Well, it’s another Sunday morning. “Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.’ And he came up to Jesus at once and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.” Matthew 26:48-51 (ESV).
I really cannot imagine what Jesus must have been feeling. The love He has for us is amazing. We are to Thursday of the week that He took the cross for our sins. A lot happened on this Thursday. On that afternoon Jesus and the Disciples were going to prepare their Passover meal. The Disciples found someone willing to let them use the upper room of their house so that they could eat their Passover meal together.
That Thursday evening Jesus and the twelve Disciples ate the Passover meal. During the meal, Jesus washed the Disciples’ feet, and Jesus said one of them would betray him, they all denied that they would ever do that. A little later Jesus pointed out Judas as the one who would betray him. We read about this in John 13:26 (ESV) “Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.’ So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.” After that, Judas slipped away into the night to go to the chief priests and do the awful deed of betraying Jesus to them. After Judas left Jesus warned the eleven Disciples against deserting Him, but they all spoke of their loyalty. Jesus then told Peter about him denying him. Jesus Said this in John 13:36-38 (ESV): “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
At the end of the Passover meal that night Jesus took a piece of the unleavened bread, and a cup, showing them the broken bread that represented His body, as it would be broken on the Cross. Then He said to them that the cup they drank from represented the Blood He would shed for the forgiveness of sins.
After that, they left the room where they had celebrated the Passover and went out into the night to a place where Jesus often prayed. We read this in Matthew 26:36 (ESV): “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and James and John and went deeper into the darkness of the Garden. He left them a little way off and went farther into the Garden of Gethsemane.” In Luke 22:44 (ESV) We read this: “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.’” Matthew 26:39-46 (ESV). I personally believe that Jesus nearly died in Gethsemane, because it was there that the sins of the world were placed on Him. But God heard His prayer and prepared Him for the ordeal He would go through the next day.
Now the high priest’s men and the soldiers broke into the Garden and arrested Jesus. Judas had led them to Him, telling them that the one he kissed would be Jesus. They arrested our Savior and took Him away to be tried by the high priest.
I cannot imagine just how much anguish, stress, rejection, and how utterly alone our LORD must have felt. He did it all because he loves us and He wants our sinful ways to be forgiven. In return for all He did, all He wants is for us to share the good word and to love others as he loves us, I would like to share that love with you today, God truly loves each and every one of you and so do I.
