Luke 22:40-46

⁴⁰ “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.⁴⁵ When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.⁴⁶ “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Jesus’ last prayer “… Father …”

As you may have heard, I lost my grandfather at the age of 6 and my father at the age of 10 and I was brought up in a Christian children’s home. I will always remember what they taught me, as it meant so much to me and was in fact their “last words” to me. When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior at 13, I chose to always remember Jesus’ last words when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Let us look more carefully at today’s Scripture. In verse 40, Jesus asks his disciples to pray that they will not fall into temptation. Jesus loved to spend time alone in prayer with his Father and he was in total obedience to his will (v. 42). How about us? Are we willing and able to commit ourselves to the will of the Father? Jesus asks his Father to “remove this cup from me.” What did Christ mean by “this cup”? He is praying to be delivered from the punishment of separation from God, the ultimate penalty for sin. Jesus prayed that his physical death might be accepted as full payment for the sins of sinners. However, he prayed, “yet not my will, but yours be done”. He then committed to undergo both physical death and spiritual separation from his Heavenly Father in order to achieve our salvation.

The physical and spiritual suffering of Jesus began in Gethsemane. His sweat was like great drops of blood (v. 44). Under great stress, the small capillaries in the sweat glands can break and mix blood with sweat.

I become sentimental on reading this text again and again. At times I do not really understand the reaction of the disciples. How in the world were they sleeping! Did they perhaps not know what was going to happen? Again, Jesus asked his disciples to get up and pray so that they would not fall into temptation.

Are you tired of Covid? Are you longing to see the smiling faces of your loved ones? Take heart and pray! Pray without ceasing! There is an end to everything, also to the pandemic.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for reminding us today of the last prayer from the Garden of Gethsemane. May you help us to pray that we don’t fall into the temptations of this world and that you will also give us the words to pray. Help us to grow to be prayer warriors. Thank you for dying for us on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. Help us to be your witnesses. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.