Sin into glory...

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter declared to him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." And so said all the disciples. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go yonder and pray." And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done." And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand." - Matthew 26:30-46

We all fell away. Each one of us on account of Christ. Not in the manner we think though. We fell so He might rise. We fell so He might come and save His people. It was decided before time began that we were chosen in Jesus to fall so He might be the Christ. Yet, even now, many of us deny His existence. We deny His advent as a child and His death as our Savior, and yet He still died for us. He died to free us from our denial.

Even when we read here of Peter's foretold denial, we think so poorly of him, not believing that we would do the same. Some part of us desires to think that when faced with persecution we shall not deny Him who died for you and me. We mark out Peter as some sort of singular failure, but it says that "so said all the disciples." I had never noticed that before. It was not Peter alone who laid claim to the notion that he would die with Jesus. All the disciples said they would do the same. All, like we, are guilty.

Even so, as guilty as we are, when He rose He went before us. He proactively dies, rises, and goes before the Father for us. Goes into battle for us against sin, death, and the devil. There He will guide us and lead us to His table and show forth His mercy in the throne room of grace.

When we follow Him, all He asks is that we be near and watch. Stay awake and be watchful to see what He does and when He will return. He wishes for us to stay awake and be fed through His Word and His prayers for us. In so doing we can even see His desire for us to not neglect gathering together with other disciples. He wishes for us to seek Him through the gathering around Him as the Word of God and be prepared for His coming for us. Being practiced in the gathering which is to come.

However, even here, in something simple as coming together with the church, we fail. He asked for His dearest disciples to stay watchful with Him as He prayed, even for an hour, as He was sorrowful and instead they fell asleep. They chose to slumber over seeking the greater good. There in the presence of the Christ, they slept while He was burdened.

This is just like us. We fall asleep while He is burdened with our sins. We deny our need for His salvific work on our behalf. We allow for Him to suffer on our behalf and take it lightly. Christ knows this and still dies. He still does the will of His Father in saving His people. Even while we sleep, we deny, we fall away, He saves us. It is on account of these things that He must. It is all He can do because it is who He is and what He does (Yeshua - "God saves").

It was there that He was waiting just as we are waiting. He was waiting for the culmination of His coming in being betrayed into the hands of "sinners." Not just those who came with torches and weapons, but we who come with our chains and stains. He was to be led in the hands of sinners, for sinners, because He loves sinners. Apart from this His ministry would be nothing. It was the evil of our sin that brings glory to Him.

TW