Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
May 22, 2002
Introduction
We are in the last night that Jesus will spend with His disciples. They have finished the Last Supper and are
about to go back to their campground for the evening.
Jesus has just warned the disciples that Satan wants to shake them up. He has just warned Peter that Peter will
even deny Jesus three times before the night is over.
:35-38 Provision
:35 And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and
shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
purse – balantion – a
money bag, purse
scrip – pera – a wallet; a
leathern sack, in which travellers and shepherds carried their provisions
shoes – hupodema – what is
bound under, a sandal, a sole fastened to the foot with thongs
lacked ye – hustereo –
behind; to be inferior in power, influence and rank; to fail, be wanting; to be
in want of, lack; to suffer want, to be devoid of, to lack (be inferior) in
excellence, worth
Jesus is reminding the guys of a previous time when He had sent them out on
a short preaching trip. They had spent time learning with Jesus, and it had
been time to give the guys a chance to go out and do ministry.
(Luke 9:1-6 KJV) Then
he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over
all devils, and to cure diseases. {2} And he sent them to preach the kingdom of
God, and to heal the sick. {3} And he said unto them, Take nothing for your
journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have
two coats apiece. {4} And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and
thence depart. {5} And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that
city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. {6}
And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and
healing every where.
Lesson
Jesus provides
Sometimes Jesus provides by providing the things we need.
Sometimes Jesus does a work of grace and there is that mysterious “check in
the mailbox” that arrives just in time.
Sometimes Jesus provides our needs through our own hard work.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:
(2 Th
3:7-12 NLT) For you know that you ought to follow our example. We were
never lazy when we were with you. {8} We never accepted food from anyone
without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so that we would not be a
burden to any of you. {9} It wasn't that we didn't have the right to ask you to
feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. {10} Even while we were
with you, we gave you this rule: "Whoever does not work should not
eat." {11} Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to
work and wasting time meddling in other people's business. {12} In the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we appeal to such people--no, we command them: Settle
down and get to work. Earn your own living.
Even when Jesus sent the disciples out on this particular trip, He reminded
them that it would be appropriate for them to be paid by those they minister
to. Matthew records:
(Mat
10:5-10 KJV) These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go
not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye
not: {6} But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. {7} And as ye
go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. {8} Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received,
freely give. {9} Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
{10} Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet
staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
The idea is that they would be working hard at their
ministry, so they could expect that people would support them along the way.
Sometimes Jesus provides by helping us get by without the things we want.
Paul wrote:
(Phil
4:10-13 NASB) But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have
revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked
opportunity. {11} Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content
in whatever circumstances I am. {12} I know how to get along with humble means,
and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have
learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance
and suffering need. {13} I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Sometimes the way the Lord provides is not so much to get
us more “stuff”, but to learn to live a little more simply. We can do this if
Jesus is strengthening us.
:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it,
and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment,
and buy one.
purse – balantion – a
money bag, purse
let him take it – airo –
to raise up, elevate, lift up; to take upon one’s self and carry what has been
raised up, to bear; to bear away what has been raised, carry off
scrip – pera – a wallet; a
leathern sack, in which travellers and shepherds carried their provisions
garment – himation – a
garment (of any sort); the upper garment, the cloak or mantle
sword – machaira – a large
knife, used for killing animals and cutting up flesh; a small sword, as
distinguished from a large sword
It looks as Jesus is going to change the rules.
Before He told them not to take “purse or scrip”. Now He tells them to take
these things along. This time He even tells the guys to go out and buy a sword.
Lesson
Flexibility
Stay flexible. Sometimes Jesus wants to change the way you do things.
I’m sure some of the disciples might have been thinking … “take money … but
we’ve never done it that way before!”
Times change. Needs change. We need to be flexible and adjust.
Pastor Chuck says, “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken”.
Lesson
Balance
The older I get, the more I realize that there usually is a balance to many
things in life.
I think there are doctrines that require balance.
I used to think that person had to be either a Calvinist or an Armenian. I
used to think that you either had to be on the side that says that God is
totally sovereign and that man has no free will, or you were on the side that
says that man has a free will and God isn’t really sovereign.
Maybe I’m just deceived, but I’ve come to the conclusion
that both sides are correct. I see the Scriptures teaching both sides. How do I
reconcile this? I don’t have to, that’s God’s problem. I see the Scriptures
telling me that I have been chosen before the foundation of the world. I have
been predestined to follow Jesus. No one can snatch me out of the Father’s hand.
And yet – I still have to make a choice to follow Jesus. I must make a choice
of my will to “repent”. I must choose to believe in Jesus in order to have
eternal life. I am commanded to go out and preach the gospel so men might be
saved.
In the same way, we need to have a balance between the work of the Holy
Spirit in our lives and our own self-discipline. We definitely want to see the
power of God at work in our lives. We want to see God leading our lives. We
want to experience that joy that comes from being in God’s presence.
Yet we also need to learn to walk by faith. We need to
learn how to “deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Jesus”. Those
things don’t come by being carried along by some unseen force. They come from
making a choice and putting our feet and hands into action. We won’t always
have a clear sense of “seeing God” or knowing His will. That’s what it means to
“walk by faith”. We are going to trust Him, even if we don’t see Him. We are
going to follow and obey Him even when we don’t “feel” Him.
:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished
in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning
me have an end.
be accomplished – teleo –
to bring to a close, to finish, to end; to perform, execute, complete, fulfil,
(so that the thing done corresponds to what has been said, the order, command
etc.)
the transgressors – anomos – destitute of (the Mosaic) law; of the Gentiles; departing
from the law, a violator of the law, lawless, wicked
he was reckoned – logizomai –
to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over; to reckon or account; by
reckoning up all the reasons, to gather or infer
an end – telos – end;
termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be (always of the end of some
act or state, but not of the end of a period of time). This is the root word
for the word translated “be accomplished” (teleo).
Jesus is quoting from:
(Isa 53:12 KJV)
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the
spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he
was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus is saying that He would be counted as a “transgressor”, and this was
a fulfillment of prophecy. All prophecy concerning Him must be fulfilled.
I think it’s pretty wonderful that Jesus is quoting from one of the Old
Testament passages that speaks so clearly of His suffering.
(Isa 53:3-7 KJV) He
is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him
not. {4} Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. {5} But he was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. {6} All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all. {7} He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
This is what Jesus would be doing, being wounded for our transgressions,
having the Lord lay on Him all of our sins.
:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto
them, It is enough.
There are some folks who would take verse 36 and say that we all ought to
go out and buy weapons.
Lesson
Should I buy a gun?
I think you miss the point here if that’s what you think this is about.
It seems to me that Jesus wanted the guys to have a sword to help fulfill
the prophecy of Jesus being “numbered with the transgressors”.
If Jesus wanted all His followers to buy weapons, then why is He satisfied
with just two swords among eleven disciples?
And if Jesus expected His disciples to take swords and kill people, why
does He rebuke Peter for hacking off the servant’s ear, and then goes and heals
the ear? (Luke 22:50-51; John 18:10-11)
I don’t think you can build a strong case for gun ownership from these
verses. Not that I’m against it.
:39-46 Gethsemane
:39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and
his disciples also followed him.
as he was wont – ethos –
custom. Because Jesus had a habit of spending the night out on the Mount of
Olives, Judas was able to lead the temple police to Jesus.
:40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not
into temptation.
pray – proseuchomai – to
offer prayers, to pray
ye enter – eiserchomai –
to go out or come in: to enter; metaph. of entrance into any condition, state
of things, society, employment
temptation – peirasmos –
an experiment, attempt, trial, proving; the trial of man’s fidelity, integrity,
virtue, constancy; an enticement to sin, temptation, whether arising from the
desires or from the outward circumstances
Lesson
Prayer helps with temptation
Jesus knew what was about to happen.
He’s giving the disciples a warning.
I don’t want to get political here – but there’s been a big deal in the
news lately about just how much the government knew about the 9/11 terrorists
before 9/11. Apparently there was a memo sent to Washington by an FBI agent in
Phoenix, warning that Al Qaeda might be having people trained to fly airplanes.
I imagine that it must be pretty hard to sift through all the intelligence
that flows to Washington, but the point is that there were some kinds of
warnings, but some people didn’t know how serious things were.
The disciples are going to be going through a tough couple of weeks. Jesus
is going to be arrested, tried, and executed. They are going to be scattered.
Some of them will deny even knowing Jesus.
Jesus is giving them a warning.
He’s also giving them a solution – prayer.
There are lots of other things that we can do to have victory over
temptation, but one of the places to start is prayer.
We like to write off the importance of prayer, telling ourselves that it
really isn’t all that important, yet I wonder if we don’t say it because it
really isn’t something that our flesh likes to do.
Here’s something that E.M. Bounds says about prayer (Power Through
Prayer, chapter 5) –
Preachers are human folks, and are exposed to and often
caught by the strong driftings of human currents. Praying is spiritual work;
and human nature does not like taxing, spiritual work. Human nature wants to
sail to heaven under a favoring breeze, a full, smooth sea. Prayer is humbling
work. It abases intellect and pride, crucifies vainglory, and signs our
spiritual bankruptcy, and all these are hard for flesh and blood to bear. It is
easier not to pray than to bear them. So we come to one of the crying evils of
these times, maybe of all times—little or no praying. Of these two evils,
perhaps little praying is worse than no praying. Little praying is a kind of
make-believe, a salvo for the conscience, a farce and a delusion.
The little estimate we put on prayer is evident from
the little time we give to it. The time given to prayer by the average preacher
scarcely counts in the sum of the daily aggregate. Not infrequently the
preacher’s only praying is by his bedside in his nightdress, ready for bed and
soon in it, with, perchance the addition of a few hasty snatches of prayer ere
he is dressed in the morning. How feeble, vain, and little is such praying
compared with the time and energy devoted to praying by holy men in and out of
the Bible! How poor and mean our petty, childish praying is beside the habits
of the true men of God in all ages! To men who think praying their main
business and devote time to it according to this high estimate of its
importance does God commit the keys of his kingdom, and by them does he work
his spiritual wonders in this world. Great praying is the sign and seal of
God’s great leaders and the earnest of the conquering forces with which God
will crown their labors.
:41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down,
and prayed,
withdrawn – apospao – to
draw off, tear away
kneeled – two words used here – tithemi
– to set, put, place; to bend down; kneeled – gonu – the knee, to kneel down
prayed – proseuchomai – to
offer prayers, to pray
Lesson
Jesus prayed by Himself
The point here is not that we shouldn’t be praying as a group.
But sometimes we can fall into a trap where the only time we will pray is
when we’re with a group of people.
What do you do when no one is watching you?
:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
thou be willing – boulomai –
to will deliberately, have a purpose, be minded; of willing as an affection, to
desire
remove – paraphero – to
bear to, bring to, put before; to carry past, lead past
will – thelema – what one
wishes or has determined shall be done; will, choice, inclination, desire,
pleasure
There are two different Greek words that are translated “will”, and both
are used in this verse.
The first word, boulomai, seems to speak of deliberation, something
rational, something thought out.
The second word, thelomai (here the form is thelema), speaks
more of an inclination, something involving the emotions.
Perhaps you could translate this prayer,
“Father, if You could think about it and find a way for Me to do this
another way, that would be nice, but I want You to know that I will not do the
things that I might be inclined to do, but I will do every thing that You are
inclined that I should do.”
Lesson
Yield
This is how Jesus prays.
He is yielding Himself to God.
He is bowing His knee before the Father and giving God permission to call
the shots.
Lesson
Hearing God’s voice.
How do I know what God wants of me?
How do I know what God is saying?
Our best method is by staying in God’s Word.
You learn to recognize a person’s voice by spending time
listening to them.
Years ago I used to spend hours and hours and hours
listening to tapes by Pastor Chuck.
Chuck doesn’t know me personally and I don’t know him personally, but if
I hear his voice, I can recognize it.
We learn to recognize God’s voice by reading His Word.
And most of the time God will use His Word to tell us
EXACTLY what He wants us to do.
:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Lesson
Strength after prayer
I don’t think I want to make a hard, fast, rule here. But I find that many
times I will experience a sense of new strength after praying.
On Tuesday mornings, we have a group of men who come to pray every week for
the church. We are supposed start at 6:00 a.m., but I’m almost always a little
late. I feel like Herman the Sloth –
Illustration
A sloth named Herman is walking through the forest one
day. A gang of snails approach him and beat him up. He is left at the bottom of
a tree with several cuts and bruises. Several hours later he gathers up enough
strength to go to a local police station. Herman walks into the Sergeant’s
office. “What happened to you? the officer asks. “A gang of snails beat me up,”
Herman replied. “Can you describe what they looked like?” “I don’t know,” the
sloth says. “It all happened so fast.”
When I get up on Tuesday mornings, I am grumpy. I hate getting up.
Sometimes I tell myself that it’s not fair that I have to go pray on Tuesday
mornings (though I’m the one that cooked up the idea in the first place). This
week I got up and had a headache. My head was stuffy. I wished there was
someone I could call to say that I was too sick. But I went.
And by the time the morning prayer meeting was over, I felt pretty pumped.
It happens almost every week.
Isaiah said,
(Isa 40:28-31 KJV)
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD,
the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is
no searching of his understanding. {29} He giveth power to the faint; and to
them that have no might he increaseth strength. {30} Even the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: {31} But they that
wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
It’s important to give God time. It’s important to wait on
the Lord. Pray. Seek His face.
He will respond by giving you strength. And then you need
to get up and walk, run, or maybe from time to time even fly a little.
:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
agony – agonia – a
struggle for victory; gymnastic exercise, wrestling; of severe mental struggles
and emotions, agony, anguish
sweat – hidros – sweat
as it were – hosei – as it
were, (had been), as though, as, like as, like
great drops – thrombos – a
large thick drop, esp. of clotted blood
It could be that Luke the physician is saying that Jesus was having blood
come out of His pours due to the great agony He was in. It could be that Luke is saying that Jesus
was sweating big, thick, drops of sweat, like blood.
Lesson
It isn’t easy to yield
It isn’t always easy to give in to the Lord.
:45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he
found them sleeping for sorrow,
sleeping – koimao – to
cause to sleep, put to sleep
sorrow – lupe – sorrow,
pain, grief, annoyance, affliction
In reality, the disciples aren’t aware of just how bad things are. They have only heard Jesus warning
them. And they responded to the stress
of Jesus’ words by sleeping.
:46 And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into
temptation.