The Savior for All: Not My Will, but Yours
Luke 22 is the night the Savior submits.
The Passover is at hand. Satan enters Judas. Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper. He warns Peter that Satan has demanded to sift him like wheat — but He has prayed for him. In Gethsemane He prays with sweat like drops of blood: not my will, but yours, be done. He is betrayed with a kiss. Peter denies Him three times by a charcoal fire. He stands before the council and they condemn Him for the truth.
In every scene, the Savior could pull back. He never does. Not my will, but yours, be done.
The plot and the Passover
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, draws near. The chief priests and the scribes are seeking how to put Him to death, for they fear the people.
Then Satan enters into Judas called Iscariot, who is of the number of the twelve. He goes away and confers with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They are glad and agree to give him money. He consents and seeks an opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of a crowd.
The chief priests have been waiting for this. They have been looking for an inside man. And Judas — one of the twelve, chosen, trusted, sent — becomes the man.
The Passover comes — the day on which the Passover lamb must be sacrificed. Jesus sends Peter and John: Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.
They ask where. He answers with a sign: a man carrying a jar of water will meet them. Follow him. The master of the house will show them a large upper room furnished. There they prepare the Passover.
The Lord's Supper
When the hour comes, He reclines at table, and the apostles with Him. He says:
"I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
He takes a cup, gives thanks, and says:
"Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
He takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them:
"This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
And likewise the cup after they have eaten:
"This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
The Passover is fulfilled. The Lamb of God is at the table — and the body and blood about to be offered are placed in the hands of the disciples in bread and cup.
The Savior for All institutes a meal that will be eaten by His church in every place and every century — until He returns.
The betrayer at the table
"But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!"
They begin to question one another, which of them it could be.
A dispute about greatness
A dispute also arises among them, as to which of them is to be regarded as the greatest.
In the upper room. After the Lord's Supper. With the cross hours away. They are arguing about rank.
Jesus says:
"The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them… But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves."
"For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves."
The Savior for All says of Himself: I am among you as the one who serves. Even at the table where the new covenant is sealed, He defines His own identity as servant.
Simon, Satan has demanded
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."
Peter says: "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death."
Jesus answers:
"I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."
The Savior knows what is coming. He knows Peter will fall. And — this is the gospel — He has already prayed for Peter's restoration before Peter has yet fallen. Christ's intercession is what holds the disciple even through failure. Peter will deny, but his faith will not fail — because Jesus has prayed.
Gethsemane
He comes out and goes, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples follow Him. When He comes to the place, He says to them:
"Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
He withdraws from them about a stone's throw, kneels down, and prays:
"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."
There appears to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony He prays more earnestly. His sweat becomes like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
This is the deepest prayer ever prayed. The Son shrinks from the cup — but submits to the Father.
"Not my will, but yours, be done."
The Savior for All wins the battle at Gethsemane before He ever reaches Golgotha. What happens on the cross was decided in the garden.
He rises from prayer and comes to the disciples. He finds them sleeping for sorrow.
"Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."
Betrayed with a kiss
While He is still speaking, a crowd comes. The man called Judas, one of the twelve, is leading them. He draws near to Jesus to kiss Him.
Jesus says to him:
"Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"
One of those around Him strikes the servant of the high priest and cuts off his right ear. Jesus says: "No more of this!" And He touches his ear and heals him.
Even at the moment of arrest, the Servant heals.
Peter denies
They seize Him and lead Him away, bringing Him into the high priest's house. Peter is following at a distance.
When they have kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sits down with them. A servant girl seeing him in the firelight looks intently at him and says: This man also was with him.
He denies it: Woman, I do not know him.
A little later, someone else says: You also are one of them. Peter says: Man, I am not.
After an interval of about an hour, still another insists: Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean. Peter says: Man, I do not know what you are talking about.
Immediately, while he is still speaking, the rooster crows.
The Lord turns and looks at Peter. Peter remembers the saying of the Lord. He goes out and weeps bitterly.
The Savior for All looks at Peter — and that look breaks Peter open. The denial is real. The tears are real. The restoration is coming.
Mocked and condemned
The men holding Jesus mock Him as they beat Him. They blindfold Him and demand: Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?
When day comes, the assembly of the elders of the people gathers. They lead Him away to their council. They ask: If you are the Christ, tell us.
He answers:
"If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God."
They all ask: "Are you the Son of God, then?"
He answers:
"You say that I am."
They say: "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips."
The Savior for All is condemned for saying who He is. The truth He spoke is the truth that saves us — and the truth they killed Him for.
Closing prayer
Father, teach us to pray the Savior's prayer in our own Gethsemanes: Not my will, but yours, be done. Thank You that the Lord Jesus has prayed for us, that our faith may not fail — and that when we have turned again, He restores us, as He restored Peter. Make us those who watch and pray when the hour comes, not those who sleep for sorrow. In Jesus' name, amen.
