We’re into the part of Luke’s gospel where we see Jesus in Gethsemane. His crucifixion is hours away and the tension is rising. It’s a moment of enormous spiritual importance for the whole of humanity – for you, today.
But those closest to it were missing the point. They didn’t get it. The world we’re in is a mess, but you don’t know the half of it. There’s a spiritual world overlapping with us, and that’s a reality that puts you in danger.
How can you survive when there are evil forces working against you that you can’t even see – or even weren’t aware of?
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church Wirral in October 2023. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
You’re in a battle you can’t see (31-34)
Read Luke 22:31.
The “you” there is plural. Jesus is telling Simon that Satan has asked to sift them all like wheat. That’s when you get your wheat grains and shake them really hard in a sieve to get all the impurities out. Satan wants to shake the disciples violently, and see who falls.
Notice that Satan has to ask. He’s like a vicious, nasty, dangerous dog – but on a lead. He can do horrible things, but he’s restrained and limited by God.
Our western society would prefer to believe that Satan doesn’t exist – that there’s no spiritual reality beyond what you can see. But Satan is a liar and a deceiver, and tricking people into thinking he doesn’t exist is one of his ways of leading people to hell. Don’t fall for it.
Jesus has words particularly for Simon Peter: Read Luke 22:32.
It’s amazing: On the one hand, he knows Simon Peter will fall.
- Jesus doesn’t pray that Satan won’t touch him: Satan has already been given permission.
- But Jesus does pray for Peter’s ongoing faith and preservation.
- Knowing that his prayer will be heard, he tells Peter that he must then strengthen the brothers.
- To know that Jesus prays for you is beautiful; to know that he will restore you when you fall is humbling, and encouraging. If you’re falling, he’ll pick you up. Always.
- If anything, Peter’s failure would enable him to encourage others: 1 Peter 5:9 Resist him [the devil], firm in the faith.
False confidence
At the time, though, Peter wasn’t listening: Read Luke 22:33.
He has no idea of the spiritual nature of the attack to come. Worse, he seems confident in his own strength. The fact that Jesus has prayed for him doesn’t seem to register.
When Jesus warns of spiritual danger, you should listen. It will be a lesson Peter won’t forget: Read Luke 22:34.
We might wonder if Peter even believed that. Is it possible you’re more like Peter than you realise?
Ephesians 6:12 says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
“Yes,” you say, “that’s why we need to pray.” Absolutely. And yet, who prays as they ought? You’re in a battle you can’t see (blindfolded), warned by God, and you still don’t pray for help every day…
Be ready for opposition (35-38)
A big part of the Last Supper evening is Jesus commissioning his disciples. He’d sent them out before: Read Luke 22:35.
He’s referring back to when he sent them in chapter 9, healing diseases, casting out demons, teaching good news. That time, they took nothing with them. Everything was provided for them en route. But things will be different now. Read Luke 22:36.
The need to buy a sword is a bit of a surprise. In truth, it was a standard bit of kit for any would-be traveller in the Roman world. It’s not a tool of war; it’s for self defence.
But why would you need a sword if your enemies are spiritual? Because over and over in the Bible, opposition to God’s people comes through human means. Evil men, under evil influence, doing evil things. In the imagery of Revelation, the Dragon (Satan) opposes the children of God using his twin beasts of anti-God ideology and anti-God powers and influencers (people).
So some of our spiritual “weapons” will actually be godly use of world resources – not swords, but other physical means of protection, such as:
- The church. We are here for one another, strengthening, encouraging, praying, upholding, carrying.
- Wise use of worldly wisdom, such as Safeguarding procedures, legal protections, and organisations like the Christian Institute working into policy makers and government.
Such things are good, but it’s always necessary to understand them in the context of a very real spiritual warfare.
Jesus, the Servant of Isaiah 53
Jesus drives that home: Read Luke 22:37. That’s a quote from Isaiah 53:12. It’s the only direct quote of Isaiah 53 in the gospels (though there are allusions). Jesus knew what was coming. Read Isaiah 53:4-6, 12.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). In giving up his life to die for us, he smashed the hold Satan has over humanity.
- An end to sin and death.
- All sin atoned for, so now no more condemnation or accusation.
- Jesus’ substitutionary death is his decisive blow over Satan, and obviously Jesus knew it.
Still, the disciples didn’t. Read Luke 22:38.
Time has run out for further explanations. The disciples half understand that bad stuff is coming, but they don’t really get the whole picture. But it’s time to move on… to death.
Pray the hard prayer (39-46)
So we make our way on to Jesus in Gethsemane: Read Luke 22:39.
Unlike the other gospel writers, Luke doesn’t name the garden. In fact, he gives a shorter account than the others – but that means he sharpens the point to focus on Jesus’ prayer. Read Luke 22:40.
Why did he say that to them? Satan has asked to sift them like wheat; he’s going to shake them to see who falls away. But what will he do? Tempt them to sin, to abandon Jesus, to walk away.
Imagine if Jesus told you that Satan has asked to shake you, and that Jesus then told you to pray so that you don’t fall into temptation. Do you think you’d pray?
In his own darkest moment, Jesus did pray: Read Luke 22:41-42.
To pray, “not my will, but yours, be done” is a hard prayer. By nature, you want your own will to be done. That’s the very essence of sin.
God’s will and Jesus’ will
But this leads us to a couple of questions: What was God’s will? Did Jesus will something different from God?
- God’s will is clear. Isaiah 53:10 Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely… a guilt offering.
- This moment of crucifixion at the hands of evil men was precisely why the Father sent the Son into the world.
- Your salvation utterly depends on it.
- Did Jesus not want that?
- Of course he did. It’s why he was so focussed on getting to Jerusalem to be your Passover lamb.
- Did he want to die? No. He is life.
- How could he possibly face dying a horrible death lightly, easily, joyfully?
- So notice his prayer: Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me…
- But it’s not possible.
- There’s no other way for you to be saved.
- You need a perfect man who is God to take your punishment, or else be punished for your own sin.
The risen Jesus today calls you to repent of your sin and seek forgiveness. He’s been punished for his people’s sins. That’s your confidence before God – your only hope.
Read Luke 22:43-44.
The other gospel writers also give us a sense of Jesus’ agony. Mark 14:34 tells us that Jesus said to his disciples “I am deeply grieved to the point of death.”
Agony and sleep in Gethsemane
But there’s something in that for you:
Give thanks that he was so dreading what was to come! It shows the awfulness of punishment for sin, and the fact that his death completely atones for you, if you come to him in repentance and faith.
Give thanks that the Father’s answer to that prayer was ‘no’ – there is no other way for you to be saved, and God has provided this glorious way for you to come. It’s a breath-taking display of his justice and love to you.
So much for Jesus’ prayer. How did the disciples get on?
Read Luke 22:45-46.
Luke tells us why they were asleep, but Jesus still asks them, “Why are you sleeping?” There’s a time for sleep, and a time for prayer; they got it badly wrong that night. They knew Satan was after them. Jesus told them to pray.
So what was the temptation they were likely to fall into? More than anything, the temptation to do their own will, not God’s. That was the peak of Jesus’ own temptation in the garden, and he resisted. He was obedient to death.
There is no level of Christian maturity that you can reach that needs no help from the Lord. You will always be tempted to do your will, not God’s.
You will always need to pray the hard prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” It’s easy to waste time and effort doing your own will when you should be doing God’s.
What happened next in the garden is an example of passionate response for Jesus – but completely misguided and unhelpful.
Fight the right fight (47-53)
Read Luke 22:47-48.
Judas had slipped out during the Last Supper. He became a byword for treachery and betrayal, but he’s not just a literary figure. Judas is in torment for his sin against Jesus. Don’t join him.
The irony is that while Judas gave Jesus a kiss, the other disciples resorted to violence: Read Luke 22:49-50.
It would have been a chaotic, violent scene. No-one aims for an ear! They were going for the kill and missed. There would have been shouting, blood, and anger.
“Lord, should we strike with the sword?” – they didn’t even wait for an answer. They just struck.
- They were trying to protect Jesus.
- That means they had no idea what he’d been telling them for ages – that he had to die.
- There’s no spiritual discernment or thought going on; they only see the physical scuffle, not the spiritual battle raging away.
- They’re obviously passionate for Jesus, but it’s all misguided because they haven’t listened to him and they haven’t spent time in prayer.
- Don’t let that be you.
- Don’t go doing the wrong thing “for Jesus” because you never listened to him or found out what he’d like.
- The sword they were told to get was for their own protection, not his. Even then, it was a symbol of the danger they could expect, rather than a literal weapon to be used.
What a shame to be with Jesus, but not actually listening to him. You can do that in prayer just as easily as they did that night.
The Light of the World in the darkness
Jesus was in control, still: Read Luke 22:51.
Every sinner is his enemy, and he loves his enemies. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He didn’t need to condemn anyone because your sins already condemn you. So he healed the man with the severed ear – he is a healer, a restorer, a giver of life.
Even in his rebuke to the crowd, there’s an implied invitation: Read Luke 22:52-53.
He’s accusing them of coming in all heavy-handed when they didn’t arrest him during the day. There’s an invitation to self-examination in that. It’s an opportunity to ask again, “Who is this man that the crowds follow? What has he done? Why do people follow him?”
But it was night, and they were under darkness. They took him away.
In these verses you see in Jesus a clarity of obedient purpose and prayerful dependence.
In the disciples you see a wrong-headed passion that comes from prayerless self-sufficiency.
So, because God has sent his Son to destroy the works of the devil, engage in spiritual warfare in dependence on him: Expect opposition from all angles, even government. Pray for strength; pray to be kept from temptation.