Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 319, Matthew 26:36-38 — The Garden of Gethsemane Matthew 26:36-38 (NASB1995) “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He said to them, ‘My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.’” Context Matthew 26 details the last hours of Jesus’ life before His arrest and crucifixion. Review Yesterday, we read Jesus’ prediction of the disciples’ denial. Following the Passover feast, Jesus took the remaining eleven disciples to the Mount of Olives and told them how they would faithlessly fall away from Him. These words likely shocked the disciples. While this falling away varies from the apostasy of Judas, it still includes a moment of complete faithlessness each will endure. However, Jesus ends the prediction with a hope of His resurrection and the disciples’ restoration. Regardless, they remain blinded by the reality of their potential disloyalty and faithlessness, ignoring Jesus’ hopeful words. Peter rejects Jesus’ statement and claims that he would never fall away. It is as if he believes himself too good to fall away from Christ—even if everybody else falls away, Peter says he will not. But Jesus reaffirms Peter will indeed deny Him—and do so thrice in the coming hours. In the end, each of the remaining eleven disciples declares they would rather die alongside Jesus than deny Him. However, no matter how faithful they believe they are, Jesus’ words are true. It seems this coming moment of faithlessness will reveal to the disciples how they cannot have faith in their own strength. Only with their confidence in Christ and the help of the Spirit can they withstand whatever persecution and doubt comes their way. Discussion Today, we read about Jesus’ intimate moment in the Garden of Gethsemane. Following His conversation with the remaining eleven disciples about how they will fall away, Jesus makes His way to the Garden. We will reference Luke and John for further context. Matthew writes, “36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’” The Garden of Gethsemane was on the western slope of the Mount of Olives in a ravine near the brook of Kidron (Jn. 18:1).[1] Notably, the Garden had an olive grove which gave it the name Gethsemane, meaning ‘oil press.’[2] This name is fitting, as Jesus will endure an extraordinarily heavy spiritual struggle in the Garden. John 18:2 adds that Jesus and the disciples would gather there often, likely for quiet time away from the great crowds. Scholars say it is between 10 and 11:00 p.m., just hours before His arrest and Peter’s predicted denial (Mt. 26:31-35). Following their arrival, Jesus tells the disciples to sit aside while He goes to pray. Matthew then adds that Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him. Notably, there is no other mention of the other disciples until v. 56. Matthew writes, “37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee.” Jesus often took this trio with Him, suggesting they were His closest friends. Jesus invited them to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mt. 9:23-26), His transfiguration (Mt. 17:1-13), and now with Him in the Garden here in His most intimate moment. They were known as His ‘inner circle,’ likely because they were also among the first disciples to follow Him.[3] Matthew adds that Jesus “began to be grieved and distressed.” Notably, Jesus has not shown many emotions throughout Matthew’s gospel. Some argue He showed frustration with the moneychangers in Jerusalem (Mt. 21:12-17), but outside of consistent references of compassion and joy, this is the first time Matthew depicts Jesus feeling a certain way.[4] Since Jesus knows His time of betrayal, arrest, suffering, and death has come, it makes sense for Him to have become troubled at the thought of its reality. These feelings of excruciating grief are human—and amplified in scope beyond our mere comprehension for the Savior of the world in this moment. While some face death calmly, Jesus, like most people, approached His coming experience of death with great anguish. Jesus said to them, “38 My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death.” Jesus’ sorrowful words here echo David’s cry in Psalms 143:3-4. It says, “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead. 4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.” These words provide a glimpse into the immense agony and inner despair Jesus is facing. Jesus never shied away from the truth or doing the Father’s will. Even unto death, Jesus will continue onward. However, His obedience to the Father does not erase the human difficulty of the coming suffering He will endure. Thus, He deeply grieved to death at this reality. Notably, the usage of ‘grieved to death’ here echoes Samson’s cry about Delilah’s treachery in Judges 16:16.[5] In that passage, Samson does not fear death in a literal sense, but uses these words as an indicator of intensity, as he was immensely ‘grieved to death’ at her for betraying him.[6] Likewise, Jesus does not fear death in a literal sense, but faces the otherworldly despair associated with the thought of how He will face it. Luke 22:44 describes the intensity of this moment, saying, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.” Jesus then tells Peter, James, and John to “remain here and keep watch with Me.” This command likely came intending to allow Him to have private time with the Father one last time—or for them to stand guard and alert Him when Judas arrives. Regardless, Jesus wanted His three closest friends with Him at this intimate moment. We will continue discussing Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane tomorrow. Application The story of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane cannot be exaggerated. It is the penultimate moment of the Passion Narrative before His suffering begins. However, His agony seems to have started in the Garden—the irony of Gethsemane meaning ‘oil press’ blows me away. Of course, Jesus faces His most intense trial in this place. Furthermore, the reality of Jesus’ coming trials crushing Him in this way is one of the most humbling images in the entire Bible, as it gives us a glimpse into the humanity of our God. In the face of death, Jesus did not falter. Instead, He faced it head on amid the immense despair. How much more applicable can this story be? We experience despair throughout our entire lives. Yet, we endure because He endured. We have an example from the One we worship. This comforting reality gives me hope, proving it is not weak to have grief. Jesus endured unimaginable sadness and grief, so we can too. We do not need to hide our emotions and face the despairs of life alone or behind a prideful mask. We can face them knowing He had these same emotions. I honestly grieve with Him just reading through this passage. It is simply unbelievable what He went through for us to be reconciled with the Father. As we continue this passage, the grief gets heavier—and will continue to grow heavier as we journey with Him through His suffering. I hold in tears as I type this. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 26:39. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] Craig Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [2] Ibid. [3] Doug O’Donnell, “New International Greek Testament Commentary.” [4] Ibid. [5] Ibid. [6] Ibid.
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