Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial
26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled. (ESV)
Laws Concerning Warfare
20:1 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5 Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7 And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.
19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls. (ESV)
Atonement for Unsolved Murders
21:1 “If in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. 3 And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. 4 And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. 6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. 8 Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ 9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
Marrying Female Captives
10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, 12 and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. 13 And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.
Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn
15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, 16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, 17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.
A Rebellious Son
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed
22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. (ESV)
Various Laws
22:1 “You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. 3 And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother's, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. 4 You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.
5 “A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
6 “If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7 You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.
9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.
12 “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.
Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality
13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. 20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
22 “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
25 “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, 27 because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.
28 “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.
30 “A man shall not take his father's wife, so that he does not uncover his father's nakedness. (ESV)
Mark 14:34-35 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
The heavy burden of my sin, every sin, weighs on the God/man Jesus Christ! Thank You Jesus for taking the entire bill, to the point of being killed by Your own Father, instead of us! And giving us the prefect role model of heavenly focused obedience in the most difficult time. It shows Your greatness and worthiness to be PRAISED. Orchestrate a divine appointment and move me with Your Spirit to share Your cure for cancer with someone today! And please come back soon!
Inspiring examples of God and His Son. This moment in time touches my heart too. This has been one of my many favorite verses.Thanks for sharing.
Dave,
Thank you so much for your heavenly insight. Yes LORD please too fill me with your Holy Spirit; that today you would use me to deliver your great an awesome message of being freed from sin and delieverance from the Wrath to come!
Mark 14;37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
I love how Jesus comes to the disciples and tells them that prayer will get us away from temptation because our flesh is so weak. We need to depend on God to get us through our temptations and He will.
Thank you Lord for prayer! My flesh is weak, but I know that I can come to you in prayer and you will help me not fall into my temptations. I love you and give you all the praise and glory.
what wonderful encouragement to keep in prayer so that God will strengthen us in prayer. Amen sister Thank you <3
I second that! Prayer is so powerful, Thank you Father for giving us a direct line to you through your Son Jesus Christ!
I really needed to hear this today. Thank you. I often feel that I don’t know what to say to the Lord so I often say nothing.
Mark 14:30-31,
30 “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.
Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Lord, I see how Peter so easily felt that he would never deny you. But because he was not steadfast in prayer as Jesus had asked him to do he became tempted. Father, guard my heart so that I am not tempted to be a part of anything that would deny you and your Son. Help me to be vigilant in memorizing your word so I can bring it out as but a sword to defend your righteousness. Protect me from my weak flesh and strengthen the willing Spirit the lives within me. Help me do, as in Acts. 5:42, proclaim that you are the Christ to all encounters with Street Teams..
Amen and Amen!
Praying for the street witnessing efforts tomorrow, and the witness we live each day. That our lives will not compromise, but mirror His image.
Exemplifying Him… and sharing with all our treasure and Hope, what He has done in our lives.This helps the lost to see Him… for who He is… and what He can do for them… and what He has done for all.
Amen!
AMEN, Beth! I am praying for you, too, to be healed. Miss you!
amen X4!
Mark 14:33b “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
v37 “Simon are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
v41b “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?”
I am meditating on what Christ meant here. Was it to watch for Judas? It would not appear so because in v 42 Christ says “Rise, let us be going; my betrayer is at hand.” So then is it that he wanted Peter, James and John to watch his distress and agony and to pray on his behalf? That would appear to me (in my limited, bible knowledge) to be the more likely. Jesus wanted them to pray, for their focus on what was taking place, pray for Jesus to be strengthened (not of course that he needed any additional strength) Pray and watch and see the burden he is carrying and begin to better understand what is really going on here. Having eyes opened, watching and denying the body rest was what I think Christ was asking for from his closest friends. Do I have my eyes opened? Am I watching and waiting for any opportunity to serve my Lord and Savior? Do I really feel the weight of his burden? Have I spent time really lamenting what my Savior has done for me and for every other life here on this earth?
Lord Jesus, May I spend some serious time with you today, praying and watching what you have done, are doing and will be doing in and around and through me. Amen and MARANATHA
encouraging
Mark 14:38 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
We are all soldiers in the war between the spirit and the flesh with Jesus as our commander. It’s an ongoing battle we will have until we get a new body. It’s a spiritual battle and we need to rely on the Holy Spirit as we engage the enemy. As we gain ground in the battle it becomes intense fighting sometimes and we see even more fleshly wickedness that we need to conquer. Thank the LORD He is our commander and if we follow His lead we can win the daily battles. But WE have to push ahead and fight, not sit back and sit in our trenches.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
As has been noted many times by many posters when we focus on the external circumstances rather than the power of our great God we can become fearful.
Lord let me not sin or lack faith by becoming afraid when the odds are against whatever task you have me involved in. Truly let me remember the song refrain … and I will not be afraid.
Deu 20:1 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
We can likewise take courage when we step out of our comfort zone to witness to the lost, that God is with us. He is the One who commissioned us to preach the gospel to every creature and He is the One who will bring the increase. Hallelujah!! Let’s get out there and speak the truth in love and tell others that they can escape Egypt just like we did and that there is forgiveness of sins and blessed hope of eternal life through out great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Going door to door is definitely out of my comfort zone, but when I decided to do it, it was a blessing. Todays verse in Mark is so true!
38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 14:36 – And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
I’ve prayed that prayer a lot during tough times (perhaps not the second half with as much fervency as the first). If I ever thought it was easy for Jesus because He was omniscient and knew how the story would end, this verse blows that up. Our Savior, as a man, pleading from the depths of His heart, to not have to do what He was going to have to do.
In verse 33 is the context – “and (He) began to be greatly distressed and troubled.” I am reminded of Heb. 4:15-16: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Thank you Lord for your blood – and thank you for the assurance that we can receive mercy and find grace to help from one who truly, truly can say “I’ve been where you are, and there is hope”.
Our God is an awesome God.
Mark 14:37-38 And He came and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and PRAY that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Watch by keeping awake, and not being tempted to fall asleep, and stop praying,having their hearts and thoughts directed on him, just being there for him, with their hearts… however they can!, as He was, and is for us.
Beth: Thank you for all your encouraging comments. Anne
Dueteronomy 20
‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’
Lord, it is my prayer that you will give me courage as we hit the streets, tomorrow. I know that you will be with us and will give us victory is we trust in you, instead of fearing and dreading them. Thank you Lord! Praising you too for the baptisms tomorrow!
Deut. 20:4 for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’
There is victory in Christ Jesus!
I love scriptures that link the Old and New Testaments together.
Deuteronomy 21:22 And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Was God considering his Son when he spoke this command? I think so.
In Acts 5:30, Peter was standing before the high priest when he said “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.” (Interesting to note that Peter has definitely gotten over his habit of denying Christ).
Paul says to the church in Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged “”on a tree”" — so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
God, YOUR “Breathed Scriptures” span the ages, span theology, span the wisdom of man and broach the hearts of the most wicked sinners. Thank YOU for shedding YOUR blood on the cross so that I can share in Holy communion with YOU. YOU, who deserved no punishment, became cursed for me who deserve everlasting death so that I might live with YOU eternally through repentance and faith. It is this and so much more that makes YOU worth of Praise, Thanks and Adoration. Amen.
Mark 14
37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
It is interesting to me that Jesus says “that YOU may not enter into temptation”. Praying is for their benefit.
As human and selfish, fallen creatures, my first reaction would be you fell asleep while I needed your prayer the most?
But Jesus, perfect and unselfishness in his hour of need, was thinking about his disciples and concerned for them.
Dear Lord,
Give me the strength to not always be concerned about my feelings and my well-being, but in my hours of need, look to others and pray for them. Let me used as a tool for Your Will.