Christ in Matthew 26 has a supper with the disciples bearing not only the pain of Judas coming betrayal, but the disciples abandonment.
Jesus knew that in His moment of greatest need, the disciples would not be there.
Of course that doesn’t mean they did want to be there! We all know the words of Peter who promised that he would NEVER deny Christ.
And we also know how that turned out
- Three times Peter fell asleep instead of praying
- He attempted to defend Jesus with a knife (failing badly)
- He ran away instead fo helping Jesus
- He followed at a distance so the chief priests would not put him on trial
- And he denied knowing Christ three times
The words of Jesus in Matthew 26:41 are significant….”the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
that sentence describes the constant battle for Christians between a desire in our hearts to serve the Lord, and a lack of strength to do it.
Thankfully Christ gives to us the power of the Holy Spirit so we can accomplish His work…..
But there will always be in our hearts a desire to do the work in our own strength.
As a missionary one of the greatest temptations is to do God’s work in my strength. The Lord often calls me to do a great work for Him on the mission field. This leads to brainstorming, and planning, along with prayer.
There is nothing wrong with this! In fact, the Lord wants me to go through this process of planning because it clarifies the next steps.
The danger comes when I try to accomplish those plans on my own.
The most detailed strategic plan in the world is absolutely useless apart from the presence of God. So instead of charging up the hill to accomplish the victory myself, the greatest power is found on my knees.
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