cross is not an all-you-can eat buffet party. It is a place of trial, pain and death. Jesus did not exempt us from the cross meaning we will have own trials, pain and death of flesh. How did Jesus handle these last days and what did he say? I believe we can learn a whole lot from him as we together examine some of Jesus’ last words from Scripture. You and I would often say things Jesus would not have said when facing our own trials and dying to self.
Luke 22: 39-51:
39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.[e]
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” 47 And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. Prayer was a lifestyle for Jesus. “As He was accustomed”. He lived and breathed on prayer. He was always in constant communion and in touch with the Father. Jesus’ goal was that prayer would also be the do-without for his disciples of then and for now.
2. “Pray that you may not enter into temptation”. Remember Jesus already taught his disciples how to pray much earlier on. Now, Jesus is re-emphasizing one of the points in what we have come to know as the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil one”. To me, it means that this is an important prayer topic for us. Do you wake up each day praying this prayer? I confess that I don’t but I should and will make it a habit. In fact Jesus said it twice to his disciples in this passage (v.46). Our tendency is to worry instead of praying in the midst of crisis or looming crisis. Also, note that sorrow stopped the disciples from praying. Let’s watch for the same obstacles to prayer especially tendency to feel sorry and sorrowful for ourselves.
3. Jesus now prays for himself. “Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me, nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” What kind of prayer is this? On one hand, Jesus knew what the Father’s will is but at the same time he is not ashamed and afraid to tell the Father how he really feels. Christ’s humanity was in good display at this moment. He was vulnerable, weak and could just give up. Does that sound familiar? I have felt like that many times. “Just throw in the towel and call it quits”. This is a real feeling and I believe that is one of the things Jesus is teaching us. We must be real with God. He already knows anyway, so why fake it. Go ahead even right now and tell the Father how disgusted or mad you are with your situation.
4. When we tell God how we really feel, then He sends help. “Then an angel appeared to him from heaven strengthening him.” The Father may not take away our pain but He will send help to strengthen us. Jesus’ prayer was answered according to God’s will. The same applies to us. Our prayers will be answered according to the Father’s will. Let’s not expect any thing different. So what that it did not go your way or my way? I Thank God that it went the Father’s way for Jesus, otherwise, you and me would be in creeps now. I have also seen many times in my life where on hindsight, I thanked God that my prayers were not answered according to my will but the Father’s. I know you can say the same too.
5. This leads me to believe and the scripture (“For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” Matthew 6:8) confirms it that may be a lot of our time in prayer should be spent listening to God tell us what His will is. When we hear it, then we can go and do it. Enough of “Do this Lord and do that Lord”. Rather, “Lord what is your mind on this matter or that matter” Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to pray for us as in Romans 8:27.
6. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” If it were you and me, we would have pushed Judas off and pushed him to the ground. Jesus was still polite even in the midst of crisis. We berate people and take out our anger on them when really it is all about God and us. If we would ever learn this lesson. Judas had his chance to do the right thing and I believe Jesus gave him another chance to repent but he did not. For now, it was between Jesus and the Father. It is a time of obedience for Jesus. Let us stop using other peoples’ bad behavior to avoid obeying a clear voice of God to us. Jesus could not have said, “O Father, you see what Judas did to me, therefore I am not going to the cross”. That would have been our own reaction. Will you stop blaming people and do what is right? When will you and I stop giving and making excuses? You can’t change anyone else but you can change your attitude of defiance and obey the Father. Come on, let’s try it.
7. Did you notice the last healing Jesus performed before going to the cross? “Permit even this. And He touched his ear and healed him.” This must be one of the luckiest guys. Here you are coming to arrest a man who puts your cut off ear in place. Jesus was living out for us what he had taught about loving your enemies. It was Peter who cut off the ear of Malchus (John 18:10). Jesus is saying, “Hey guys, chill”. It is not by might but is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you still running in your own strength and will power? Remember, it failed Peter so will it fail us.
Is it your will or the Father’s? We have a choice to make. Is it your way or the highway? May God help us to allow His will to be done in our lives and on earth as it is in heaven. “Lord, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one”. Amen.
I have never forgotten the words of my elementary school headmaster. He must have been quoting someone as he would often say to us, “The last day of a man is very tempting and the end of everything is the most important.” This is true as we observe and study Jesus on the road to the cross.
Jesus knew exactly where he was heading to, the cross. The cross is not an all-you-can eat buffet party. It is a place of trial, pain and death. Jesus did not exempt us from the cross meaning we will have own trials, pain and death of flesh. How did Jesus handle these last days and what did he say? I believe we can learn a whole lot from him as we together examine some of Jesus’ last words from Scripture. You and I would often say things Jesus would not have said when facing our own trials and dying to self.
Luke 22: 39-51:
39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.[e]
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” 47 And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. Prayer was a lifestyle for Jesus. “As He was accustomed”. He lived and breathed on prayer. He was always in constant communion and in touch with the Father. Jesus’ goal was that prayer would also be the do-without for his disciples of then and for now.
2. “Pray that you may not enter into temptation”. Remember Jesus already taught his disciples how to pray much earlier on. Now, Jesus is re-emphasizing one of the points in what we have come to know as the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil one”. To me, it means that this is an important prayer topic for us. Do you wake up each day praying this prayer? I confess that I don’t but I should and will make it a habit. In fact Jesus said it twice to his disciples in this passage (v.46). Our tendency is to worry instead of praying in the midst of crisis or looming crisis. Also, note that sorrow stopped the disciples from praying. Let’s watch for the same obstacles to prayer especially tendency to feel sorry and sorrowful for ourselves.
3. Jesus now prays for himself. “Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me, nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” What kind of prayer is this? On one hand, Jesus knew what the Father’s will is but at the same time he is not ashamed and afraid to tell the Father how he really feels. Christ’s humanity was in good display at this moment. He was vulnerable, weak and could just give up. Does that sound familiar? I have felt like that many times. “Just throw in the towel and call it quits”. This is a real feeling and I believe that is one of the things Jesus is teaching us. We must be real with God. He already knows anyway, so why fake it. Go ahead even right now and tell the Father how disgusted or mad you are with your situation.
4. When we tell God how we really feel, then He sends help. “Then an angel appeared to him from heaven strengthening him.” The Father may not take away our pain but He will send help to strengthen us. Jesus’ prayer was answered according to God’s will. The same applies to us. Our prayers will be answered according to the Father’s will. Let’s not expect any thing different. So what that it did not go your way or my way? I Thank God that it went the Father’s way for Jesus, otherwise, you and me would be in creeps now. I have also seen many times in my life where on hindsight, I thanked God that my prayers were not answered according to my will but the Father’s. I know you can say the same too.
5. This leads me to believe and the scripture (“For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” Matthew 6:8) confirms it that may be a lot of our time in prayer should be spent listening to God tell us what His will is. When we hear it, then we can go and do it. Enough of “Do this Lord and do that Lord”. Rather, “Lord what is your mind on this matter or that matter” Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to pray for us as in Romans 8:27.
6. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” If it were you and me, we would have pushed Judas off and pushed him to the ground. Jesus was still polite even in the midst of crisis. We berate people and take out our anger on them when really it is all about God and us. If we would ever learn this lesson. Judas had his chance to do the right thing and I believe Jesus gave him another chance to repent but he did not. For now, it was between Jesus and the Father. It is a time of obedience for Jesus. Let us stop using other peoples’ bad behavior to avoid obeying a clear voice of God to us. Jesus could not have said, “O Father, you see what Judas did to me, therefore I am not going to the cross”. That would have been our own reaction. Will you stop blaming people and do what is right? When will you and I stop giving and making excuses? You can’t change anyone else but you can change your attitude of defiance and obey the Father. Come on, let’s try it.
7. Did you notice the last healing Jesus performed before going to the cross? “Permit even this. And He touched his ear and healed him.” This must be one of the luckiest guys. Here you are coming to arrest a man who puts your cut off ear in place. Jesus was living out for us what he had taught about loving your enemies. It was Peter who cut off the ear of Malchus (John 18:10). Jesus is saying, “Hey guys, chill”. It is not by might but is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you still running in your own strength and will power? Remember, it failed Peter so will it fail us.
Is it your will or the Father’s? We have a choice to make. Is it your way or the highway? May God help us to allow His will to be done in our lives and on earth as it is in heaven. “Lord, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one”. Amen.
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