Introduction
Jesus shared a lot of cool stuff with His disciples that night [of the last supper] in the upper room, besides the fact that He loved them and expected them to lead as servant leaders. He tells them once again that He will be leaving them but not to be afraid, that He is leaving to prepare a place for them. He tells them to remember that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He shares what the role of the coming Holy Spirit will be in their lives and much, much more. Come and take a look.
Reading [You can read as much as you can, depending on your availability]
John 14:1-17:26
(and)
Luke 22:39-46
(or)
Matthew 26:36-46
(or)
Mark 14:32-42
Meditating [Use these questions to start your thinking]
- What do we know about how Jesus prayed in the garden? (Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46)
- What lessons about prayer is Jesus modeling?
- How were the disciples responding during this time?
- What other questions do you still have?
Sharing: Text ONE of your answers to the questions above to your team. Each team should post a sharing from a team member in the comments below.
What a night! Jesus is going back over a lot of what He has been teaching these leaders over the past three and a half years of investing in them, as well as telling them new things. There is a little bit of everything here. One thing that I do not want you to miss is Jesus’ incredibly instructive illustration to sum up many of the things He has been talking about. He likens leadership in the movement to a vineyard. He says the Father is a vinedresser, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He lays out for us each person’s role in the process. God’s job as the vinedresser is to wash and prune, Jesus’ job as vine is to provide the life-giving nourishment to the branches, the Holy Spirit’s job is to bear fruit and our job is to abide on the vine. Sometimes we want to do God’s job, Jesus’ job or the Holy Spirit’s job. Our job makes us feel very unimportant. Our job is to simply remain, or abide, in Jesus, the vine, and allow the fruit of the Holy Spirit to develop on our branches. Leaders, your number one job is to remain in Jesus. Stay connected to the vine or you cannot bear any spiritual fruit. The fruit comes as you get into the word of God, spend time with the Father, get close to the Bridegroom and listen to His voice. If you want to bear fruit for the kingdom — abide in Jesus. The fruit that you bear will last, and it will be in proportion to the abiding you are doing.
He then warns them one last time of the coming persecution. With this, they sing a song and head across the valley and up the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30). Jesus takes them to a place they were familiar with, because each day He would go there after a hard day in the temple preaching. He takes them to the quiet of a garden called Gethsemane, on the lower slope of the Mount of Olives. There, Jesus once again takes Peter, James, and John, the leaders of the leaders, a little deeper into the garden and tells them to stay awake, keep watch and pray that they would not fall into temptation. He goes about a stone’s throw further, kneels down, and begins to talk with the Father. In deep agony, He begins to sweat drops of blood. He prays, “‘Abba, Father,’ he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will’” (Mark 14:36). The disciples must have heard this part of the prayer — maybe Jesus was screaming it in agony — or maybe they asked Him after He rose from the dead: “Remember back in the garden when you were praying, Jesus? What were you saying to the Father and what was His response?” We do not know when the disciples discovered the essence of the conversation between the Father and the Son, but when they did hear, it made a lasting impression on them. Jesus was saying, “not my will but yours be done.” These are the same words God waits each day to hear from you and me. Each moment of each day the Father waits for us to yield our wills, to release control, and to allow Jesus to live through us. The overwhelming teaching of the Apostle Paul is that Jesus is in me to live through me.
Jesus gets up from His praying and goes to check on His leaders, and they are fast asleep. It has been a long day and they are exhausted. Jesus wakes them up and encourages them to watch and pray so that they will not fall in the moment of temptation. He then returns and keeps praying, “‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done’” (Matt. 26:42). We see God the Son desiring a different will than God the Father, yet the Son submits to the will of the Father. He went back again and they were once again sleeping. At that very moment, Judas, leading a crowd of people with clubs and swords, comes marching up to seize Jesus and take Him away to be judged.
Each moment of each day the Father waits for us to yield our wills to His will. He longs to hear us say, “Father, not my will, but yours be done in my life!” Spend some time with others talking about what it means to give up your will for the will of God and how one does this daily.
What lessons about prayer is Jesus modeling?
We should pray in the times of our distress and to ask God to help us. We also see that when we are facing situations when sin or temptation are near, that we should pray to be able to have the strength to resist those temptations and sin. I’m sure Jesus was tempted to not die on the cross but because of his prayers and God strengthening him, he was able to fulfill the Father’s will on our behalf.
How were the disciples responding during this time?
The disciples were tired so they kept falling in and out of sleep. I don’t think the disciples understood the severity of what was happening with Jesus. Their main focus was on staying awake.
Today’s passage gave a lot of emphasis on praying to God about our temptation. Jesus directed his followers and urgently told them even when it seemed like they were exhausted from grief. Jesus also prayed for God’s will to be done and it was interested how he asked God because rather than having his request be about his wants, he made sure to have it according to God’s will. I could see the great pain that Jesus went through as he prayed fervently. I wonder what he was praying for but if it is for us then that is major love on his part. You can see the different end results after praying between his disciples and him. It was either they did not trust in God’s power enough or it was too painful for them but only Jesus can handle it. All in all, today’s passage was very interesting to read.