Bible Study Materials

Luke 22:39-62 (2012)

by Paul Choi   02/26/2012  

Question


JESUS PRAYS ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

Luke 22:39-62

Key Verse:22:42

1. Read verses 39-40. Where did Jesus go? What do the words ”as usual” suggest? (21:37-38) Who followed him? What did he instruct his disciples to do?

2. Read verses 41-44. What was Jesus’ prayer topic? What did he mean by "this cup"? What was God's will? (Lk 9:22) Why and how did he struggle? What does this show about him? What can we learn here from Jesus?

3. Read verses 45-46. What were the disciples doing? What does “exhausted from sorrow” mean? Why did Jesus want them to pray? (40,46) What does this reveal about the disciples?

4. Read verses 47-48. Who led the arresters? How did Jesus warn Judas? (Why "Son of Man"?) (69; 9:26) What is the irony of the kiss?

5. Read verses 49-53 How did the other disciples react? What did Jesus teach his disciples by word and action? How did he expose the cowardice of those who came to arrest him?

6. Read verses 54-62. Describe Peter’s progression toward denial (40,46,50, 54, 55). Describe his three denials. When and what did Peter remember? What did Jesus’ straight look at Peter mean? (61; 31-34; Mt 16:18)


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Message


JESUS PRAYS IN GETHSEMANE

Luke 22:39-62

Key Verse: 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

It is not too much to emphasize the importance of prayer. Prayer is a personal fellowship with God and constant communication with Him. Through prayer we know God’s will and through prayer we let God know our will. Therefore, all the Scriptures encourage all believers to continue to pray without ceasing. Today our Lord Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was the very night before he was crucified. Jesus prepared his upcoming death and resurrection through prayer. Through this prayer he overcame himself. Through this prayer, he defeated Satan’s power. Through this prayer Jesus restored Adam’s failure. Today we will study about Jesus’ prayer in the Garden the night he was arrested. May God help us to learn Jesus’ prayer so that we all may become warriors of prayer like our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

First, Jesus prayed as usual.(39) Look at verse 39. “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.” We need to notice the words, “as usual.” The words “as usual” tell us of Jesus’ routine prayer life. Mark 1:35 shows Jesus’ regular and early morning prayer. It says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Jesus started his day with prayer. Jesus served the demanding crowd day and night. He spent all day long with his immature disciples. Still, he didn’t miss early morning prayer. He reminds me of msn. Abraham Park who comes to the Bible house for early morning prayer every day.

  Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives. It means Jesus regularly went to the mountain to pray. The moment Jesus disappeared from the crowd, he was somewhere to pray. Jesus prayed frequently and unceasingly. To him, prayer was like his daily routine. One senior pastor prayed continually. He prayed first before whatever he did. He prayed when he sat down. He prayed when he got up. He prayed before he taught and he prayed before he finished the class. He had constant personal fellowships with God. He learned of Jesus’ prayer life. We also should pray as usual as we eat and drink daily. Prayer is not optional, but vital to Christians.

Second, Jesus asked his disciples to pray. (40) His disciples followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives. They knew why Jesus went there. They knew what Jesus wanted them to do. They should pray. Look at verse 40. “On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’” We have many reasons to pray. Here Jesus asked his disciples to pray in order not to fall into temptation. We also should pray not to fall into temptation. The first man Adam failed in Satan’s temptation because he didn’t pray. He did not hear God’s voice. Rather, he heard his wife’s words, which contained Satan’s poison.  When we don’t pray, we easily fall into temptation. I believe that Joseph in the Old Testament always prayed. So he could overcome Potiphar’s wife’s temptation. Job also prayed so that he could overcome Satan’s temptation. Those who prayed overcame temptations. On the contrary, those who didn’t pray easily fell into temptation.  When King Saul didn’t pray, he was always tortured with hatred and jealousy toward David. When King Solomon didn’t pray, he was deceived by his own weakness in dealing with women. We should pray not to fall into temptation. When we don’t pray, we easily become emotional. When we don’t pray, our spiritual eyes become blind.

Third, not my will, but yours be done. (41-44) Look at verses 41,42. “He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” People generally think that prayer is requesting something from God. In other words, I ask to God to let my will be accomplished or my desire be fulfilled. This is partially true, but not all. Indeed, it is more than this. According to Jesus’ prayer we learn that prayer is to let God’s will be done. Prayer is to deny my will so that God’s will may be done in me and through me. Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Here this cup indicates Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. Jesus was well aware of what God’s will was. God’s will was to let Jesus suffer and die on the cross for the sins of the world. However, it was too difficult for Jesus to follow God’s will because he himself took on humanness as we have. Jesus knew how very painful it would be when he was separated from God the Father. He knew how painful would be nails and spears piercing his hands, feet, and side. So, as much as he could, he wanted to avoid the cross. Avoiding the cross was Jesus’ will. However, Jesus prayed, “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus denied himself to obey God’s will. He submitted himself to the will of God.

  Those who are condemned don’t ask God’s will because they always follow their own will. But, we, children of God, are different. We often struggle between God’s will and our own will. Someone says that prayer is a fierce spiritual battle between God’s will and our own will. Prayer is to let God’s will win over our own will so that we may have peace with God. What is God’s will? How do we know what God’s will is? God let us know what God likes us to do. God reveals his will through his word. God speaks his will to our conscience. We know what God wants us to do. Jesus knew what God the Father wanted him to do. So he struggled. God let us know what he wants us to do. We should struggle through prayer to deny our own will in order to obey God’s will.

  How much did Jesus struggle to obey God’s will?  How much do we have to struggle? Verse 43 says that an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. We remember that an angel came down and wrestled with Jacob who was earnestly praying by the Jabok River. The angel helped Jacob to pray until daybreak.  This time, an angel from heaven came to Jesus and helped his prayer. Look at verse 44. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Here, the words, “being in anguish”, means “being in great pain and sorrow.”  The cup which Jesus would drink is the cup of suffering. It contained the sorrow and pain of the whole world for all generations. The cup which Jesus would take is death on the cross. Jesus would take up the cross, which is the weight of the sins of the world. Can you bear one person’s agony and burden on your shoulder? Can you bear another’s sin in your own body? Personally I was anguished since I heard one of our members suffering from his sin problem. Jesus was in great sorrow and pain before the cross for the sins of the world.

We don’t know exactly what had happened, whether Jesus shed blood-mixed sweat or his sweat was changed into blood. The author Luke was a historian and medical doctor. Luke didn’t write a fiction, but wrote as it was based on the fact. Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke described Jesus’ prayer as a vehement bloody struggle. Jesus struggled until his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Have you ever prayed until your sweat was like drops of blood falling to the floor? Hebrews 12:4 says, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” 

What does it mean that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground? It means that Jesus prayed until he completely submitted himself to God. In other words, Jesus won the spiritual battle between God’s will and his own will. Jesus finished the race and won the victory. Jesus did not give up his prayer on the way. He did not drop out. Instead, he continued to pray until his will was submitted to God’s will. He prayed all the more until he had peace with God the Father through his obedience.  Jesus determined to obey God’s will. Now Jesus was ready to drink the cup of suffering. He was willing to take up the cross.

Are you struggling between God’s will and your own will? Do not follow your physical desire, but bring it to God in prayer. Pray about what God really wants you to do. Don’t give up. Work hard until you find yourself in a fierce spiritual battle. Don’t stop until you have a clear answer from God. Continue to pray until you have peace with God through your decision. Before I got married, I had to pray seeking for God’s will. I was not sure of my marriage because I had decided not to marry and to live as a single man like the Apostle Paul. I brought it to God in prayer. For two weeks I knelt down and prayed until I got an answer from God. God gave me peace in my heart through the work of the Holy Spirit when I decided to marry missionary Mary.  Don’t treat your life as random. As I have mentioned before, we, who are children of God, must pray to seek our Father’s will in all matters in our lives such as choosing our spouse, job, major, school, church, and so on.

Fourth, get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. (45-46) While Jesus was carrying out a fierce spiritual battle all night, what were Jesus’ disciples doing? Look at verses 45,46. “When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them a sleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?”  he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Jesus found his disciples sleeping.  In Mark’s gospel Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Mk 14:37,38)  Previously Jesus warned them to pray so that they might not fall into temptation. But, his disciples forgot Jesus’ words, ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation,” and they remembered only the words, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Then, they fell asleep.

  God knows our weakness. God knows that we are busy and tired of carrying many responsibilities. One missionary has to carry three crosses, the cross of mission, the cross of family and the cross of work at the same time. Nevertheless, Jesus wants us to pray because our spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Jesus wants us to beat our body to follow our spirit. It is not easy for us to get up early in the morning and pray. No one wants to get up and come to prayer meeting because we are tired. I also do not want to get up every morning at 5:45 am and hurry to come to prayer meeting at the Bible house. These days gas prices are going up. A round trip from my house to the bible house has a cost. Nevertheless, Jesus wants me to pray in order not to fall into temptation.

Fifth, Jesus’ arrest and Peter’s denial (47-62). These verses show us clearly what happened to his disciples when they did not pray, when they did not prepare for coming trials. In verses 47-53, when Judas brought the soldiers and the religious leaders to arrest Jesus, other disciples became emotional and violent.  Peter pulled out a sword and cut the right ear of one of the soldiers. (50)  They wanted to solve problems with their own strength and ideas. Their ideas was ‘eye for eye’, tooth for tooth’. But, Jesus healed the ear of the soldier and rebuked his disciples saying, “No more of this.” (51)

  When we don’t pray, we become easily emotional and violent. We become angry, fearful and rash.  During the last UBF USA and Canada staff conference, Dr. Sarah Wang Brown shared her testimony and mission report in China. She asked us to pray for her to eat daily bread and to have prayer time so that she may not become angry and make mistakes. She confessed that whenever she became angry, she made mistakes. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But, when we don’t pray, we become filled with all kinds of evil spirits. We must pray so that we may not become tools of Satan, but that we might become servants of God. Those who pray bear fruits of the Holy Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22,23)

  Verses 54-62 show how Peter denied Jesus as Jesus had predicted. Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny Jesus three times. In verses 34 Jesus said, “…I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” As Jesus had predicted, Peter denied Jesus three times. While Jesus was being tried in the house of the high priest, Peter was keeping himself warm by a fire. Three times he was challenged by three different people who had asked him if he knew Christ Jesus. Three times Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. Just after he denied, the rooster crowed. At that time the Lord Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Why did Jesus stare at Peter? It was so Peter might remember Jesus’ words. Verse 61 says, “…Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.

  In today’s passage we learned Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer. Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed the night he was arrested. Jesus prepared for his upcoming suffering and death through his prayer. His prayer was an intense spiritual battle in order to obey God’s will. How much must we pray in order to obey God’s will? We all must go to the Mount of Olives to pray. We all need our own Garden of Gethsemane where we can have a deep personal fellowship with God. We must struggle until we submit our will to God’s will. I pray that God may raise all of us as warriors of prayer for God’s will for world salvation. May God make our Bible house as a prayer mountain, the Garden of Gethsemane for Wash U, UMSL, SLU and all the campuses in St. Louis area.  May God’s kingdom come and His will be done. Amen.


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