Thoughts From Luke - Day 96

                                   Luke 22:39-62


Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. ⁴⁰ On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
⁴⁵ When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶ “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
⁴⁷ While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸ but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
⁴⁹ When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
⁵¹ But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
⁵² Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? ⁵³ Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
⁵⁴ Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵ And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
⁵⁷ But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
⁵⁸ A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
⁵⁹ About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
⁶⁰ Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” ⁶² And he went outside and wept bitterly.


        What do you think about when you think about temptation? If I am watching a "female channel" with my wife, it is usually some kind of dessert. If it is a guy channel it is usually some possession with a double temptation of a sexy woman thrown in. So here, when Jesus tells the disciples to pray so they won't be tempted, and in the Lord's prayer to "deliver them from the evil one", I think Jesus is referring to temptations that don't usually come to our minds when we think about being tempted. What are those?

          I think we can look at Peter to get an idea because previously Jesus tells the disciples that Satan has asked permission to go after Peter. What are the temptations that Peter will be facing? First of all we see in the previous passage, it is greatness - elevation above others. The disciples were arguing about who would be greatest and you can bet Peter was in the thick of that argument, unless he already assumed that he was the greatest. I don't think I have issues with this - or do I? I don't necessarily need to feel superior but I don't want to be treated inferiorly. I demand equal treatment. I don't mind being a servant if it is coming from me but don't make me be a servant. I don't mind being in the least important seat if I choose it, but don't assign it to me. I want to be treated equally. Maybe this is a problem with greatness disguised as equality. If I am the one wanting to make the decisions, doesn't that put me at the top? Think about that one for a while.

         The second temptation we also saw at the Last Supper - the temptation to talk about other people. When they found out that someone was going to be the betrayer, they all wanted to know who it was. Sure, they disguised it as wanting to know if it was themselves, but they knew it wasn't them. And then they told John (he was the youngest) to ask Jesus who it was. Do you like to gossip? Do you like to listen to gossip? Do you like to find out the flaws about someone else so it makes you feel better about yourself? Pray that God delivers you from that desire to be nosey.

        The third temptation is to act not in love when someone attacks you.How do you respond when someone attacks your beliefs on abortion, homosexuality, politics, etc. Do we respond back the same way or in love? Peter took a sword and attacked and Jesus told him not to. Why? Because Jesus wins in the end. People that don't know Christ are just being themselves. They are just proving that Jesus cause was true, needed, and right. We need not react back to them in the same way but rather weap for them as Jesus wept for Jerusalem. I saw a post the other day of the gay community protesting Chick Fil A. The founder had once in an interview been asked what he thought of homosexuality and he said it was a sin. That must have been 5 years ago now, I'm not sure if he is even still alive, and they are still protesting. I saw a video of an angry college student tearing down anti abortion material on campus. How do we respond to freedom of speech including everyone except Christians. Will we respond like Jesus or like Peter?

       Then there is the temptation to be overcome with sorrow. Do you let this world get you down? What was upcoming were the greatest days in the history of mankind and all the disciples saw was despair. We need to pray that we will not be tempted to lose sight of the forest through the trees. Jesus is coming soon, we are going to Heaven, we are joint heirs with Christ, we will live forever and we are depressed because the stock market is down or our or our roof is leaking.

       Lastly pray against the temptation to deny Christ. All day long we have opportunities to stand up for Christ, represent Him and share the gospel. Yet, most of the time we want to be accepted by the crowd so we don't speak up. The disciples all ran away when confronted by opposition and Peter even denied knowing Christ. Let's pray for boldness today. What are your temptations? Pray that you won't fall into them today.