Week 6: Prophecy Fulfilled
Matthew 26:47-68, Mark 14:43:-65, Luke 22:47-53, 66-71, John 18:1-11
As tensions continue to rise between the Sanhedrin, Rome, and Jesus, the twelve disciples and the Messiah make their way to the garden of Gethsemane to pray and rest following their last supper together. While all of the disciples are sleeping, Jesus prays in agony and sorrow, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). These would be some of the last words Jesus prays before being betrayed by the very one He calls friend.
After going to pray for the third time, Jesus returns to 11 of the disciples still sleeping, and while He speaks to them, Judas returns with a “crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priest”, and he greets Jesus, saying “Rabbi!” (Mark 14:43,45). Just hours prior, all the disciples referred to Jesus as Lord, but Judas, amid betrayal, calls Him teacher instead, displaying his lack of recognition of Jesus' authority as God.
When we lose sight of who our God actually is and what He is capable of, we tend towards self-reliance, and we separate ourselves from our Creator. That night, Judas betrayed the Messiah in action and at heart.
Jesus would have every right and every authority to fight back, but instead, He refers to Judas as a friend, and heals the ear of the man Peter cut (Luke 22:51, Matthew 26:50). At any moment through an appeal to His Father in Heaven, Jesus could have ended the betrayal and ceased the pain that would soon follow, but instead, He obeys, addressing them with a chilling remark, “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). Talk about an upside down Kingdom; the very one deserving exaltation willingly takes on the entire wrath of God so that the betrayers could be made right with their Father, how heartbreakingly beautiful. Do we desire the will of God to be done in our lives to this degree? What are you willing to endure, to sacrifice, so that the will of God be made manifest? Is He truly worthy to you?
After Jesus is betrayed and arrested, He’s brought to Caiaphas, the high priest, where He’s questioned and ridiculed. And there, “he remained silent and made no answer” (Mark 14:61). They slap Him, spit on Him, strike Him. Again, they ask if He is the Christ, and tells them, “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” (Luke 22:67-69). And He did that with you in mind, with me in mind, with the very ones who nailed Him to the cross in mind. Jesus may have been arrested, but the freedom and new life that come from receiving the gospel could never be.
