Ready and Aware

Author: Joseph

Date: December 15, 2024

Yeshua went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives, and distressed, He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). Agonizing over what He would have to endure and take upon Himself, above all, His desire was to fulfill the purpose of His coming as a man to its completion: atonement for the sins of mankind by providing a perfect sacrifice and taking on the full wrath of God that mankind themselves deserved. Yeshua agonized over the wrath He would have to suffer by taking upon Himself the penalty of mankind’s sins. But even with all this in mind, the Father’s will was perfect and had to be done.

Late into the evening, Yeshua prayed and His disciples became weary and sleepy. While Yeshua was anticipating the will of the Father, they were falling asleep, unaware of what was about to happen and how it would affect them. They had heard Yeshua’s words that He would have His blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins just during their Passover meal (Matthew 26:27-28). They should have also realized at this moment that Judas had departed from them and that Yeshua had stated it was one of the disciples that would betray Him. The disciples were unaware that this betrayal was imminent and not something far off that should leave them guessing for how it would be fulfilled. Yeshua forewarned His disciples and said to them between His prayers in Gethsemane:

“So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41).

Yeshua was not merely telling His disciples not to sleep because He wanted them to be awake with Him. He was trying to make them aware of the imminent fulfillment of His sacrificial death. And while they may be tired physically, it was not the proper time for resting. Judas was on his way to have Him arrested, and they would be caught unaware and vulnerable to temptation – the temptation to oppose God’s will because of their sudden fearful awakening to Yeshua’s arrest. Yet, this is exactly the temptation they fell into.

When Judas arrives with a large crowd to arrest Yeshua, Yeshua’s disciples are awakened as they are approaching and there is no time to prepare themselves to not give into fear. Peter pulls out his sword and in a desperate attempt to protect Yeshua from arrest, he swings his sword and cuts of the ear of the slave of the high priest. Peter had previously rebuked Yeshua when He had revealed that He would suffer and be killed, to which Yeshua said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind of God’s interests, but man’s” (Mark 8:33). And not Peter was acting out of that same fear of Yeshua suffering by drawing his sword to kill anyone who would try to take Yeshua away. Instead of taking the time to pray with Yeshua, as Peter should have, and understand the will of God to have Him suffer, Peter was setting his mind on his own interests out of fear once again.

Yeshua reminds Peter that everything that was happening, “has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures and the prophets” (Matthew 26:56). Yeshua knew what had to happen, but His disciples, who made themselves unaware of His will through their slumber were scared, desperate, and then fled from Him once they knew He was submitting to be arrested and taken away (Matthew 26:56).

"Knowing and accepting the will of God..."

Are you also preferring to remain blissfully unaware of the will of God for the sake of your own comfort and peace of mind? Knowing and accepting the will of God is the opposite of being afraid, even if the will of God is not pleasant, because it gives us foresight and hope that we can faithfully trust God through anything that is ahead of us. If the disciples had known Yeshua was going to be arrested that night and that they must scatter to fulfill prophecy, they would not have been afraid to see the will of God come to pass. They would not have feared the crowd coming in the night nor Judas’s betrayal of their Master. The disciples would have been aware and submissive to the will of God as Yeshua was also. But instead of acting in faithfulness and dispersing until they would meet Yeshua again after His resurrection, they scattered out of fear of their own lives.

Trust God to fulfill His perfect plan, regardless of if you like it or not. By submitting to His will, no matter how painful it will be, we show our faith in Him and prove ourselves true disciples, following after the example of Yeshua.

Matthew 26:36-56

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org