Gospel - Luke 21-22
July 22, 2009 by: Treasureinearthernvessel
As I was meditating over today’s chapters on Luke, I was also feeling drained from my secular work. (I am sure many of you can empathise with this feeling, especially those who are working.) For a moment, this feeling of fatigue is luring me to give up and just go to bed.
“It’s okay, you can submit this posting late. Nobody will condemn you. They will understand.”
The devil really knows how to persuade and convince people! Honestly, I was almost swayed.
Until this thought suddenly came to me: Jesus must have been tired too.
Let’s read ….
Bible Passage: Luke 21-22
This two chapters records many of the familiar passages in the Bible that we so frequently read. Luke 21 records of the signs of the last days, while Luke 22 records the Holy Communion, the prayer of Jesus at Gethsemane, and the hearing of Jesus at the council.
But while we read these passages again, it is perhaps good to imagine oneself in the shoes of Jesus. From His prayer at Gethsemane, we know that He is probably feeling tired. It was very near the end of His three-year ministry, and over this three years, He has performed so many miracles and taught His followers so much, much more than can be penned down on paper (John 21:25).
Sleeping from sorrow
Sometimes, after doing so much work, and being bogged down by these work, one may lose focus and start to wonder what is the real reason of doing all these things. One may then begin to feel tired.
It is not such a bad thing to feel this way; at least, we have not yet got to the point of being numb to the busyness of life. We can still question “why?” and steer ourselves back on the right track.
Which was what Jesus did when He prayed, “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) and we see an angel appearing to strengthen Him.
Very often, when we get caught up with the merry-go-round of life, this feeling of tiredness can also cause one to feel down. One may start to question about the true essence of life. Is it only about busying oneself with work? What happens when one seeps into this sorrowful and self-pitying state?
The Bible actually says that we sleep.
“When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow” (Luke 22:45).
Not only was Jesus tired; His disciples were also tired.
This particular phrase ’sleeping from sorrow’ stood out from the reading this time round.
Have we ever have the experience of sleeping in tears or crying ourselves to sleep? Have we had times when we were so sad that all we could do was to cry until we grew tired, and then all we could do next was simply to fall into a sleep in that state?
It is like being drunk with sorrow, and what you get is a state whereby you get so absorbed in that emotion and you neglect all other things.
That was probably what happened for these disciples. They were sorrowful at the impending outcome for their Lord; they probably still had not fully understood why their Master was going through pain and suffering. And what happened next was a state of ‘drunkenness’.
What was Jesus’ advice?
“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” (Luke 21:34).
While it is understandable that in this flesh of weakness, we get tired and sorrowful, what does Jesus really want us to do? Jesus said,
“Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46)
The Lord’s silence
Even though the Lord Jesus was tired, we saw His insistence as the Son of God. This was what the preacher also exhorted us, that like Jesus, we ought to hold on to our status as the children of God no matter what.
Jesus was also able to remain silent while He was being humiliated and questioned. How many of us can remain silent when faced with such a situation of being wrongly accused? How many of us can remain silent while being wrongly accused (Matthew 26:60), for the sakes of those who wrongly accused us?
I was reminded of what Jesus had said just earlier on.
“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.” (Luke 21:12-13)
In Jesus’ case, His silence became a testimony for God. While He was brought before the priests and scribes, He kept silent (Matthew 26:63). He only spoke up when He was asked about His status as the Son of God. How many of us can really keep silent, and only speak up when the real need requires? How many of us can use our mouth wisely, like Jesus?
The Lord’s silence also taught me that at the right time, things will be revealed. Therefore, there is no hurry that we should be careless with our words. For there will be nothing hidden that will not be revealed at the last days. At the foot of the cross, the mystery will be make known.
Isaiah exhorted that “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). Therefore, let us learn to use this quietness as a weapon in our spiritual warfare.
The Lord’s look
Another visual image that really struck me was the look that Jesus gave Peter. How do you imagine it to be like? Maybe I will leave you to ponder about this look, and whether you feel that you have had received this look from Jesus before. How did you feel? How do you think Jesus felt?
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:59 am
The Lord’s Look…. I know I have received this look from the Lord many times. And it is painful to write about it so I won’t. Instead, I want to just share what I felt when I read the part of Peter’s denial of Jesus….
Love and Betrayal! This is an oft repeated story in the movies, plays and novels. It would seem that men are the main perpertuators of betrayal as we men seem to have a history of running away when things get difficult, or when we have to break a promise we can’t keep, or even selling out in the face of temptation.
It is not that there are no women betrayers… but when I read the Gospel books, it does seem that it is only the men that betray Jesus. Indeed, we see Peter strongly denying Jesus by even saying “I do not know him!”(Lk 22:57) It was as if Peter was saying “I swear I am telling the truth! I do not know this man you are talking about. May lightning strike me if what I say is false!”
And while Peter was still speaking.. the rooster crowed.
Jesus turned around and looked straight at Peter…
And Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows tonight, you will deny me three times.”
And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
I am not sure about you but whenever I read this passage - the vividness of the denial of Peter paints an indelible picture in my mind.
What do I see?
First of all, I see this brash, over confident leader of the disciples, Peter. Prior to this, he had sworn that he would never betray Jesus, even if everyone else did.
Secondly, I do believe that when Peter made this promise, he did so with utmost sincerity and deep love in his heart. He firmly believed that he would be able to keep his word and follow Jesus all the way.
Thirdly, despite all his bravado, Peter broke his promise quickly in the face of adversity.
Finally, I see Peter weeping bitterly over his sin when Jesus looked at him with love.
So what can I learn from this?
First - being sincere and wanting to do good is not enough to keep us from sinning. It is like what Paul says… we know the good that we want to do but we just simply cannot go and do it. Sin does not always arise from malice or hypocrisy. More often than not, we sin because our our weaknesses.
The problem is that whe we sin out of our weaknesses, we always try and rationalize and say, “It is not so bad!” or “I’m just human and there is nothing I can do about it”.
But sin is still sin. Betrayal is still betrayal. And the damage is still real - even if we have acted out of weakness.
Peter did not want to betray Jesus but he just did not have the courage and strength to not do it.
And that is our problem also when we don’t hold out against temptation, whether it be to bitterness, lusts, gossip, slander, jealousy, hatred, or anything else we sell out to or run away from in order to get through an ordeal, a loneliness, an insecurity, a fear, or a season.
So sincerity does not necessarily save us fom sin. But it does help us hear the rooster crow. As long as we remain sincere, we will soon enough admit our sin and we will know too that God still looks on us with love, even in betrayal.
To me, a very important part of this picture of Peter betraying Jesus is the look that Peter sees on Jesus’ face when he catches His eye in the crowd. The text tells us that “Jesus turned around and looked straight at Peter.”
Whenever you read the gospels about Jesus when He “looked at” someone, it is generally a look of love, understanding and blessing.
At the point of Jesus’ ultimate point of humiliation and Peter’s ultimate moment of betrayal - what did Peter see on Jesus’ face?
I would think that he did not see a look of disappointment and reproach. But Peter saw something that he had likely never seen or experienced before in his whole life - a look of love, warmth and understanding - even as he sinned and betrayed Christ.
I always imagined if I were Peter - what would I feel at that moment? Having let the Lord down so many times and betraying His trust and grace despite all my boasts and resolutions.
I believed that at that moment - Peter finally understood the unconditional love of his master, Jesus. And the tears that flowed came out of this understanding.
The tears we weep when we are loved despite our weakness is very different from the tears we shed when we feel judged and humiliated by our weakness.
To experience love when we don’t deserve it - and to remember it and keep it in our hearts always - is one way to help us stand firm against sin in the future.
The image of Peter betraying Jesus teaches me this - Jesus really loves us despite our sinful nature.
But just as Jesus prayed for Peter that after he returned to the Lord, he will strengthen his brethren (Luke 22:32), Jesus is also interceding for us in Heaven.
So after my failures each time and receiving grace and forgiveness from the Lord, I must learn to not repeat the same mistakes again. And also to stregthen my fellow brethren so that they will not repeat the same mistakes I made.
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
The part which strikes me most from today’s reading was from Luke 21, about the second coming of the Lord. We have read this many many times..yes yes we know that the Lord is coming very soon, but how many of us really appreciate the gravity of the situation?
This chapter was very apt for me as i received an email a few months ago regarding a tsunami which will strike today, 22nd july..and many countries including Singapore will be affected. Though i know it was probably a hoax created by some prankster with too much time on his hands, i couldn’t help but feel a frisson of alarm niggling at my heart when i woke up this morning to heavy downpour and dark stormy clouds.
I am not ready to leave this world yet, not because i am afraid to die, but because there are too many people out there whom i love dearly who do not know the Lord. What happens if a tsunami wipes out the entire SG this very moment? What if tomorrow never comes?? I would regret not preaching the gospel to my family & friends. I was supposed to be the key to the kingdom of heaven, yet i have not done my utmost to reach out to them, open my mouth & preach the word. How could i face the Lord, knowing that He would ask me why i haven’t done my part?
What about some of us, whose friends/family have strayed away from the church..? Do we pray for them constantly, for the Lord to have mercy and soften their hearts so they could return ‘home’? Do we still invite them for spiritual meetings? Do we reach out to fellow brothers or sisters who are lonely and misunderstood in church? One day God will question us these.. and what answers could we give? It is honestly time to get out of our comfort zones!
It seems incredulous that we still worry about stuff like competing with a rival colleague to secure that promotion, or scoring a good degree to land a good job, or worrying whether ‘he-likes-me’ or ’she-likes-me’… when one day all these will come to naught.
We keep harping on and on about the Lord’s second coming, but do we really really truly comprehend the magnitude of it?
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 am
Whenever i read Luke 22:43-44, i like to read them slowly, word by word.
i try to understand “being in agony, He prayed even more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” In His agony, Lord Jesus could feel that an angel strengthening Him and prayed even more earnestly.
Once i was weeping loudly, with much tears to Lord Jesus to forgive me for falling short of His love. In my heart was a deep remose which i desperately need to tell Lord Jesus, i m truly sorry and begging Him earnestly to forgive me.
i had to stop my prayer when the bell was pressed. The sobbing ended instantaneously too. There was no gulps for breath. Then i know Lord Jesus has accepted my prayer. He has forgiven me my transgression.
When i read Lord Jesus’ prayers tonight, it suddenly draws on me that the disciples had seen Lord Jesus praying in the Spirit when He was with them. It was not recorded in the bible if Lord Jesus prayed in tongue like us today. i m sured Lord Jesus prayed differently from the disciples even when He was with them bec the Holy Spirit abided in Him (John1:32).
This may be why the disciples could understand what Lord Jesus said in Luke 11:13 n John 7:37 -39. This may be why Peter could say Lord Jesus is the Son of God. This may be the reason that they could accept John 20:22 and wait patiently in Jerusalem for the down pouring of the Holy Spirit.
For they believed that the sons of God must have the Spirit of God. Lord Jesus has.
Paul said,”The Spirit of God Himself bears witness with our spirit (Chinese bible: heart) that we are children of God.” (Rom8:16)
We r the children of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us (Gal 4:6)
Have you received the Holy Spirit when you believe? Do you believe?