Matthew 26:26-56

Jesus took the familiar pieces of the Passover meal - the bread and the wine and gave them new meaning and significance. He said that the bread represented His body that would be broken and the wine represented His blood that would be poured out for the forgiveness of sin. With this, He instituted what has come to be known as the Lord's Supper that we might have a way to remember the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. Even today, Christians pass the bread and cup to remember what Jesus has done for us.

After they were done, they went to the Mount of Olives where Jesus foretold that His disciples would all leave Him that night. Peter said he would never leave Him, but Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. Peter once again denied that he would do this and all of the other disciples said they would not either.

They continued on to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus took Peter, James, and John aside and confided in them that He was weighed down in grief. He asked them to keep watch while He went a little further to pray. He asked His Father that if there was some way to fulfill His purpose other than death, to let it be. Ultimately, He said that He would follow the will of the Father rather than His own. He came back to find His disciples sleeping and asked them again to keep watch and pray. He went and prayed the same prayer twice more, and came back each time to find His disciples sleeping. The third time, He woke them and told them it was time for His betrayal.

It can be easy to think that since Jesus was God that His death on the cross was easy for Him. Here we see that that was not the case. He agonized over what He knew had to be done. He wasn't looking forward to it. He knew the pain and agony that awaited Him on the cross and went quietly, without complaining. He asked His Father for another way, but ultimately submitted Himself to the will of the Father. God will not always take us out of difficult situations, but He will give us the strength to come through them. There's nothing wrong with wanting the tough times to pass, but in the end, seeking God's will and going where He wants to lead us is more important than our comfort.

The disciples wanted to keep watch with Jesus, but didn't have the strength to do so. Jesus said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." So often, we find that we want to do the right things, but our human weaknesses get in the way. It's in these times that we need to lean on Jesus for strength. With His power working through us, we can accomplish things for Him that we cannot do on our own.


As Jesus was speaking of His betrayal, Judas came up with a mob of people. He came over to Jesus and signaled the mob who to grab by walking over and giving Him a kiss. After Jesus was grabbed, Peter began to fight, but Jesus stopped him, saying that if that's how He wanted to handle it, He could have had His Father send down His angels to stop the mob. To the crowd He asked if they had come to arrest Him like a thief now when they had had ample opportunity to take Him when He was in the temple teaching. He answered His own question in that it was done in this way to fulfill prophecy. At this time, all of His disciples left Him, just as He said they would.

Jesus was in control the entire time. As He said, He could have stopped it all by having God's angels come and rescue Him. Even when we think we are in control, we must stop and remember that God is the one who is in control of all things. When we try to do our own thing, it's like trying to swim upstream. When we stop struggling and let the will of God direct our lives, we find that we have peace that only comes from being right with God.