Matthew 26: Arrested (5)
Pray Psalm 88.1-3.
O LORD, God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.
Sing Psalm 88.1-3.
Picardy: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
LORD of my salvation, hear me, as I cry by night and day!
Hear my plea, O LORD, bend near me; O, receive me when I pray!
For my soul is weak and weary, and my life draws near the grave.
Read Matthew 26.1-46; meditate on verses 36-46.
Prepare.
1. What did Jesus teach His disciples about prayer?
2. For what did Jesus pray?
Meditate.Jesus prayed. He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Yet He prayed. And in this glimpse into His prayer life, we see just how important prayer was to Him.
O, that prayer might be equally important to us!
Jesus told His disciples that by watching in prayer, they would be able to face whatever temptation came to them (v. 41). Prayer is crucial for recognizing temptation and having the strength from God to resist it (cf. Ps. 73). The disciples, rather than follow the Lord’s instruction and example, failed in their prayers and went to sleep. The rest is history.
Jesus persevered in prayer, praying earnestly—flat on His face (v. 39)—that God would deliver Him through this time of trial. He was deeply sorrowful and distressed (v. 37), not only for Himself, but for His disciples as well. His prayer probably included some intercession for them (cf. Jn. 17). But above all, Jesus prayed that God’s will, not His, would be done (v. 42). And if that meant His suffering—and He knew that it did (in v. 42, the Greek particle εἰ, ei, can be translated “since” as well as “if”)—then He would gladly accept it, and rest in the will of His Father.
Three times Jesus came before the Father with this same prayer. After the third time, His soul was settled into the will of God, and He was ready to face what would happen next.
We need prayer more than we know. If we knew how to pray like Jesus, we would have a greater appreciation for just how great a blessing and privilege this discipline is.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus unpacked for His disciples (and for us, by extension)
what living and praying in the Kingdom of God is like.
He started with all the unique blessings of Kingdom living (Matt. 5.3-12).
Then He told us how to pray and what to pray for in the Kingdom (Matt. 9-13).
Followed up with the importance that should be placed on the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6.33).
Then He spent the rest of His time showing us how to think, and do, in this Kingdom
that the Father has created.
“Do not fear, little flock,
for it is your Father’s good pleasure
to give you the Kingdom” (Lk. 12.32).
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus exemplified:
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6.10).
This was His heart’s plea, and His determination to obey:
“O My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but as You will” (Matt. 26.39).
“O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me
unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt. 26.42).
Often we plead with God to remove from us fear, sorrow, pain, grief, and myriad other troublesome things.
Knowing that Jesus experienced intense sorrow and distress (Matt. 26.38), longed for it to be removed from Him, but gladly acquiesced His Own will to that of the Father, makes it more bearable to hear and believe His words to Paul—upon his pleading that his “thorn in the flesh” be removed from him.
Jesus pled with the Father three times.
Paul pled three times, as well.
Jesus spoke directly to Paul with these words:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12.9).
And Paul answered with his own variation on “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
“Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12.9, 10).
It seems those who suffer most could potentially be the most powerful,
most boastful, most rejoicing, and most victorious Christians around.
If only we could think like Jesus and Paul. Hmm (1 Cor. 2.16; 11.1).
“Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
my King and my God, for to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
in the morning I will direct it to You,
and I will look up” (Ps. 5.1-3).
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Reflect.
1. What are the keys to staying faithful and joyful in the midst of suffering?
2. What can you do to help a friend through a time of suffering?
3. What do we learn from Jesus and His prayer about dealing with trials or suffering?
Having brought with Him Peter, James and John, He began to grieve. Before He brought them along with Him, He did not feel sad. It was only after they had accompanied Him that He grew exceedingly sad. His sadness thus arose not from Himself but from those whom He had taken with Him. Hilary of Poitiers (315-367), The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 83.1
Pray Psalm 88.4-18.
As you pray this psalm, think of Jesus, as He prayed before the Father, before descending into His suffering. Give thanks and praise for His sacrifice.
Sing Psalm 88.4-18.
Picardy: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Like a person thought to be dying, like a man whose strength is gone;
like one with the slain now lying, like a dead and buried one.
For Your mercy I am sighing, cut off from Your hand and gone.
In the lowest pit You have set me, in a deep and darkening place.
All Your holy wrath has beset me, overwhelming me in waves.
All my former friends forget me; on me now they look with hate.
All day long I cry in vain, LORD, as my eye is wasting away.
Can a dead man sing Your praise, LORD? Can I testify from the grave?
Will I tell Your love again, LORD? Will I sing Your pow’r and grace?
Morning comes and, LORD, I am crying: Why do You my soul reject?
From my youth have I been dying; pain and terrors sore afflict.
Fear and anger, sorely trying, overwhelm, destroy, reject.
All day long my foes surround me, like a threat’ning, rising flood.
Circling round they sought and found me, taking from me all that is good.
Friend and lover gone, they hound me—all my friends in darkness stood.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast features excerpts from the book, Patrick: A Devotional History. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column continues our study of “Everyday Christianity”. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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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. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).
