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II. T he W eakness of the F lesh (Matt. 26:40-46) When Jesus f o u n d the disciples asleep, His rebuke of them was tem pered by His knowledge of the weak ness of The flesh. But He had to say to Peter, who a few hours before had declared that he would never be of fended (cf. v. 33) in Jesus: “Could ye not watch with me one hour?” * (v. *40). Then He gave the sure remedy for failure c a u s e d by t h e flesh: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” But even with this rebuke and ex hortation, the disciples fell asleep the second time, and now He left them alone, and went away to continue His battle alone. The third time He returned to them —this time in His triumphant vic tory, saying, “The hour is at hand.” He was then fully ready for that hour of betrayal into the hands of sinners by the hand of one who was His near and professed friend (cf. Psa. 41:9). The strength of His self-sur render shines all the brighter as it is set against the weakness of the flesh, a weakness that characterizes every human being. III. T he D evotion of P eter (John 18:10-12) Roused f r o m sleep, and perhaps smarting u n d e r self-accusation be cause of the sleep, Peter resented the arrest of his Master and impul sively acted to make good his asser tion that he would never be offended in Him. But|it is easier to draw the sword and rashly interpose between the will of God and its enemies, than to quietly watch and pray with the Lord. In spite of the rashness and ill-timed effort, we cannot but admire Peter in his enthusiastic defense of his Lord. There followed the final and com plete yieldedness of Jesus to the will of God, even though that will was being fulfilled through His enemies. Like Him, we must ever look beyond all second causes and see the hand of God in all our experiences and cir cumstances, accomplishing His will, which is always best and right. Points and Problems The Gethsemane Experience 1. The Place: "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethse mane" (Matt. 26:36). This was a real place located a short distance east of Jerusalem, and on the western slopes of the Mount of Olives. It was a gar den (John 18:1). The name Gethse mane suggests that there was an oil press there, for that is the meaning of the word. Truly the heart of Jesus was “pressed” that night as the ago-
G & L D E N T E X T : “ W a tch and pray, that ye enter not into tem ptation: the spirit in. deed is w illing, but thè flesh is w eak” (M att. 26:41). D E V O T IO N A L R E A D IN G : Heb. 2:17, 18: 4:14-16. Outline and Exposition I. T he S ubmission of J esus (Matt. 26:36-39) A S WE approach this lesson, we / \ are uP°n holy ground. We be- -4L JL hold our Lord’s yearning for human companionship, H i s sorrow and heaviness, His bitterness of soul and agony of prayer. All of these ele ments speak of the true humanity of Jesus. As the Son of man, He was human; as the Son of God, He was divine. In that dark hour, He wanted the understanding fellowship of oth er men, yet He knew, however willing they might be to give that fellowship, none- of them, or all of them togeth er, could meet the 'full need He felt. Three disciples who were close to Him in understanding were chosen to have revealed to them something of His soul’s exceeding sorrow "even unto death.” But even these three could not enter into the depths of that sor- t o w . As the Man Christ Jesus, He must go alone and bare an agony of soul no one else ever could appre ciate. The indescribable awfulness of sin is here revealed. It is because we have such light views of sin that this Geth- semane experience of Jesus so easily eludes our comprehension. He alone could and did realize the heinousness of the sin He was to bare in His own body on the tree, and this realiza tion forced Him to cry out: "Let this cup pass from me.” Yet His supreme desire was “not as I will, but as thou wilt.” This de sire outweighed all else. Actually, that cup was brewed by Satanic ha tred of all holiness and goodness, but when it reached Christ’s lips, He could speak of it as the cup that His Father gave (cf. v. 42), because,in this mat ter, as in all else, He was yielded to the Father’s will. Hence He would drink it in full submission, not as one forced to drink against His will. His own will was in such full'accord with the Father’s that whatever came to Him was good. BLACKBOARD LESSON
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