Gethsemane
"Then
cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith
unto the disciples, . . . tarry ye here, and watch with Me."
Matthew
26:36, 38.
"We can never
fathom the agony in Gethsemane, but at least we need not
misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and Man in one, face to
face with sin. We know nothing about Gethsemane in personal
experience. Gethsemane and Calvary stand for something unique; they
are the gateway into Life for us....
"It was not the death on the cross that Jesus feared in Gethsemane;
He stated most emphatically that He came on purpose to die. In
Gethsemane He feared lest He might not get through as Son of Man. He
would get through as Son of God -- Satan could not touch Him there;
but Satan's onslaught was that he would get through as an isolated
Figure only; and that would mean that he could be no Savior....
"The agony in Gethsemane is the agony of the Son of God in
fulfilling His destiny as the Saviour of the world. The veil is
drawn aside to reveal all it cost Him to make it possible for us to
become sons of God. His agony is the basis of the simplicity of our
salvation. The Cross of Christ is a triumph for the son of Man. It
was not only a sign that Our Lord had triumphed, but that He had
triumphed to save the human race. Every human being can get through
into the presence of God now because of what the Son of Man went
through." April 5
"Watch with
Me." Matthew 26:40.
“Watch with
Me”—with no private point of view of your own at all, but watch
entirely with Me. In the early stages we do not watch with Jesus, we
watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revelation of
the Bible; in the circumstances of our lives. Our Lord is trying to
introduce us to identification with Himself in a particular
Gethsemane, and we will not go; we say—‘No, Lord, I cannot see the
meaning of this, it is bitter.’ How can we possibly watch with
Someone Who is inscrutable? How are we going to understand Jesus
sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we do not
know even what His suffering is for? We do not know how to watch
with Him; we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us."
The disciples
loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they
did not understand what He was after. In the Garden of Gethsemane
they slept for their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of
the closest intimacy they “all forsook Him and fled.”
“[After
Pentecost] they were all filled with the Holy Ghost'—the same
'they,' but something wonderful has happened in between, viz., Our
Lord’s Death and Resurrection and Ascension, and the disciples have
been invaded by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord had said—“Ye shall receive
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” and this meant
that they learned to watch with Him all the rest of their lives."
(September 5)
"Ye are they
which have continued with Me in My temptations." Luke 22:28.
“It is true
that Jesus Christ is with us in our temptations, but are we going
with Him in His temptations? ... Watch when God shifts your
circumstances, and see whether you are going with Jesus, or siding
with the world, the flesh and the devil. We wear His badge, but are
we going with Him?
“'From that
time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.'
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly
life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of
God in us. Are we going with Jesus in the life we are
living now?
“We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of
the things God brings round us. Never! God engineers circumstances,
and whatever they may be like we have to see that we face them while
abiding continually with Him in His temptations. ... The honour of
Jesus Christ is at stake in your bodily life. Are you remaining
loyal to the Son of God in the things which beset His life in you?
“...The way lies through Gethsemane, through the city gate, outside
the camp; the way lies alone, and the way lies until there is
no trace of a footstep left, only the voice, 'Follow Me.' (September
19)