In this message we shall begin to consider the death and resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the accomplishment of God’s redemption (14:43—16:18).
We may say that Christ’s death began from the time He was arrested. Before Judas came with those who arrested the Lord Jesus, the Lord was praying in Gethsemane concerning His death. As we have pointed out, the Lord came purposely to Judea from Galilee to be crucified. Therefore, actually He was not delivered by Judas; instead, He delivered Himself to those who came to arrest Him.
While the Lord was still in Galilee, He knew that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem in order to be put to death on the day of the Passover. After coming to Jerusalem, He prepared the environment, His disciples, and even His opposers for His death. The opposers plotted to kill Him. Mark 14:1 says that the chief priests and scribes were seeking how to seize Him by craftiness and kill Him. They said, “Not at the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people” (14:2). However, in order to fulfill the type of the Passover lamb, the Lord was crucified on the day of the Passover, even though His opposers sought to avoid this. The Lord Himself prepared what was necessary for Him to be put to death at the proper time.
During the last feast of the Passover, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him: “Truly I tell you that one of you will deliver Me up, one who is eating with Me” (14:18). Then Judas was exposed. No matter how evil Judas was, because he was still a human being, he was ashamed to remain with the Lord and His disciples. After Judas left, he went to the high priest and led a company to the place where they arrested the Lord Jesus.
Once Judas had left, the Lord instituted His supper. He knew that in a few hours He would be arrested, judged, sentenced to death, and crucified.
After instituting His supper, the Lord brought His disciples to a garden. He went to the best place for Him to be arrested. This indicates that He presented Himself to those who arrested Him.
In Gethsemane the Lord Jesus prayed, “Abba Father, All things are possible to You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will” (14:36). Throughout the centuries, many Bible teachers have spoken concerning the Lord’s prayer about God’s will. But not many have seen what specifically God’s will is in 14:36.
If we would know what the will of God is in this verse, we need to consider Hebrews 10, where we are told that the Lord Jesus came to do God’s will. It is commonly thought that this means that the Lord Jesus came to do everything according to God’s will in a general way. But from the context of Hebrews 10 we see that God’s will specifically denotes the replacing of the offerings. God’s will was to send Christ to earth to carry out the replacement of the offerings with Himself.
In the Old Testament there were many offerings or sacrifices. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to replace all these. It was God’s will that Christ should die as the replacement for all the offerings. The Lord Jesus knew that it was God’s will for Him to die as the replacement of the offerings. This was the reason He prayed, “Not what I will, but what You will.”
After His prayer in Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus was ready to be arrested, tried, sentenced, and put to death. Everything and everyone had been prepared, and He had had thorough prayer with the Father. By means of that prayer, He had the confirmation that it was God’s will for Him to die to replace all the offerings. Therefore, after that prayer, He was ready to be arrested by the chief priests, elders, and scribes.