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FEBRUARY 12
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face,
and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is pos-
sible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless,
26:39 this cup. See v.42.A cup is often the sym- not as I will, but as You will.”
bol of divine wrath against sin in the Old 40 Then He came to the disciples and found
Testament (Is.51:17,22;Jer.25:15–17,27–29;Lam. them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could
41
4:21,22; Ezek. 23:31–34; Hab. 2:16).The next day you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and
Christ would “bear the sins of many” (Heb. pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit
9:28)—and the fullness of divine wrath would indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
fall on Him (Is.53:10,11; 2 Cor.5:21).This was the 42 Again, a second time, He went away and
price of the sin He bore,and He paid it in full.His prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup can-
cry of anguish in 27:46 reflects the extreme bit- not pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your
terness of the cup of wrath He was given.not as will be done.” And He came and found them
43
I will, but as You will. This implies no conflict asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
between the Persons of the Godhead. Rather, it 44
graphically reveals how Christ in His humanity So He left them, went away again, and
voluntarily surrendered His will to the will of the prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45
Father in all things—precisely so that there Then He came to His disciples and said to
would be no conflict between the divine will them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?
and His desires.See John 4:34;6:38;8:29;Phil.2:8. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of
Man is being betrayed into the hands of sin-
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ners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer
that this night, before the rooster crows, you is at hand.”
will deny Me three times.” 47 And while He was still speaking, behold,
Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die
35 Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multi-
with You, I will not deny You!” tude with swords and clubs, came from the
And so said all the disciples. chief priests and elders of the people.
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place 48 Now His betrayer had given them a sign,
called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One;
49
37
“Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And seize Him.” Immediately he went up to Jesus
He took with Him Peter and the two sons of and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and 50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have
deeply distressed. Then He said to them, you come?”
38
“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to Then they came and laid hands on Jesus
death. Stay here and watch with Me.” and took Him.
DAY 12:Why did Jesus institute the Lord’s Supper?
In Matthew 26:26,“Jesus took bread,blessed and broke it,and gave it to the disciples and said,
‘Take,eat;this is My body,’”thus transforming His last Passover into the first observance of the Lord’s
Supper. He is the central antitype in both ceremonies, being represented symbolically by both the
paschal lamb of the Passover and the elements in the communion service.His statement,“this is My
body,”could not possibly have been taken in any literal sense by the disciples present that evening.
Such metaphorical language was a typical Hebraism. No eucharistic miracle of transubstantiation
was implied, nor could the disciples have missed the symbolic intent of His statement, for His actu-
al body—yet unbroken—was before their very eyes.
When He took the cup of wine, He said that this is “My blood of the new covenant” (v. 28).
Covenants were ratified with the blood of a sacrifice (Gen. 8:20; 15:9,10). Jesus’ words here echo
Moses’pronouncement in Exodus 24:8.The blood of the New Covenant is not an animal’s blood,but
Christ’s own blood, shed for the remission of sins. See Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 8:1–10:18, espe-
cially 8:6.Thus He established the observance as an ordinance for worship (1 Cor.11:23–26).Passover
had looked forward to the sacrifice of Christ; He transformed it into an altogether different cere-
mony, which looks back in remembrance at His atoning death.

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