Anchor My Faith

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Author: Stephen Weller
556 words, 3 minutes read time

In the Garden

Scripture: Matthew 26:36; Luke 22:39-40; John 18:1

With the previous lesson we covered a short section on the need of Scripture to be fulfilled in the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. With this lesson we begin a new section of a new major section which covers the events recorded in the last day of the life of Jesus before his death on the cross. As I mentioned in the previous lesson, Jerry Peyton, whose material we are following, believes this day to be Friday, and that it was my opinion that this day is actually Thursday. This first section finds Jesus praying in Gethsemane during the night as those are coming to arrest him.

^{Lk 22:39} [Then Jesus] came out and went, as was his custom, ^{Mt 26:36} to a place called Gethsemane, ^{Jn 18:1} across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ^{Lk 22:40} When he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation ^{Mt 26:36} while I go over there and pray.”

Jesus and the disciples were together having a meal and talking about various things in preparation to his arrest. Jesus and the disciples left that place and made their way, as they customarily did, to the Mount of Olives, to a place called Gethsemane. It was a garden area, across the brook Kidron, located on a mountain and provided a spectacular view of the Temple Mount. Jesus and his disciples regularly crossed over Olivet on their way from Jerusalem through Bethphage (Luke 19:29) to Bethany (John 11:1), which was located on the mountain’s eastern slope. The traditional site of Gethsemane lies on Olivet’s western slope.

Across the brook Kidron there was a garden, possibly a walled garden, where Jesus and his disciples often went to be alone. As they enter the garden, they go to a particular spot, where Jesus tells his disciples to stay there and pray that they may not enter into temptation. Recalling that they had a busy day and that it now late at night, the odds of them staying awake and praying is quite slim. Jesus leaves them there and goes away a short distance to be alone and pray for what is about to happen.

The “place” is where they often came and so Judas, who was to betray him, knew the place (John 18:2) and knew they would stay there for the night. Every day when Jesus was teaching in the temple, at night they would go out and lodge there (Luke 21:37). This is why it was important for the betrayer of Jesus to be one of the disciples as he would know the habits of Jesus and where he would most likely be found. It was just hours ago that Jesus sent Judas from the meal to inform those that it was time for the arrest. Jesus and his disciples then went to their favorite location to pray and wait for them to come and arrest him.

Conclusion

The stage is almost set for the arrest of Jesus. There are still a few more things to complete, but now the time to his arrest can be measured in just a few hours, even in minutes.