From Matthew 26:36-46 / The Refuge of Prayer

It is in this most extraordinary account, which could only be ours by virtue of first hand witness, that we see the amazing self-disclosure of the Master.

Note first: How Jesus tells His disciples how it is the weakness of the flesh that makes prayer such an imperative.

Christians gain many new intentions toward good and godliness in our regeneration, but these new impulses are animated and protected only by prayer.

Without wading into these waters too deeply – I think one application of Preachers, Pastors and Teachers suffering together with our people is to let them know from time to time how it is we suffer too – not for sympathy’s sake – but so that we can more directly comfort them with the comfort wherewith we have been comforted. To let them know how He has met us in our sorrows and trials.

I am reminded of how Spurgeon closed one of his sermons: “I wish I could have spoken worthily on such a topic as this, but a dull, heavy headache sits upon me, and I feel that a thick gloom overshadows my words, out of which I look with longing, but cannot rise. For this I may well grieve, but nevertheless God the Holy Ghost can work the better through our weakness, and if you will try and preach the sermon to yourselves, my brethren, you will do it vastly better than I can; if you will meditate upon this text this afternoon, “Of him, through him, and to him are all things,” I am sure you will be led to fall on your knees with the apostle, and say, “To him be glory for ever;” and then you will rise up, and practically in your life, give him honour, putting the “Amen” to this doxology by your own individual service of your great and gracious Lord.” _{Spurgeon, C. H. “Laus Deo.” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 10, Passmore & Alabaster, 1864, p. 312.}

Personally, I am stunned every time I read this account.

What self-disclosure! And from the very Son of God!

And yet as preachers and teachers, we sometimes feel the need to put on a front that makes people think we are impervious to the same things they face.

‌No, we do not want to set ourselves forward as shining examples as though we never flag or have some sort of spiritual superiority.

Nor do we want to give the impression that we have become hopeless. But rather, let them see how we personally and truly depend upon grace in our own lives, the way we ask them to.

‌Think of 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 “we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

Paul personally wants them to be very aware of what he had faced. He did not fain invincibility.

‌In the Puritan Papers, Paul Cook writes: “Preachers are tempted to moral cowardice more almost than to any sin. Too many ministers, says Bernard, are “men pleasers, not the servants of Christ…he that fears his people’s faces is the man that is most likely to murder their souls.” Cook, Paul. _{“The Life and Work of a Minister according to the Puritans.” Puritan Papers: 1956–1959, edited by J. I. Packer, vol. 1, P&R Publishing, 2000, p. 185.}

I wonder if Jesus’ particular admonition here is in regard to the very same temptation He was facing: To faint in fear when facing the Lord’s appointments. To refuse to drink the cup of trial. To not stop submitting to the will of the Father no matter how daunting.

Note second: It is most informative that Jesus ties His prayer with the need for us to pray regarding temptation.

At this point, He knows full well what it means to die to self – literally. And we, enter into a shadow of that when we die to self in putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Resisting temptation is not an easy thing, it is not to be thought of lightly. We may well need to go back to the Father in prayer multiple times regarding the very same temptation in the midst of its duration. The flesh does not give up its lordship easily. It is a violent battle.

It is here too that we gain much insight regarding 1 Cor. 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The text does not imply that in prayer, God will make temptations to cease. This is a grave mistake by many, thinking God does not hear them. It is rather that in prayer, God will grant the strength to endure the time(s) of temptation – to continue in obedience while the temptation persists.

And so Jesus, in this dark hour, finds the weight of His multiple temptations so great, that He goes back to the Father over and over; modeling what He asks us to do.

Note thirdly: How gently Jesus ends this portion in regard to His Disciples. And thus, also toward us in our failures.

He is at this moment, already experiencing something of the Cross. He is already abandoned in some sense by His closest allies. But He never lashes out. He does not berate or condemn them. He simply says: “Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

How calmly and serenely He faces the next steps. He has committed all to The Father. He rests in The Father’s plans, purposes and providence. And in it, He demonstrates what it means to live in such a secure sense of the Father’s love, no matter what. And by example, calls us to the same.

What a blessed Redeemer.