Jesus Devotional - Day 10
Day Ten
Jesus: Real, Relevant, and Radical!
The Battle rages
Luke 22:41(NLT) He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
Matthew 26:36-39(NLT) Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying,
No human being, whether alive today or throughout history, can fully grasp the magnitude of this moment. Scholars have debated it, skeptics have doubted it, and believers have argued about it, but ultimately, only Jesus experienced it. What happened in the garden? Instead of making assumptions and jumping to conclusions, let’s let Jesus’ words guide us. What occurs in the garden can only be understood through what Jesus says, what He does, and what He experiences. He went further than anyone else, and He is alone with the Father. The crowd from Palm Sunday has dispersed. The twelve He was with in the upper room is now eleven. He whittles the eleven down to only three: Peter, James, and John. Then He is alone.
The pressure is mounting. Imagine yourself there, feeling the tension in a grove filled with olive trees. In normal circumstances, this is a place of peace, a place of tranquility, a place of rest. But this night, rest is absent and war is raging. This quiet place has turned into a war zone, albeit a spiritual war zone. The fact that this all happens in the Garden of Gethsemane is significant. Gethsemane means “oil press.” Jesus withdraws to pray because the weight of what is about to happen is pressing down on Him. The enormity of what is about to occur now rests squarely on Jesus’ shoulders. There’s no retreat or turning back. This is a battle to the bitter end, and our Champion fights on His knees. The enemy is working, but so is the Father.
Remember, Jesus was both fully God and fully man. In His humanity, the reality of this moment is daunting. He takes Peter, James, and John aside, and He is anguished and distressed. Jesus is visibly shaken. But He is not just shaken; He also tells them, V38 "He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’”
What is going on here? Is Jesus afraid of the cross? Is He afraid of the suffering? Listen to His words. Listen to what He says: “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Notice the second part of Verse 38; it will clue us in. “Stay here and keep watch.” Is Jesus telling them to watch for someone coming? Absolutely not. He is telling them to pray and engage in this war that is raging. He tells them that His soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. In other words, “I am fighting for my life; fight with Me.” The three men He trusted most, the three He shared with more intimately, the three who saw Him on the Mount of Transfiguration, He is asking them to be (pardon the expression) in the foxhole with Him.
How do we know this is true? Remember, just hours ago, they were in the upper room. In this discourse, there are a couple of clues we shouldn’t overlook. We might easily miss them, but they help us understand this moment better. John 13:2-3 (NLT) "It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.” In all of this, don’t miss that the devil is working overtime. It might be subtle, but it’s as real as the nose on your face. The disciples are clueless. Jesus tried to give them a clue, but they, just like us, can’t see the forest for the trees. The devil has already trapped Judas, but Jesus clearly states His authority over everything.
We find another clue in Chapter 14. John 14:30-31 (NLT) “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, 31 but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.” Jesus clearly tells them the devil is on his way, but Jesus reiterates again that the devil has no power over Him. Then notice the next phrase: 31 “But I will do what the Father requires of me.” Jesus’ mind was not being made up in the garden; His mind was already made up before He ever came to the garden.
The devil is doing everything he can to stop Jesus. He wants to prevent Him from fulfilling the very purpose He came for. Jesus is not battling His own will in the garden; He is standing against the enemy’s attack on His life. The anguish He experiences and the grief in His soul, along with His physical condition, show us that He is in a battle for His life, but we know He understood what He was facing. He was already prepared because He saw the enemy coming and told His disciples. He also told them that the enemy has no power over Him. The devil is a murderer from the beginning, according to Jesus (John 8:44). Jesus said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) Killing is the devil’s nature. The devil did not try to kill Jesus on the cross; he tried to kill Jesus before He could reach the cross. The cross is where Jesus suffered because of God’s wrath against sin.
Jesus is not afraid of the suffering or physical pain of the cross. He is grieved over the consequences of the cross. He is grieved over the fact that He must bear the sin of the world, which means separation from the Father. Isaiah 53:10-12 (NLT) “But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet, when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Jesus overcame the devil in the pressing of the garden. He conquered sin through His suffering on the cross. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be given the honors of a victorious soldier because He exposed Himself to death. Hallelujah to our Champion! He was pressed to the point of death, but the devil had no power over Him. Jesus teaches us how to overcome when the battle rages. How do we win these spiritual battles we face? The same way Jesus did. When we are pressed. When we are tempted. When we are tested. When our souls are stricken with grief. When what we are facing seems too heavy to bear. That’s when we follow Jesus’s example; we press into our Father’s presence.
We do what our Champion has shown us to do...
Prayer:
Jesus: Real, Relevant, and Radical!
The Battle rages
Luke 22:41(NLT) He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
Matthew 26:36-39(NLT) Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying,
No human being, whether alive today or throughout history, can fully grasp the magnitude of this moment. Scholars have debated it, skeptics have doubted it, and believers have argued about it, but ultimately, only Jesus experienced it. What happened in the garden? Instead of making assumptions and jumping to conclusions, let’s let Jesus’ words guide us. What occurs in the garden can only be understood through what Jesus says, what He does, and what He experiences. He went further than anyone else, and He is alone with the Father. The crowd from Palm Sunday has dispersed. The twelve He was with in the upper room is now eleven. He whittles the eleven down to only three: Peter, James, and John. Then He is alone.
The pressure is mounting. Imagine yourself there, feeling the tension in a grove filled with olive trees. In normal circumstances, this is a place of peace, a place of tranquility, a place of rest. But this night, rest is absent and war is raging. This quiet place has turned into a war zone, albeit a spiritual war zone. The fact that this all happens in the Garden of Gethsemane is significant. Gethsemane means “oil press.” Jesus withdraws to pray because the weight of what is about to happen is pressing down on Him. The enormity of what is about to occur now rests squarely on Jesus’ shoulders. There’s no retreat or turning back. This is a battle to the bitter end, and our Champion fights on His knees. The enemy is working, but so is the Father.
Remember, Jesus was both fully God and fully man. In His humanity, the reality of this moment is daunting. He takes Peter, James, and John aside, and He is anguished and distressed. Jesus is visibly shaken. But He is not just shaken; He also tells them, V38 "He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’”
What is going on here? Is Jesus afraid of the cross? Is He afraid of the suffering? Listen to His words. Listen to what He says: “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Notice the second part of Verse 38; it will clue us in. “Stay here and keep watch.” Is Jesus telling them to watch for someone coming? Absolutely not. He is telling them to pray and engage in this war that is raging. He tells them that His soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. In other words, “I am fighting for my life; fight with Me.” The three men He trusted most, the three He shared with more intimately, the three who saw Him on the Mount of Transfiguration, He is asking them to be (pardon the expression) in the foxhole with Him.
How do we know this is true? Remember, just hours ago, they were in the upper room. In this discourse, there are a couple of clues we shouldn’t overlook. We might easily miss them, but they help us understand this moment better. John 13:2-3 (NLT) "It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.” In all of this, don’t miss that the devil is working overtime. It might be subtle, but it’s as real as the nose on your face. The disciples are clueless. Jesus tried to give them a clue, but they, just like us, can’t see the forest for the trees. The devil has already trapped Judas, but Jesus clearly states His authority over everything.
We find another clue in Chapter 14. John 14:30-31 (NLT) “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, 31 but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.” Jesus clearly tells them the devil is on his way, but Jesus reiterates again that the devil has no power over Him. Then notice the next phrase: 31 “But I will do what the Father requires of me.” Jesus’ mind was not being made up in the garden; His mind was already made up before He ever came to the garden.
The devil is doing everything he can to stop Jesus. He wants to prevent Him from fulfilling the very purpose He came for. Jesus is not battling His own will in the garden; He is standing against the enemy’s attack on His life. The anguish He experiences and the grief in His soul, along with His physical condition, show us that He is in a battle for His life, but we know He understood what He was facing. He was already prepared because He saw the enemy coming and told His disciples. He also told them that the enemy has no power over Him. The devil is a murderer from the beginning, according to Jesus (John 8:44). Jesus said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) Killing is the devil’s nature. The devil did not try to kill Jesus on the cross; he tried to kill Jesus before He could reach the cross. The cross is where Jesus suffered because of God’s wrath against sin.
Jesus is not afraid of the suffering or physical pain of the cross. He is grieved over the consequences of the cross. He is grieved over the fact that He must bear the sin of the world, which means separation from the Father. Isaiah 53:10-12 (NLT) “But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet, when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Jesus overcame the devil in the pressing of the garden. He conquered sin through His suffering on the cross. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be given the honors of a victorious soldier because He exposed Himself to death. Hallelujah to our Champion! He was pressed to the point of death, but the devil had no power over Him. Jesus teaches us how to overcome when the battle rages. How do we win these spiritual battles we face? The same way Jesus did. When we are pressed. When we are tempted. When we are tested. When our souls are stricken with grief. When what we are facing seems too heavy to bear. That’s when we follow Jesus’s example; we press into our Father’s presence.
We do what our Champion has shown us to do...
Prayer:
- Pray for the Lord to give you a discerning heart and mind so that you will be aware of the devil’s schemes.
- Pray to the Lord for strength during the battle.
- Remind yourself that the battle is the Lord’s, and victory belongs to you.
- Thank the Lord for what He has done for us, not only on the cross but also in the garden.
- Pray for others who might be struggling in this spiritual war.
Posted in Jesus Devotional