Luke 22:39-53
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
47 While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Reflection
Jesus has previously given us instructions about prayer (Luke 11:1–13; 18:1–8). Here he models one of the most important and universal truths about what our prayer life should be like. Jesus shares his genuine desires and even mourns before the Father with full honesty and humility (22:44). He desires to be delivered from the pain and suffering he is facing (v. 42). Yet there is something in his prayer that is even more important than his requests. It is his willingness to surrender himself to whatever God’s greater plan might be: “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (v. 42). This is the heart of childlike faith that honors God and brings the truest blessing to our lives. We can pray bold prayers, knowing that God is our Father because of the work of Christ. Yet we can also rest in confidence that since he is our Father, if he denies our requests it is only because it is best for us. It may be the very means by which he gives us “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).
1 Timothy 3:14-16
14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
Reflection
The church is the place where God most clearly manifests his living presence; we are his “household” (1 Tim. 3:15). Therefore, we are a “pillar and buttress of the truth” (v. 15), which means that the church family has been appointed to uphold and support the truth that God has revealed through Christ. This is done not only through our proclamation and defense of the gospel but also by demonstrating that our lives are being transformed by the gospel (2:2, 8–14; 3:1–7, 8–13, 14–15).
Paul shows us the source of strength for godly living in verse 16, pointing us to Christ himself as the essence and source of all godly conduct. So the call to honor God is not a call to self-reliant morality, but a call to live out the realities of the gospel. Because of Christ’s saving grace, all those who believe in him have been united to him and begin to live out personally the godliness Christ embodied in his own life. Paul’s call to godliness is thus both gospel-generated and gospel-sustained. If you have Christ, you possess and are possessed by the very “mystery of godliness” (v. 16). And you can live out this mystery!
Psalm 33:21
21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
A surrendered heart is a happy heart. Just as Jesus surrendered himself before the Father in his moment of trial, so we should live with a “your will be done” (Luke 22:42) attitude. Ask God to give you the strength to lay your will upon his altar so that you can live for his purposes and glory rather than your own.