[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered on Maundy Thursday evening, the 29th of March, 2018. The service this evening also included the observance of Holy Communion, held before the meditation. A video of the service may be found on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
During their last meal together, Jesus sadly mentioned that one of His chosen dining with Him that evening would soon betray Him. Then they all sang a hymn, left the house, and went out to the Mount of Olives. As they walked, Jesus told Simon Peter that he would deny His Lord three times this very night before the rooster crows twice – a charge which Peter vehemently denied.
Listen and follow along as I read a little more from the Apostle Mark’s Gospel account of that evening, the evening we observe as Maundy Thursday, from chapter 14, verses 32 through 46, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…
Listen and follow along as I read a little more from the Apostle Mark’s Gospel account of that evening, the evening we observe as Maundy Thursday, from chapter 14, verses 32 through 46, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…
32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”
35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
43 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely.”
45 As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
46 Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.
--Mark 14:32-46 (NKJV)
Normally we would observe Holy Communion after the meditation message, but our scripture tonight follows after our Lord’s last meal, so I thought it fitting to partake of that meal first. Tonight is Maundy Thursday and we get that word, “Maundy”, from the Latin word meaning command or commandment. On this night, at that last supper, Jesus gave us a commandment to “Do this in remembrance of Me”. So we shared the elements of His body and blood, the new covenant between us and God sealed by the precious blood of Jesus.
As we look further into that night, we see more of the human side of the Son of God, the Son of Man as Jesus often called Himself. And what we see is a man deeply troubled and distressed, sorrowful even to the point of death!
Jesus knows what is coming. At supper he predicted that one of His chosen followers would soon betray Him to the authorities, and another would deny Him three times that very night, deny even knowing Him! Betrayal, denial – that’s pretty harsh treatment from men who are supposed to be your friends! Wouldn’t we feel great anguish if we were treated like that?
In our Responsive Reading earlier, we read where Isaiah foresaw that Jesus would be hated and rejected, and that He would be filled with great sorrow and would endure terrible suffering. This is so obvious in our scripture reading, where Mark notes that Jesus prayed that this hour might pass from Him. We can sense that Jesus nearly begged, “Father! You can do anything. Please take this cup away from Me! Don’t make Me go through with this!”
But then the divine side of Jesus, the God side took over, and He submitted to His Father’s will. “Not My will, but Thy will be done!” Even Jesus – the Son of God – understood that what we want is not important! The only thing that matters is what God wants, what God wills, what God commands!
But we often have trouble doing what God wants, don’t we? Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to wait for Him, to watch and pray until He came back from spending a little time alone with God. How well did they carry out that order? Jesus returned after only an hour to find them fast asleep. Again He asked them to watch and pray, again He went off alone to be with His Father, and again He returned to find the three men sleeping.
Once more this scenario repeated, but the third time Jesus returned to His disciples, it was too late for them to do as He commanded. His time was up. The hour had come for Him to be turned over into the hands of sinners. For here came Judas, leading a “great multitude” of armed men, Temple guards and servants of the priests and elders. Judas walked right up and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. And they laid their hands on Him, and took Him away.
This night marked only the beginning of the physical suffering Jesus would soon endure. But the suffering of betrayal, of denial, of His closest friends and followers not doing as He asked… that had to hurt as much if not more.
Jesus knew all of this would happen! The physical suffering, the mental and emotional anguish, being hated and despised, taking the punishment He didn’t deserve… He knew it all was coming! He suffered because of the sinful things we have done! He suffered as a sacrifice to God to take away our sin and guilt! And as Isaiah noted, He did everything that God had planned. “Not My will, but Thy will be done.”
This night is the perfect time to do as Jesus did and speak earnestly with our Father God. We need to go to God in prayer and ask that He more clearly show us what His will is for our lives. If you’d like to come down to the foot of Jesus’ cross to pray, here at His table, then please do so. Jesus knew God’s will, but for us it isn’t so easy.
Ask God for help in discerning His will, and then carry out what He shows us. It may not be what we expect. It may not be what we’d like. It may not be what we want. But what we want doesn’t matter. All that matters is what God wants.
Thy will be done, Lord. Thy will be done.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, You gave so much of Yourself on our behalf. You took our punishment, You bore our stripes, You died so we could avoid the final and permanent death just by believing in You and accepting You as Lord. But even greater suffering You bore was our betrayal, our denial, our rejection of You. Yet You carried on and saw our Father God’s plan through to the bitter end. You knew that the only thing that mattered was to do God’s will.
Forgive us, Lord, our times of doubt and confusion. Forgive us when we refuse to believe, when we reject Your authority, when we think we can go it on our own, when we would rather do as we will rather than as God wills. Help us, please Jesus, to better see how we personally fit into God’s great plan. Show us how to love as You love, how to help others as You help us, how to sacrifice of our time and resources on their behalf. Help us carry out God’s will in all we do.
This we pray in Your sweet name, Lord Jesus, the one true Son of God. Amen.
As we look further into that night, we see more of the human side of the Son of God, the Son of Man as Jesus often called Himself. And what we see is a man deeply troubled and distressed, sorrowful even to the point of death!
Jesus knows what is coming. At supper he predicted that one of His chosen followers would soon betray Him to the authorities, and another would deny Him three times that very night, deny even knowing Him! Betrayal, denial – that’s pretty harsh treatment from men who are supposed to be your friends! Wouldn’t we feel great anguish if we were treated like that?
In our Responsive Reading earlier, we read where Isaiah foresaw that Jesus would be hated and rejected, and that He would be filled with great sorrow and would endure terrible suffering. This is so obvious in our scripture reading, where Mark notes that Jesus prayed that this hour might pass from Him. We can sense that Jesus nearly begged, “Father! You can do anything. Please take this cup away from Me! Don’t make Me go through with this!”
But then the divine side of Jesus, the God side took over, and He submitted to His Father’s will. “Not My will, but Thy will be done!” Even Jesus – the Son of God – understood that what we want is not important! The only thing that matters is what God wants, what God wills, what God commands!
But we often have trouble doing what God wants, don’t we? Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to wait for Him, to watch and pray until He came back from spending a little time alone with God. How well did they carry out that order? Jesus returned after only an hour to find them fast asleep. Again He asked them to watch and pray, again He went off alone to be with His Father, and again He returned to find the three men sleeping.
Once more this scenario repeated, but the third time Jesus returned to His disciples, it was too late for them to do as He commanded. His time was up. The hour had come for Him to be turned over into the hands of sinners. For here came Judas, leading a “great multitude” of armed men, Temple guards and servants of the priests and elders. Judas walked right up and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. And they laid their hands on Him, and took Him away.
This night marked only the beginning of the physical suffering Jesus would soon endure. But the suffering of betrayal, of denial, of His closest friends and followers not doing as He asked… that had to hurt as much if not more.
Jesus knew all of this would happen! The physical suffering, the mental and emotional anguish, being hated and despised, taking the punishment He didn’t deserve… He knew it all was coming! He suffered because of the sinful things we have done! He suffered as a sacrifice to God to take away our sin and guilt! And as Isaiah noted, He did everything that God had planned. “Not My will, but Thy will be done.”
This night is the perfect time to do as Jesus did and speak earnestly with our Father God. We need to go to God in prayer and ask that He more clearly show us what His will is for our lives. If you’d like to come down to the foot of Jesus’ cross to pray, here at His table, then please do so. Jesus knew God’s will, but for us it isn’t so easy.
Ask God for help in discerning His will, and then carry out what He shows us. It may not be what we expect. It may not be what we’d like. It may not be what we want. But what we want doesn’t matter. All that matters is what God wants.
Thy will be done, Lord. Thy will be done.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, You gave so much of Yourself on our behalf. You took our punishment, You bore our stripes, You died so we could avoid the final and permanent death just by believing in You and accepting You as Lord. But even greater suffering You bore was our betrayal, our denial, our rejection of You. Yet You carried on and saw our Father God’s plan through to the bitter end. You knew that the only thing that mattered was to do God’s will.
Forgive us, Lord, our times of doubt and confusion. Forgive us when we refuse to believe, when we reject Your authority, when we think we can go it on our own, when we would rather do as we will rather than as God wills. Help us, please Jesus, to better see how we personally fit into God’s great plan. Show us how to love as You love, how to help others as You help us, how to sacrifice of our time and resources on their behalf. Help us carry out God’s will in all we do.
This we pray in Your sweet name, Lord Jesus, the one true Son of God. Amen.
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