After the Last Supper, Jesus and 11 of the disciples (minus betrayer Judas) head to the Garden of Gethsemane where He is later joined by said betrayer and a multitude of Jewish leaders. Jesus continues to show Godly character, the character we are to emulate, as the humiliating part of His final hours begin. Jesus was Jesus, even in this dark time. He continued to live out the "do's and don'ts" of righteous Godly behavior.
The Do's
1. Jesus prayed. Mark 14: 32 They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said (to His disciples), "Sit here while I go and pray." Praying is how we communicate with God the Father. Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:6-7 to turn to God as soon as anxiety hits. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
2. Jesus obeyed. Luke 22:42-43 "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. Jesus knew God the Father was in charge, and He knew the plan He was to follow. God sent an angel to comfort Jesus in His hour of need.
The Don'ts
1. Jesus was not afraid and did not hide. Knowing his fate, Jesus carried on without fear. John 18:4-9 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to Him, so He stepped forward to meet them.(the Jewish leaders) "Who are you looking for?" he asked. "Jesus the Nazarene," they replied. "I Am He," Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.) As Jesus said "I Am He," they all drew back and fell to the ground! It appeared that the multitude of Jewish priests, officers and elders are the ones who had a moment of fear (or maybe awe?)! Jesus could have performed another miracle and removed Himself from the garden, but He did not hide from the plan God the Father had asked of Him.
In contrast the disciples were very afraid! In Matthew and Mark, the disciples all flee after Jesus' arrest. Matthew 26:56 (Jesus speaking) "But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures." At that point, all the disciples deserted Him and fled. According to John, he and Peter did not flee. John 18:15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest's courtyard with Jesus. Scholars agree that this "other disciple" is John. Simon Peter and John may not have fled, but it is likely they were following from a safe distance. Despite all the prep and the love they had for and from Jesus, the human disciples could not help but freak out when Jesus was arrested. But Jesus remained cool, calm, and truthful.
An aside...John was the only gospel who did not mention that all the disciples had a hard time staying awake in the garden with Jesus. The other three gospels were written before his and no doubt he had read them and didn't feel the need to harp on this flaw. LOL!
2. Jesus was not angry or rude. All four gospels mention that a disciple cut an ear off one of the high priest's slave. John is most specific identifying the disciple as Simon Peter, the ear as the right one, and the slave as Malchus. John could provide this detail as he was actually in the garden with Jesus.
But Jesus never lost His cool. It was recorded in three of the four gospels that He scolded the disciple (Simon Peter) for the ear cutting incident. Matthew 26:52 "Put away your sword," Jesus told him. "Those who use the sword will die by the sword." He could have yelled all kinds of truthful obscenities at the hypocritical Jewish leaders and used his miracle powers to disappear. But instead He stuck to God the Father's plan to save humankind from it's sins
In our dark times we are to follow these do's and don'ts and behave the same way Jesus did in the Garden. Always pray first. Be familiar with scripture and invite in the Holy Spirit so that you know how to obey God. Knowing that He loves us and has His plan, we should not be afraid of any situation we encounter. Seek to understand the plan. There is no need to hide, or deny. We are always to speak truth, avoiding anger and rude behavior. We are God's people and He is on our side. It may not look like things are going His way, but trust that He always has a plan for our eternal life. In this instance, the plan was for Jesus to take on all our sin since we are simple incapable of avoiding it ourselves, and that is exactly why Jesus found Himself in the Garden.
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