Garden of Gethsemane; Jesus Arrest

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane; Jesus’ Arrest

Matt. 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12

Main Point: Prayer can help us through hard times.

Key Verse: Luke 22:46b “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

Review and tying it all together: From the Bible, we’ve learned that Jesus had a special dinner with His disciples. We call it the “Last Supper”.

PowerPoint:

Say This: During this communion meal, Jesus taught His disciples to remember Him. As Jesus washed their feet, He taught them to serve each other.

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Say This: He taught them that He was the only WAY to heaven; He was the TRUTH that would set them free, and He was their LIFE!

Jesus also told His disciples that not all who followed Him were *true* believers. When Jesus announced that one of the 12 would betray Him, the disciples were shocked. However, Judas knew that it was him, even though the other disciples had no idea. They all began to make great claims to follow Jesus no matter what. But Jesus knew their hearts – and their weaknesses. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him 3 times before the rooster crowed the next morning. This made all of the disciples very sad. If Peter could deny Jesus, what would they be capable of?

Garden of Gethsemane

Say This: After the dinner, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

PowerPoint:

Say This: Jesus prayed to strengthen Himself. While He was praying, He asked His disciples to pray with Him. The disciples kept falling asleep.

It’s not that the disciples’ prayers would have “saved” Jesus from His death. Jesus wasn’t asking them to fight for Him or even to protect Him. He simply asked them to PRAY for Him and with Him. It is in the Garden of Gethsemane that we can begin to see the agony that sin brings. Jesus knew what He was about to suffer on the cross. He prayed so earnestly that the Bible says that He sweat drops of blood! All He wanted His disciples to do was PRAY. Instead, they slept. Three times Jesus asks them to pray; three times, He finds them asleep. Though they just vowed their allegiance to Him, they could not even pray. Jesus suffered alone.

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However, it is interesting to note that God sent an angel to minister to Him.

Application: There are times when we look at others and all the hardship they’re going through. It is our human nature to want to “fix” things for other people. Certainly, we should do what we can to help. But there are some things that cannot be “fixed”. That is when we must pray for and pray with people.

Prayer is hard work. Ask: Have you ever tried to pray for an hour? At first, we may be critical of the disciples for not staying awake enough to pray for Jesus. But remember, it was night time, they had just had dinner; Jesus had already taught them a lot. They were exhausted and overwhelmed.

There is power in prayer. Though prayer did not deliver Jesus from the intense suffering, God did deliver Him through it. Many times we pray that God will get us OUT of troubles/hard times instead of praying that God will get us THROUGH these difficult times. “Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He calms the child in the midst of the storm”.

PowerPoint:

Jesus Arrested (Matthew 26:47-51)

While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. He was one of the Twelve. A large crowd was with him. They were carrying swords and clubs. The chief priests and the elders of the people had sent them.

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Judas, who was going to hand Jesus over, had arranged a signal with them. "The one I kiss is the Man," he said. "Arrest Him."

So Judas went to Jesus at once. He said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" And he kissed Him.

Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came to do."

Then the men stepped forward. They grabbed Jesus and arrested him. At that moment, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword. He pulled it out and struck the servant of the high priest with it. He cut off the servant's ear.

PowerPoint:

Prop: Show a FAKE sword

Read Matthew 26:52-56"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him. "All who use the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I can't ask my Father for help? He would send an army of more than 70,000 angels right away. But then how would the Scriptures come true? They say it must happen in this way."

At that time, Jesus spoke to the crowd. "Am I leading a band of armed men against you?" he asked. "Do you have to come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courtyard teaching. And you didn't arrest Me. But all this has happened so that the words of the prophets would come true."

Then all the disciples left him and ran away.

Say: This is exactly what Jesus told them would happen. That is why prayer is so important. Prayer gives us the strength we need when we’re in the middle difficult times. Prayer opens the door to receive help from God.

Main Point: Prayer can help us through hard times.

Optional: Show this clip from the Gospel of John DVD.