Page 18 - Living Light Spring 2024

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Celia Bowring and are based on Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
Luke 22:39-46, Isaiah 53
36Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41Watch and
pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
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Sunday March 17 - Gethsemane
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” Matthew 26:36
Outside Jerusalem’s ‘old city’ is the Mount of Olives – a very significant place. Old Testament prophecies reveal that this is where Christ will appear in glory and majesty at his Second Coming (Zechariah 14:4,9). One thousand years before Jesus’ time on earth, King David, fleeing from his treacherous son Absalom, had ascended the Mount, ‘weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered’ (2 Samuel 15:30). Now, a greater king comes, also shedding tears, seeking God’s presence.
Jesus often taught on the Mount of Olives and would pray there, finding peace in the garden of Gethsemane, a grove of trees on the hillside with an oil press nearby. Now on the last evening of his earthly life, Jesus arrived with his friends after the ‘last supper’, when he had told them he would be betrayed by one of their number, arrested, tried and crucified – but would then rise again. And after the resurrection, Acts 1:9-11 describes Jesus ascending into heaven, from the same Mount of Olives!
Gethsemane is an actual place where millions of pilgrims have walked – perhaps you are among them? – in the very footsteps of the Son of God. All four gospel accounts record what happened that night, when Jesus surrendered fully to his Father’s plan for our salvation. This week we reflect together on the most traumatic experience in his life so far.
Jesus, as we contemplate your agony at Gethsemane we are ‘standing on holy ground’. Please fill our hearts with an ever- deepening understanding of your amazing love for us. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY