Praying on the Mount of Olives

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After eating the feast of the Passover with His disciples, the Lord went to the Mount of Olives to pray. “Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Evil spirits in hell were trying to make Him believe that there was no hope of saving the human race from evil. We are told that an angel appeared to Him from heaven, giving Him strength, and the Lord continued to resist the hells. This was part of the process so that He was ready to face His trial and crucifixion.

The Story

Read Matthew 26:36-57 or Luke 22:39-53 to learn the story of the Lord’s temptations and the way Judas betrayed Him on the Mount of Olives.

Ideas for discussion

  1. Who went with the Lord to the Mount of Olives? (The disciples followed Him.)
  2. In Luke, we read that “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground” (22:44). The Lord suffered greatly as the hells attacked, trying to convince Him that the extent of evil in the world made it impossible to save anyone. But the Lord fought back from His boundless love to save the human race.
  3. How do we know that the Lord knew what was going to happen next? (During the Last Supper, He indicated that Judas would betray Him. After praying at Gethsemane, the Lord said that He was about to be betrayed.)
  4. As He began to pray, the Lord was sorrowful and deeply distressed (Matt. 26:37). How does this contrast with how He was when Judas came with a multitude of people to betray Him? (He was calm and ready to face His accusers.)
  5. Why didn’t the Lord let His disciples defend Him when Judas came to betray Him? (He knew that these events needed to take place for Him to win the battles that were happening in the spiritual world.)
  6. The days between Palm Sunday and Easter morning are an important part of the Easter story. How might reading about the Lord’s experiences on the Mount of Olives help us appreciate our Redeemer all the more?
  7. What could we learn from the words the Lord said in prayer? “Father, if it is Your will, removed this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

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