基督留下那三個門徒，再住前走，來到園中的暗處，然後祂開始禱告：「父，親愛的父啊，還有其他途徑嗎？不，我知道沒有，但我多麼想有啊！」祂不是因為內心軟弱，也不是害怕肉體死亡，或是感到屈辱和羞恥而這樣禱告；卻是因為祂想到，當父神將世人的罪歸到祂身上的時候，父神便要轉離祂，祂與父神之間那種恆久不渝的相交便要中斷。

祂還說了甚麼呢？祂說：「然而，不要照我的意思，只要照你的意思。」我們的救主甘心捨己在客西馬尼園重新被神悅納，並在各各他山上徹底成就。我們必須時刻緊記，基督是甘心樂意地為我們捨己。請再讀約翰福音十八章11節難以置信的話。當時彼得想與捉拿基督的兵丁搏鬥，基督卻說：「我父所給我的那杯，我豈可不喝呢？」在那些兵丁後面，在所有這些事情背後，祂看見父神的手在掌管。這是基督最偉大的言論之一。

詩篇一一八篇27節提到要用繩索把祭牲拴在壇角，但基督卻不需繩索，甚至不需鐵釘把祂固定在十架。正如一首歌所唱：「是愛，不是釘，把祂懸在十架。」

路加告訴我們，祂禱告的時候，有一位天使來加添祂的力量（二十二43）。誰差派的天使呢？當然是父神。祂明白兒子正在經歷的痛苦，因著愛，祂對一位天使說：「去加添我兒子的力量，祂現在需要你。」對我們也一樣。這其中最好的一個提醒就是我們常常重復的一句話：「父神知道！」當我們有需要的時候，要留心察看前來幫助我們的天使（可能就是弟兄姊妹）。

不久，猶大帶著兵丁來捉拿耶穌。當耶穌被帶到祭司那裡，並最終被帶到彼拉多面前受審的時候，眾門徒都四散逃跑。基督怎能承受這一切呢？全因祂知道一切都在神的掌管之下，並且一切都是出於神對我們的大愛。神啊，為你一直以來為我們所做的一切，和正在為我們所做的，我們要衷心感謝你。

Day 18

OUR SAVIOUR’S SURRENDER

Matthew 26:36-46

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”

37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

Message

Christ left the three disciples and went on a little farther into the dark of the Garden. Then He began to pray, “Father, dear Father, is there some other way? No, I know there isn’t, but how I wish there was.” He was not praying in weakness, nor in fear of physical death. It was not the humiliation or shame. It was the thought that when His Father laid on Him the sin of us all, the Father would have to turn away from Him. The fellowship which they had known for eternity would be broken.

What else did He say? “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Our Saviour’s sacrifice was accepted afresh in Gethsemane, then realised at Calvary. Let us always remember it was a willing sacrifice. Read His incredible words in John 18:11 when Peter wanted to fight the arresting soldiers, “Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?’ Behind the soldiers, behind it all, He saw the Father’s hand. Those are some of Christ’s greatest words.

In Psalm 118:27 it speaks of binding the sacrifice to the horns of the altar. But Christ needed no ropes, not even nails, to hold Him onto the cross. As the song says, “It was His love and not the nails that held Him there.”

Luke tells us (22:43) that as He prayed an angel came and strengthened Him. Who sent that angel? The Father did. He knew the agony His Son was going through. In love, He said to one of the angels, “Go and strengthen my Son. He needs you just now.” It is the same for us. One of the finest reminders of this is in the little phrase we often repeat, “Father knows.” We need to watch for the angels (maybe human angels) coming to help us in our hour of need.

Then came the soldiers led by Judas to arrest Him. The disciples fled as Jesus was lead away to be trialed by the priests and finally by Pilate. How was Christ able to go through all this? He could because He knew He was in the sovereign will of God and because He had great love for us. How can we ever thank Him for all that He did, and is doing for us even now?