A man was struggling with a weight problem – he was the one who always stopped by the bakery on the way to the office and picked up some goodies for the staff coffee breaks. He quit doing this when he went on a diet and the office staff understood.
But one day, temptation became really strong. The man was passing by the bakery on a work-related errand. He said to himself, “Maybe God wants me to stop by the bakery this morning and pick up some goodies for the office.” So, he told the Lord that he would only stop if God made a parking spot available right in front of the bakery.
Sure enough, there it was, a parking spot, right in front of the bakery. After he drove around the block eight times!
Temptation. A form of the word is found in the Bible (NASV) 19 times, most of those (16) are in the New Testament. “Temptation” is the desire to do something, especially something that is wrong or unwise.
Jesus, of course, was tempted. The most famous passage of the temptations of Jesus is found in Matthew 4 and the parallel passages in Mark 1:13 and Luke 4. But we find strong encouragement from the words of the Hebrew writer in both 2:18 and 4:15.
I want us to take a fresh look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is tempted here to stop His walk with the Father. But Jesus stares temptation in the face and He says, “No.” But in that experience, Jesus shows you and me that He knows, He understands, what it is like to be tempted to quit trusting in the Father. He knows. He understands.
Let’s fall in love with Jesus again as we see Him struggle with the decision to obey God…
THE GARDEN – 22:39:
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The garden of Gethsemane was located in the area of the Mount of Olives. Jesus had a place where He loved to go and pray. I have no doubt that when Jesus was faced with an important decision or feared a temptation would face Him, Jesus prayed. Apparently, He loved to go to this particular place to pray. Jesus loved to pray in nature. In this garden.
PRAYER & TEMPTATION – 22:40:
When Jesus arrived in the garden, He left the majority of His apostles in one spot. Jesus tells His apostles to “pray” that they would not enter into temptation. During Jesus’ entire ministry, He taught His disciples that there was a connection between prayer and not sinning! All the way back in the sermon on the mount, Matt 6:13, Jesus taught all of His disciples, to pray, “do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
How frequently do you pray before you sin? When you are faced with a temptation, do you pray for strength to say no or do you think, “Well, I’ll just sin and pray for forgiveness”? Do we not realize that having that attitude is taking the grace of God for granted? It is despising the grace of God to think, “Well, I’ll just sin, ask for forgiveness, and I’ll be alright.” That is not the attitude that Jesus had.
Tomorrow, we’ll pick up with verse 41 and consider Jesus praying that He will not fall to temptation.
–Paul Holland
