Luke 22 (2) (2)

Pray Psalm 116.1-6.
I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.

Sing Psalm 116.1-6.
(Mit Freuden Zart: Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above)
I love the LORD because He hears my cries and pleas for mercy.
Because He bends to me His ears, my prayers shall ever thus be.
The snares of death encompassed me; hell’s grip could not unloosened be;
distress and anguish pressed me.

I called to God, “O LORD, I pray, my soul redeem with favor!”
The LORD is gracious in His way, and righteous is our Savior.
His mercy to the simple flies; He lifted me up to the skies.
I rest in Him forever!

Read Luke 22.1-46; meditate on verses 39-46.

Preparation
1. What did Jesus tell His disciples to do?

2. How was Jesus helped during His agony of prayer?

Meditation
Jesus instructed His disciples to pray that they might not enter into temptation (v. 40). Then He undertook the same effort Himself.

We see how intense Jesus’ struggle was: Kneeling in prayer, calling on His Father to remove the cup of suffering that was before Him, receiving the help of an angel, praying even more earnestly, sweating “like great drops of blood” (vv. 41-44). Betrayal, shame, pain, and death—as if these weren’t bad enough, Jesus knew that to bear the sins of the world He would experience both separation from His Father and wrath at His hand. But He embraced His great work freely, so great is His love for us.

By continuing in prayer, Jesus overcame whatever temptation—to call down a legion of angels?—He might have encountered and persevered through it to perfect obedience. He accepted the cup of suffering prepared for Him from before the foundation of the world. We can’t say the same for the disciples (vv. 45, 46). Jesus prevailed through prayer. They failed without it.

And what about us? The cup of salvation we drink each day may entail sacrifice, hardship, opposition, even suffering. Through prayer we can take up that cup, drink it down, and be renewed in grace to fulfill our calling each day. Let’s not fail to drink the cup the Lord has prepared for us.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Without the Holy Spirit the disciples:
1. Knew that each one of them was capable of betraying Jesus, and wondered aloud, “Is it I?” (Mk. 14.19).
2. Bickered about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God (Lk. 22.24).
3. Snoozed. (Luke 22.45)
“All the while knowing that Jesus was facing an impending, horrible death (Lk. 22.15, 16).
Good job, boys!

But I wonder, do we do the very same things?
1. Do we betray Him by not obeying Him? (Ps. 119.112; Jn. 14.15; 15.14; 1 Jn. 5.3)
2. Do we try to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God by any means other than love for God and others? (Ps. 116.12-14, 17, 18; 1 Jn. 4.21)
3. Do we ever sleep on the job in our times of Bible reading and prayer, or in the calling we have in our Personal Mission Field? (Eph. 2.8-10)

“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality” (Rom. 12.10-13).

The disciples, at that point in their lives, had an excuse. They were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit. We are without excuse, as we have the potential to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Daily. Moment by moment. As Jesus declared: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Lk. 11.13) The necessity? Ask for the power to live properly in His Kingdom, and He will surely give it.

“The cup of salvation we drink each day may entail sacrifice, hardship, opposition, even suffering. Through prayer we can take up that cup, drink it down, and be renewed in grace to fulfill our calling each day”. And unlike the cup of suffering that Jesus took up, we will never be separated from our heavenly Father, because Jesus was separated for us. He did that once for all (Rom. 6.10) Praise His Holy Name. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8.38, 39). “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8.1).

“The Lord’s Cup—and Ours.”

For reflection
1. Why is our calling, like the Lord’s, likened to a “cup” we must “drink”?

2. What is the “up” side of drinking that cup?

3. Why would anyone decline to drink this cup?

We should pray also to be enabled to resist unto the shedding of our blood, striving against sin, if ever called to it. When next you dwell in imagination upon the delights of some favorite sin, think of its effects as you behold them here! See its fearful effects in the garden of Gethsemane, and desire, by the help of God, deeply to hate and to forsake that enemy, to ransom sinners [for] whom the Redeemer prayed, agonized, and bled. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Luke 22.39-46

Pray Psalm 116.7-19.
Thank the Lord for His abundant goodness. Recall in detail how you came to faith in Jesus, and thank Him for everyone involved. Take up the cup He has assigned to you and seek more of His saving mercy and grace to help you in all your times of need today.

Sing Psalm 116.7-19.
(Mit Freuden Zart: Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above)
Full well the LORD has dealt with me; my soul from death He delivered.
My weeping eyes, my stumbling feet, He has redeemed forever.
Forever I before His face shall walk with those who know His grace,
and dwell with them forever.

Afflicted, I believe His Word, though lying men would undo me.
What shall I render to the Lord for all His blessings to me?
Salvation’s cup I lift above and call upon the God of love
and pay my vows most truly.

How sweet to Him when saints depart – save me, Your servant, Savior!
From sin You loosed my wand’ring heart; I praise Your Name forever!
On You I call, my vows to pay; here in Your Presence I would stay,
Your praise to offer ever.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.