Luke 22:39

The Bible says concerning Jesus in Luke 22:39-40, “And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the Mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that you enter not into temptation.” There was something about the Mount of Olives that Jesus liked. Perhaps it was the solitude and the chance to get away from the crowd in order to pray. When we describe the human side of Jesus, we must never forget that He was a man of prayer. The disciples knew that Jesus was a person of prayer. A couple of years before this they had gone to Jesus and said to Him, “Teach us to pray.”

This time they did not have to ask. Jesus said to them, “Pray that you enter not into temptation.” This is similar to what Jesus told them in the sermon on the Mount when He told them to pray to the Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Some people think that the most important thing for escaping temptation is to have a lot of strength in face of the temptation. They think that the stronger that you are, the greater will be your possibility to fight off the temptation. That’s not what Jesus thought. He said, “Pray that you enter not into temptation.” The best way to avoid failing when tempted is to avoid the place of temptation. In other words it’s best to not enter into temptation in the first place and to be led away from the place of temptation. Only God can do that for us. If we prayed to God and looked to God for His leading and guiding more often, we would find greater success. If we rely upon our own strength, we will find more failure.

Jesus prayed. A comparison between His prayer and the prayer of His disciples is found in Luke 22: 41-46 where the Bible says, “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, And said unto them, Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

A normal human being does not enjoy suffering. Perhaps we have an innate understanding that it would be better if no one suffered. But since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, suffering has become a part of life. Everyone suffers at some time in some way. The richest people in the world cannot escape some of the sufferings of life, such as disease or death for them or their loved ones. There is a time to enjoy life, but there is also a time to suffer. One of the most important things to do if a time of suffering comes into your life is to do exactly what Jesus did: to pray to the Father and say, “If thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.”

There is a time for everything. There is a time to go through the normal circumstances of life, but such times will be interrupted once in a while with times of suffering and sorrow. If God is in your life, then you have the consolation of knowing that there is a purpose to all things. Even the bad things will have some kind of positive outcome when all is said and done. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purposes.” Jesus suffered. Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father and suffered for the sins of the world. We cannot understand how great were the sufferings of Jesus. We cannot understand how horrible it must have been to take the sins of all human beings upon Himself and to suffer the punishment for those sins. But look at the wonderful consequences of having done so. Millions of people have repented of their sins and turned to Jesus for forgiveness. They will be in the happiness of heaven forever only because of what Jesus suffered for them.

This time on the Mount of Olives was a time of a great spiritual trial for Jesus. The spiritual forces of evil were against Him. They did not want Him to provide salvation for mankind. The political and religious powers were also against Christ. Such forces are usually in opposition to those who have faith. The power that Jesus had to stand against such forces and to continue all the way to the cross came from His prayers. In contrast to Jesus, the disciples did not pray when they needed to. Therefore, they failed when the time of temptation came. They deserted the Master when the forces of evil came against them. Instead of continuing with Christ, they ran away. Of course, we know that later on Christ forgave them for their weakness and failure. But the reason for their failure was very clear. They did not pray when they needed prayer.

Some people like to put a certain schedule to their prayers. For example, some will set aside a specific time of day or night when they pray. Maybe they will set aside several specific times in the day when they will pray. There is nothing necessarily wrong with doing so, but that is certainly not what is being taught in this passage when Jesus prayed and the disciples did not pray. Setting a schedule might lead to ritualism and legalism in regards to prayer. If you always pray at ten o’clock, then what happens if on a particular day you actually needed to be alone with God in prayer at nine o’clock? In such a case you will not be prepared for the spiritual battle that might come your way at nine-thirty. Never have so rigid of a schedule that you do not leave room for the spirit of God to lead you to do something different on a particular day. Of course, the Bible also tells us to pray without ceasing. Every situation and every moment is a good time to pray. God answers prayer, and prayer changes things. One of the things that prayer changes is the degree to which you are led into temptation or led away from it. If you pray when you can pray and if you pray when you need to pray, then this is what you will pray, “Father, lead us not into temptation.”

Jesus prayed and therefore He was prepared for the contacts that would soon come with the evil forces of this world. The first contact that Jesus had as described in Luke chapter 22 was with Judas the traitor. The Bible says in Luke 22:47-48, “And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?”

The reaction of Jesus to Judas and the kiss of Judas is interesting. Of course, the kiss was a normal greeting of friends as is the case in some countries even today like France. Obviously, Judas had become disenchanted with the work of Jesus. Once it became apparent that Jesus was not going to immediately establish the Kingdom of God, Judas wanted to get out of the group. He probably only joined the disciples for how he could benefit from it anyway. That’s why he betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Once he gave up on Christ, he was determined to cover his losses and make some profit. He had been stealing from the money bag already, which shows his true motivation.

The reaction of Jesus shows that Jesus was still trying to help Judas, and to wake him up to his spiritual need. Jesus said to Judas, “Do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?” Judas was being deceitful. He was pretending to still be the friend of Christ, and so he greeted him with a kiss. In reality Judas was a traitor. Therefore, Judas was lying. He was living a lie. Jesus was probably trying to help Judas realize that Judas had not succeeded in hiding his betrayal. The truth was out. Truth is like that. Like air bubbles on the bottom of a fish tank, the truth eventually comes out. Humans are very foolish to think that they can hide from the truth forever. The day is coming when everyone will stand before Christ, and the truth will be there waiting for you. Don’t try to hide from the truth or the truth will end up being your judge. Speak the truth, pursue the truth, and admit to the truth while you still have time. A lie will destroy you. It will destroy your soul. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

The Bible says in Luke 22:49-53, “When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer you thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be you come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Now we see the reason that Jesus permitted the disciples to bring the swords with them. Jesus wanted to teach them a lesson. The Kingdom of God cannot be built with the weapons of man nor with the violent methods of man. There have always been people who have thought themselves to be religious but who thought that violence was necessary for spreading their religion. They could not be further from the truth.

This passage shows as much as any in the Bible that God must have a sense of humor. On the eve of the horrible death on the cross, God arranged this situation. Give a sword to a man who spent his life casting nets and you can imagine that the best he could do in battle is cut someone’s ear! How surprised the disciples must have been when Jesus picked up the man’s ear and re-attached it to his head!

Of course, by healing this man who came with the band to arrest Him, Jesus was teaching another lesson. He was showing one more time that He cares about everyone in the world. He was not going to the cross just to die for the disciples. He was going to die for all the sins of the world. God loves the people of the world who today oppose Him and His teachings. If God loves them and died for them, then Christians should also. It appears that there are some Christians today who are more like the disciple who took up a sword against the high priest's servant, than they are like Christ who showed kindness and compassion towards the servant.

The response that Jesus had to this band of men who came to arrest Him was similar to the one He had given to Judas. He said, “Be you come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness,” and in so saying He tried to reveal to them the spiritual darkness that they were in. Unless a person realizes their spiritual problems, they cannot repent and find forgiveness.

Jesus said, “This is your hour and the power of darkness.” Life has its cycles. There are times when good takes the upper hand and does its work to the benefit of mankind and the spread of freedom and truth. The are other times when the power of evil takes over. In these times of evil, it’s as though the devil enters into certain key individuals and then other people at critical moments compromise and go along with them. It certainly was the work of the power of darkness that caused Jesus Christ to be crucified. The devil thought that he was using deceitful men to destroy the Son of God, but the power of God is so great that even the evil purposes of evil men get turned around so that the will of God is actually what is accomplished. The Apostle Peter learned this lesson very well. Peter said concerning Jesus in Acts 2:23, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”

Not only do we have the benefit of salvation as a result of the crucifixion of Christ, but we also learn so many valuable spiritual lessons. Not the least of which is the comforting assertion that in the affairs of human life the All-powerful God is there overseeing the details of all human beings. Even the evil shall praise Him. The will of man makes its choices and some choose evil, but through it all God makes His choices. It was true in the crucifixion of Christ, and it’s true in your life. Believe this and you will find the peace of God that passes understanding.

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