U-turn (Day 14) Jesus’ prayer and betrayal in the garden of Gethsemane | Cheah Mun Hsing

Hi everyone, This is Mansing from ex Edinburgh. Welcome today fourteen of U

Turne. We've been looking at Jesus's journey to the Cross throughout this season of

U turn and we're getting really close to the climax of this journey. The

topic that we'll be delving into today is jesus prayer and betrayal in the Garden

of Gatsemone taken from Matthew chapter twenty six, verses thirty six to fifty five.

After spending some time ministering to his disciples and instituting the Lord's Supper,

Jesus went with them to the garden of gathtsemony, and as was his habit,

Jesus withdrew to pray. Just wanted to pause here really quickly to highlight

the importance of consistent prayer and intimacy with God in conditioning us to submit to

His will, even if that means enduring the most painful circumstances. And we'll

see that later on in this story. Continuing on the first part of this

passage of scripture, recording Jesus's prayer in the garden and him wrestling between his

will and the Father's will, we can see here the humanity of Christ,

just as we read a few days ago on the prophecy in Isaiah fifty three

of Christ being a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, yet it was

the divine will of the Lord to crush him and to put him to grief.

We see here a beautiful picture of how God himself, fully divine and

fully human, in the person of Jesus, Christ put on our human feelings

along with our human flesh. He experienced and hence understands the full range of

our human emotions. And this the humanity of Christ, is so important,

and it gives us hope because it means we are fully represented by Him.

And because we are fully represented by Him, we are also fully redeemed by

Him in our bodies, our minds, our souls, and our hearts.

In the second part of this passage of scripture, read of Jesus's betrayal and

arrest, and what's amazing is in the midst of the series of events that

would lead up to the most pivotal moments in his life on earth, Jesus,

in his love and mercy, took time to consider the lowly servant of

the priest that was arresting him, and in the Gospel account of Luke,

it even says that Jesus in fact healed that servant, and after which,

though he is fully divined, he chose to be obedient to the will of

the Father and surrendered to the arrest so that he would ultimately fulfill the prophecies

in the scriptures. This second part, to me, highlights the humility of

Christ. Jesus, as we mentioned earlier, being fully human but also fully

God had we write to bypass the pain and humiliation of betrayal and crucifixion on

the cross. But how blessed are we that in his humility Jesus chows obedience

and surrendered to the Father's will for his purpose on earth. And because of

that today, not only can we read of Jesus's journey to the cross,

we are redeemed by his blood that was shed on that cross. So two

points to draw from today's scripture reading before we pray and end today's devotional time

together. Number one, the humanity of Christ gives us hope because it means

we are fully represented by Him. And because we are fully represented by Him,

we are fully redeemed by him. That also means he represents the perfect

example for us to follow. And in his example of prayer here he brings

his raw, honest thoughts and emotions to God. So the next time we

pray today, let's come to God, the God who understands us in the

fullness of our humanity. Let's come to him with all honesty. Because honesty

develops intimacy, and intimacy develops trust. Number two, the humility of Christ

leads to obedience and surrender. Again following Jesus's example here, complete trust in

God must lead us to live according to his will for his glory. And

in order to do that, we must humble ourselves, to surrender to His

will and to be obedient to him till the very end, no matter how

painful it gets, just like Christ did to the point of death on the

cross. And we know because Christ humbled himself, God's good and perfect will

to redeem humanity came to pass, and He's glorified and highly exalted. So

if today, or when the day comes, because it will, if you

find yourself, like Jesus, deep in the valley of the shadow of death,

feeling humbled or even humiliated, in dejection, hurt or betrayal. Take

heart and know that you can come with all honesty to a God who understands,

and you can choose to surrender to his will and obey him despite how

unthinkable the circumstances, because He is good, and in due time God's rescuing

grace will arrive. He will not leave his humbled unexalted. Allow me to

pray before we end fy the God, We thank you for your word that

is living and active. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ on

earth to take the form of man, to be fully God and fully men

live a life without sin, so that he could be the perfect sacrifice to

atone for our sins. Thank you God that we can come before you as

we are, honest in all our brokenness and shortcomings, because in your love

and compassion you understand us. Fully, Help us, Holy Spirit, to

humble ourselves and surrender to your good and perfect will every day of our lives.

A tune our ears and hearts to your word, Lord, and give

us strength to be obedient to you till the very end, no matter how

difficult it gets. Thank you Lord, in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.