Luke 22:40 On
reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into
temptation.’
Have you given any thought to what is going on in verse 40
of Luke 22? Jesus brings the disciples
to Gethsemane to be by His side when His “soul is overwhelmed to the point of
death.” And then He tells them to ‘Pray that you will not fall into
temptation.’ I am sure they were puzzled
by His words. And we who have the
benefit of seeing the whole story, the ‘big picture’ if you will, can grasp the
true meaning of what Jesus meant. It is
an ominous warning filled with foreboding of troubles that await the disciples.
And in this message rests the same cautionary not for each and everyone of us
when we are in the midst of one of lifes’ trials.
We know from our own reading of scripture that Jesus was to
be arrested in Gethsemane and placed on trial.
We know that Jesus was tried, scourged, hung on a cross, died, was
buried and rose again on the third day as foretold. These things we know with certainty because
of our faith. We have the words in scripture, the many teachings and lessons of
our time as devoted followers of Jesus Christ. But, what of the disciples? They would watch all this unfold in real-time. There was not past to look back upon. This was a profoundly difficult time. They could see with their own eyes what would
be their fate if they stepped up and challenged the religious authorities of
the day. It would be a case of stick
another cross in the ground for each and everyone of them. The temptation to doubt had to be phenomenal
for the disciples. Their Rabbi was to be
taken away and killed before their very eyes.
The hope and promise they had in Jesus was to be dashed upon the ground
just as sure as his blood was poured out during his “Passion.” The temptation to let doubt overcome faith
had to be overwhelming. And for some,
for a period of time that was the case.
Peter, who boasted of his fidelity to Jesus denied Christ three times
before the rooster crowed. And this
transpired just as foretold by Jesus.
Thomas the doubting disciple would have to place his hands in the wounds
to be convinced of the resurrection of Christ.
The temptation to let doubt overcome faith is just as strong today for
you and I as it was for the disciples.
God and Father in Heaven will never tempt us. But Satan, the winner when
doubt overcomes faith, will most assuredly take a swing at us with
temptation. The slightest doubt opens
the door for more to creep in until there is a giant wedge creating a gap
between ourselves and The Father. How
are we to keep doubt at bay and prevent the wedge from opening up that
gap? We follow the sound advice of Jesus
given to the disciples at Gethsemane. We
pray that we do not fall into temptation.
We earnestly, fervently, and frequently pray that we are given the gift
of a faith strong enough to overcome all semblance of doubt when our time of
testing comes. And when we are done, we
pray some more. To borrow a phrase from
Gene Kranz, flight controller on Apollo 13, ‘Failure is not an option.” We
must do what we must do to remain strong. We ask because we know without
the love of the Father we are lost. We pray because we need to acknowledge to
ourselves that it is not us, not anything we can or have done. It is all from
the Father who sent His only Son to die for us.
And for that strong faith we must pray because temptation is always
knocking on the door.
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