Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “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.” (Luke 22:39-46)
When I was in seminary I was taught the principles of hermeneutics which is a fancy phrase for “rules of interpreting” the scriptures. One of those rules has to do with repetition. When something is stated more than once then it is something that deserves special attention. That rule applies to this passage from Luke 22. Twice Jesus says to the disciples, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” The phrase appears at the beginning of the account and at the end so that which is between the statements explains the meaning.
After telling the disciples to pray Jesus goes off by himself to pray. It is clear from his prayer that he himself is struggling with temptation in a way I can never comprehend. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” He is wrestling with the cross! The temptation is to avoid it. His prayer is that the Father’s will be done, not his own. His conflict with temptation is so severe that God sends an angel to minister to him and strengthen him in his spirit. And the battle with temptation still goes on! He prays even more earnestly to the point that his sweat was like drops of blood. Jesus won the battle! He prayed and he did not fall into temptation!
When he returns to his disciples he finds them sleeping, “exhausted from sorrow.” The sorrow and the exhaustion is completely understandable. No problem with those things. But the sleeping was not prayer! The sleeping was not the thing that was going to keep them from falling into temptation. So Jesus warns them again that they must pray so they won’t fall. But for now it is too late. Look at what happens next…
The crowd came to arrest Jesus and Judas approached him to betray him. The disciples did not know what to do. They called to Jesus, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” (v. 49). See the confusion? See the lack of understanding of what was happening? Some refrained from striking but we know Peter impetuously struck the servant of the high priest and Jesus rebuked him. They had not prayed. They fell into temptation.
Then what happens? Luke does not record it but Matthew does. “All the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matthew26:56). Fear overcame them and the fell into temptation.
And then? Peter follows Jesus at a distance and enters into the courtyard of the high priest. There he is recognized by a little girl who was a servant in the household. She announced that Peter was one of those who were with Jesus. Peter denied Jesus, not once, but three times. He fell into temptation.
Obviously there is a connection between prayer and victory over temptation as well as the lack of prayer and falling into temptation. It is worthy of careful consideration. That is what I am going to do…think, pray, and consider. More to come….
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