31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples. 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” Matthew 26:31-46

Dear fellow-redeemed sinners, ransomed by the shed blood of Jesus. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In every service, we pray the Lord’s Prayer. And every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

In his Small Catechism, Luther explains this petition thus: “The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. How is this done? When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.”

And though we pray that God’s will be done in our lives, have you ever stopped to think about what you may be asking God to do? What if it is His will that we endure ridicule, criticism and hatred for our faith? What if it is His will that we suffer for our faith? What if it is His will that we die for our faith? What if it is His will that we give up the comforts and security of our present life and travel abroad to serve Him?

We might be confident that we do truly desire the will of God in our lives and that we will gladly follow our Savior wherever He leads, but we all have a sinful nature — our sin-corrupted flesh — which does not desire God’s will but our own will.

Look at Jesus’ disciples. Jesus told them that they would all stumble (σκανδαλίζω) because of Him that night. He would be betrayed and arrested and they would falter in their faith and sin by fleeing in fear rather than standing and professing their faith in the Lord Jesus.

Remember Jesus’ words: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34-38).

And Peter, confident in his own flesh, was ready to die with Jesus and said he would never stumble in his faith or deny Jesus. And, of course, we know what happened — exactly what Jesus said he would do: “This night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

And then, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to watch with Him and pray. Again they failed. As Jesus said, their spirit was willing but their flesh was weak. Their new and regenerated nature was willing, but their sin-corrupted flesh had not the strength or ability to follow through.

As we think about this, we see that being a Christian, a follower of Jesus, is not easy. Though we are not saved by our works but are saved by God’s grace alone and through faith alone in Jesus Christ, following Jesus in this sinful world is not something we can do by our own will or in our own strength.

God’s will is that we trust in Christ Jesus and walk by faith in His Word. He desires that we not deny Jesus or shrink back from following Him but hold fast to Him and all He teaches in His Word. And that is not easy because our sin-corrupted will is weak and quick to compromise and even deny Jesus to preserve our lives here in this world and to avoid conflict, suffering and persecution.

Like Jesus’ disciples, when Jesus is ridiculed and attacked by the unbelieving in this world, we are quick to flee from Him, avoid speaking or living according to His Word, and even deny knowing or trusting in Him. We flee back into the darkness because we are afraid to do the will of God, our heavenly Father. Our flesh is weak and we dare not trust in ourselves or our own strength, because we will shrink back and fall.

That is why Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation. We need the strength only God can give, and He gives us that strength by the Spirit’s working through the consolation of God’s Word. When we hear the Gospel and learn of what Christ has done for us, the Spirit creates and preserves faith in our hearts to believe and to take comfort, to hold fast to Christ, to trust Him to lead us safely through this life to Himself in heaven.

St. Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:16-18): “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

If anyone had reason to flee in the Garden, it was Jesus. God the Father was about to lay on Him the guilt and burden of the sins of all mankind and to punish Him in our stead. As the Bible says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).

Jesus felt the guilt and the burden of our sin and He prayed that, if it would be possible, God would find another way and take this cup of suffering from Him. And, indeed, this is right because being under the curse and condemnation of God was not the desire of our sinless Savior. But, Jesus, for Your sake and for my sake, and in obedience to His Father in heaven, prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (v. 39; cf. v. 42-43).

Jesus walked by faith in His heavenly Father. He truly prayed, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

And Jesus, out of love for sinners like you and like me, willingly submitted to the will of God the Father. He went to the cross, suffered the just punishment for our sins and the sins of all.

“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8). Christ “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5).

And Christ Jesus went to the cross and endured the shame and condemnation that through the preaching of the Gospel we might be brought to trust in Him and receive the benefits of His sacrifice — forgiveness for all our sins and a place in His everlasting kingdom. And thus, through Christ, God’s will is being done on earth and in our lives as it is in heaven.

God grant that His will be done in our lives — that we repent of our sins and look to Christ and His cross in faith that we might be justified, forgiven of all our sins, and given the eternal joys of heaven. God grant that we watch and pray — that we continue to hear God’s Word and partake of the Sacraments that we might be strengthened and preserved in the true faith by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit and not shrink back and stumble but hold fast to Christ and His life-giving Word unto life everlasting.

God strengthen and keep us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.