Surrender at Gethsemane
The word “surrender” usually reminds us of the losing end of
a war like Waterloo, Tokyo Bay, or Appomattox Courthouse. Or we might think of a dangerous criminal
turning himself in. But, in its broader
meaning, “surrender” means the end of active opposition between two wills.
Here, in Matthew 26, we are talking about Jesus’ surrender
at Gethsemane. But to whom did Jesus
surrender? At an easy glance, it might
seem like He was surrendering to the Jewish leaders. But was He surrendering to
THEIR will?
Recapitulation
In our previous study, we talked about doing the will of
God—not giving up. So, was He giving up
on the coming of the kingdom of God? The disciples would learn that they could
not depend on their own determination and strength to do the will of God. They watched Jesus agonizing in prayer over
obeying the will of God while they failed to understand their own weakness in
this area. Jesus pointed out that in our
struggle to obey God we must seek our strength in the realm of the spirit not
the realm of this world. And now this
crucial lesson will be demonstrated.
Betrayal
If you knew what Jesus knew about what lay ahead would you
have stayed there waiting for your betrayer?
Maybe it is for the best that we don’t always know exactly what lies
ahead. But in Matthew 26:47-56 Jesus
knows what lies moments ahead. It is the middle of the night and Jesus had not
even finished speaking His final words to the disciples when the sound of a
great crowd of people could be heard disturbing the peace of the olive
garden. The words Matthew uses for
“crowd” are the same words usually translated as “multitude”—as when He taught
the “multitudes” or fed the 5,000. It
means a great number of people but this crowd was carrying swords and clubs so
perhaps “mob” might be a better word.
John’s gospel adds that they also had lanterns—because it was dark. In the lead was a familiar figure—Judas—one
of their own comrades. He walked
straight up to Jesus and greeted Him with a kiss. But notice Judas doesn’t call Jesus “the Son
of the living God” like Peter does.
Nor does he call Him “my Lord and my God” like doubting Thomas
does. He calls Him “Rabbi” which means “Teacher.”
This normally friendly greeting turned out to be a secret signal identifying
the Rabbi who was the target this night.
Yet Jesus, knowing what was happening, spoke to him, calling him “friend”
or “comrade.”
Judas had been one of His chosen band of twelve
followers. He had been sent out with the
other disciples to work miracles and preach the gospel of the kingdom! He had been entrusted to carry the funds for
the group. He had witnessed Jesus’
miracles and heard His testimony and teaching.
But the more he understood the less he agreed with his Rabbi over the
implementation and nature of the kingdom of heaven. He would partially come to his senses before
too long but his pride would not allow him to seek God’s forgiveness as we
shall see.
As Jesus had said in Matthew 7, “On that day many will say
to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in
your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never
knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” These people had done a lot in Jesus’
name—like Judas. They even called Him
Lord! But He didn’t know them. There was no relationship.
Judas’ and the Wrong Kingdom
Judas was focused on the things of this world—on money, on
the material aspects of the kingdom of heaven, to the exclusion of a
relationship with the Messiah. The kiss
was just for show! He had been Jesus’
companion and shared in His insecure lifestyle for the past three and a half
years believing it would earn Him physical gain and power. All of the other disciples struggled with
this to some extent, but Jesus Himself is what really mattered to them. But not Judas. This is why it is so shocking when we hear of
dedicated church people or even leaders who break with the church for some
worldly reason. It will be even more
shocking when we see on that coming day that some who were not outed in this
life will have actually fooled themselves.
Jesus’ words to Judas at this point are a bit obscure. The Greek simply has “your purpose for being
here . . .” so translators have attempted to supply the missing words two
different ways. Older translations often have, “Why are you here?” This seems to be redundant to the context so
most newer translations have instead, “Do what you came to do” which seems to
fit better.
Jesus in Charge at His Own Arrest
With that, Jesus was seized by the mob. But one of His disciples (John tells us it
was Peter) pulled out a sword and apparently tried to cut off someone’s head
but missed and took off an ear. John
tells us the man was Malchus who was apparently the high priest’s security
chief. John also tells us that Jesus
healed the man’s ear and chided Peter for using his sword. Matthew tells us that Jesus quoted a
well-known proverb that those who “live by the sword shall die by the sword.” Note that He didn’t say, get rid of your
sword but “put it back in its place.” There was a time and place for the sword
but this wasn’t it. We may well wonder
why the mob didn’t also seize Peter (and the rest of the disciples) at this
point. John tells us that Jesus was so
much in charge here that the soldiers fell down when they first came to arrest
Him. Jesus then allowed them to arrest
Him but ordered them to let the others go.
Matthew also points out that Jesus was very much in charge. He points out that He could call for 12
legions (72,000) of angels who are standing ready to rescue Him if He should
call for them. (A Roman legion had up to 6,000 infantry and 120 cavalry).
Fulfilling Scripture
But twice (in verses 54 and 56) Jesus pointed out that the
Scriptures needed to be fulfilled. The
Scriptures are the Word of God and the Sword of the Spirit. They express the will of God which Jesus came
to fulfill—not destroy. Jesus willingly
submitted to His arrest and what followed because it was the will of God—not “fate.” Remember, His personal desire was not go to
the cross. But He surrendered to the
Father’s will.
Battling Spiritual Opposition to His Mission
Last time we mentioned the two realms we live in—the realm
of the physical world and the realm of the Spirit. We cannot expect to win battles in the unseen
realm of the Spirit with weapons of the physical world. There are battles in the physical world but
there is also an unseen world of the Spirit where the battles are just as
real. None of the disciples, including
Judas, seem to have realized this, yet.
Because we live in two worlds we have to act with both
worlds in mind. We require nourishment
and instruction for both the physical as well as the spiritual dimension. Scripture tells us that we are “in the world
but not of the world” (John 17; Romans 12:2).
We are sent into the world with a spiritual purpose—to do the will of
God. So, we need to be very careful to understand that when we experience
opposition—our battle isn’t really with people—they are just victims, too. They just don’t realize it. Our battle is against the evil one—a battle
we can only win with divine assistance.
Spiritual Opposition to Our Mission
Jesus points out that His mission in this world could not be
thwarted and even their plot to kill Him now was being utilized as part of
God’s plan. His surety rested on the
will of God and fulfillment of Scripture.
After Jesus’ resurrection, He will announce God’s will for all who will
follow Him—an announcement that becomes enshrined in Scripture—what we call the
Great Commission.
So, who was He surrendering to? Jesus was surrendering His
will to God the Father. The Jewish
leaders thought He had surrendered to them.
If they had known God’s secret plan they would not have crucified Jesus
(1 Corinthians 2:8).
We, too, are born struggling to go our own way. Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone
astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. But the Lord has laid on Him (the Messiah) the iniquity of us
all.” Our struggle is naturally bent
from birth to run the opposite way from God.
It is only when we surrender to God’s will and way that we actually win. It’s how we begin the Christian life and it’s
how we live it out. It is actually a
constant exercise to examine our goals, our purposes, and our desires for each
new day to see that we are submitting everything to God’s will. Jesus said, “Deny yourself and take up your
cross daily and follow me.” That’s where
we win in the end. An unsubmitted self
is not your friend.
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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