Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-03-06

uurlSHtcOuS, CnaG lie mlSnG DrlHS
us TO God" I. Peter, .3:1S.
OF Wednesday of Passion Week,
we have no record; Jesus spent that
day in quiet fellowship with His
friends. On Thursday He sent His
disciples in to make ready the Pass
over, and that evening came in to
meat with Him would betray Him.
room provided by one of His friends
in Jerusalem. Before that supper
He washed His disciples feet, even
Judas; during that supper He aston
| ished and grieved them by telling
them that one of them that sat at
meat with His would betray Him.
Each one asked: Is it 1? Even Judas
who had already made his contact
with the Scribes and chief priests.
Yet Jesus tried to win Judas, and
| save him from such an awful act,
| by giving him the sop, the choicest
bit Of meat, the part that would be
| given to one who the host particu-
| larly delighted to honor. It was of
no avail; Satan had already entered
into the heart of Judas. and Jesus
| realized it. He therefore said to
him, THAT thou doest, do quickly"
and Judas went out. Had the other
disciples suspected what Jesus
meant, they would probably have
torn Judas, limb by limb; but they
did not appreciate it, and even when
the act occurred they seem to have
been so dazed that even impulsive
Peter did not touch him.
! After Judas left, Jesus instituted
| the Lords supper, to be a constant
reminder to His people of what He
| had done and of His coming again.
| When you sit at the Lords table
do you think backwards and for
wards? 1t was always so solemn a
| service that | used to think that l
| had to be solemn too, as d chNd),
| and | never looked upon it with any
pleasure. But now it is one of the
pleasures of my life to sit with my
| Lord at His table, to think back
wards of the marvellous love that He
manifested for me, even though it
meant such horrible death for Him;
and to think forward to the time
when He shall come again and bring
with Him the loved ones who have
| gone before; and when we shall all
leat with Him at the marriage feast OF
the Lamb, seeing Him face to face;
and having been made like Him.
That Evening
| The wonder of it all is though
that after the events of that eve
ming, the disciples should have had
| so little appreciation of Him and
His work that they actually got into
a scrap about who should be the
greatest. 1t was not the first time
either that this had occurred. %heir
selfishness got the better Of them
and they quarrelled; Jesus told them
that the greatest should be the
servant of all; and added: Il am
among you as a servant"
There were many other things
that happened that evening, some
| of which are not given by Luke at
all; John gave us fuller details. His
remark to Peter and His prayer
for him that Satan's Sitting would
not wreck his faith; His words with
Thomas about the way; His prom
! Use of the mansions prepared for
them and Of His return for them;
| His promise of the Comforter and
| the work that He should do; His
wonderful promise about prayer in
| His name; His identification of
| themselves with Him as branches
and vine; His High-Priestly prayer
-ah! that evening He just unbur-
dened His heart to them. After
Judas had gone out, He seemed to
feel free to talk to His friends; 1t
was a wonderful time!
But the hour grew late; the eve
ming celebration together must
come to a close. The Hallel was al
ways sung, and so they sang
hymn-the Psalms of Degrees
and went out.
They had no home; they went to
the Hill of Olives where they had
spent many another night under
Gods canopy. There was par
ticular place-the garden of the
"olive press'-which had been
frequent place of retirement Tor
them, and thither they went. 1t
was a place that Judas knew we'll
Gethsemane
lust at the foot of the Mount OF
Olives, Just across the brook kldren'
inst on the road that led to Bethany
was this walled-in garden with its
ancient gnarled olive trees. Its name
meant the olivepress; undoubtedly
oil for the temple service had OFTEN
been pressed here out of the olives
| that had been gathered from the
| trees.
AS thew entered this garden Jesus
| left eight of His disciples, saying 10
them all, "Sit we here while go Yon-
der and pray" AS He took three
of them-Peter, James ana JONI
further in the garden with him.
most remarkable change came over
| Him. He had been calm and peace
| full; He had rather been eXllltanC as
| He talked with them in the upper
| room about going away: but now ne
| hecafT1e agitated and distressed. Inc
| different evangelists attempt to &C.
| scribe His condition-agitated, APP
nalled,> distressed, very heavy, sore
| amazed! He said to them, MY soul
| is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
| death: tarry We here and watch with
me" In other words, 81 feel like
am dying; sit here and watch win
me-"
Then He was withdrawn from
them about stones throw, and Tell
on His face on the ground and pray
ed. The word withdrawn" in Luke
| 22:41 means to drag forth" ike
! a. sword is drawn forth out OF its
scabbard Notice also that it is m
the passive, not the active, mood'
In other words, Jesus did not leave
the three where He was talking with
them and go a few steps further into
the garden and kneel down quietly
and pray; no, some force dragged
Him violently away from them, He
fell down on His face and prayed IN
the agony of the spirit. Heb. 81
tells us that it was with strong cry
ing and tears that He prayed adlS
disciples stones throw away hearo
His words, o my Father, II 1t be
possible, let this cup pass from me;
nevertheless, not as / will, but as
Thou wilt" And there on His face
for an hour He lay as if He were
dead.
He arose and came back to the
| +1arnn and found them fast aSleep--