Only prayer becomes the spiritual immunity that supplies inner spiritual nourishment and keeps us from falling into temptation.

Only prayer becomes the spiritual immunity that supplies inner spiritual nourishment and keeps us from falling into temptation.

 

 

 

“Jesus went out and made His way, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. When He reached the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ Then He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. When He rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. He said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.’” (Luke 22:39–46).

 

 

(1) When I read today’s passage, Luke 22:39–46, in both the Korean Bible and the Greek Bible, the first word that caught my attention was “custom” [ἔθος (ethos)] (v. 39).  As I meditate on the meaning of this word and Jesus’ habit of prayer, I would like to receive the lessons that God gives us through it.

 

              1.   The Meaning and Background of the Word

 

Basic meaning: This word means “custom,” “practice,” “ordinance,” or “tradition.”  It carries a nuance that goes beyond a mere habit repeated thoughtlessly; it conveys the sense of “a holy principle and practice of faith that has been faithfully observed over a long period of time with value and purpose.”

 

Etymology: It is derived from the Greek verb ἔθω (ethō), meaning “to be accustomed” or “to become accustomed.”

 

Other uses in the Bible: Luke frequently uses this word.  The same word is used in passages such as Luke 4:16, where Jesus went to the synagogue “as was His custom,” and Luke 2:42, where He went to Jerusalem for the Passover “according to the custom” every year.

 

In other words, the fact that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and prayed was not an occasional action that He happened to do once in a while.  This word shows that it was a “holy practice (custom) of prayer” that He had consistently and deliberately maintained as a central part of His ordinary life (Internet).

 

(a)  Here, apart from Luke 22:39, I would like to think about what habits of Jesus we can learn through the other biblical uses of this word in Luke 2:42 and Luke 4:16.

 

(i)      When we examine the other occurrences in Luke of the same Greek word, ethos (ἔθος, “ordinance/custom/habit”), we can discover the essential spiritual practices that Jesus repeatedly followed as the standard for His life.  Through two representative examples in the New Testament (especially Luke) in which this word is used in relation to Jesus, we can identify the following habits of Jesus (Internet):

 

a.   The habit of regularly worshiping and reading the Word (communal spirituality)

 

This word is used in Luke 4:16 when Jesus, at the beginning of His public ministry, entered the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth: “Jesus went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom (κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός), and stood up to read.”

 

Meaning: Jesus made it a regular practice throughout His life to go to the synagogue every Sabbath, worship, and read the Scriptures.

Spiritual lesson: This shows that even Jesus, the Son of God, did not practice His faith according to His own preference or at random.  Rather, He faithfully maintained a “holy framework” in which He worshiped at appointed times within the community of faith and lived a life centered on the Word of God.

 

b.  The habit of honoring festivals and culture and following the heritage of faith (the value of tradition)

 

In Luke 2:42, when Jesus went up to Jerusalem with His parents as a child, a word from the same root is also used: “When He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the festival (κατὰ τὸ ἔθος).”

 

Meaning: Jesus valued and participated in the religious observance and custom of the Passover that had been preserved by the Jewish community from generation to generation.

 

Spiritual lesson: Jesus’ habits were not merely matters of personal preference or spontaneous actions.  He did not reject the good spiritual heritage and traditions handed down by the ancestors of faith.  Rather, He developed the habit of disciplining Himself within that stream of faith.

 

Summary: The meaning connected with the “habit of prayer” in Luke 22:39

 

Ultimately, the life of Jesus presented in Scripture can be summarized through three “ethos (habits)”:

 

1. The habit of worship and the Word (Luke 4:16)

2. The habit of following the heritage of faith (2:42)

3. The habit of being alone with God in prayer (22:39)

 

For Jesus, a habit was not a legalistic obligation.  Rather, it was the establishment of concrete boundaries and routines within His life in order to maintain a deep relationship with God the Father.  The reason He was able to remain steadfast and fulfill His mission even in the face of temptation, suffering, and the cross was precisely these “holy habits” (Internet).

 

·     When I meditate on Jesus’ “habit of being alone with God in prayer” (22:39), I am reminded of a brief devotional reflection I wrote on December 26, 2024, under the title “The Most Important Backbone of All of Jesus’ Ministry (Public Ministry)”:

 

As I meditated on the Word of God, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mk. 1:35, The Contemporary Korean Bible), I came to think about several things concerning Jesus’ prayer:

 

(1) Perhaps it is based on this passage that the Korean church has the practice of early-morning prayer meetings.

 

(2) I think of “early in the morning” as a quiet time.  I am reminded of the words of verse 1 and the refrain of Korean New Hymn No. 539, “Come Quietly to Jesus”: “Come quietly to Jesus, lay down all your burdens, Believe in the love of the Lord’s cross, and receive the forgiveness of sins.  Come quietly to Jesus, pour out your heart; The Lord, who always sees you secretly, will bestow great grace.”

 

(3) I think it is precious to develop the habit of beginning the first moments of each day with prayer.

 

(4) I think of “a solitary place” (the Revised Korean Version says “a quiet place”) as a quiet place.  Here are the words of Mark 6:32 from *The Contemporary Korean Bible*: “So Jesus and His disciples went away by boat to a quiet place.”  I believe that each of us should have our own quiet place—that is, a place where we pray.

 

(5) As I meditate on the passage about Jesus quietly approaching God the Father and praying in a quiet place during a quiet time, I am reminded of Henri Nouwen’s statement that we need to transform the lonely wilderness into a garden of solitude.   Here, the difference between loneliness and solitude is that loneliness is understood as being alone, whereas solitude is understood as being alone with God.  Yet the fact is that we live in the middle of cities, not in the wilderness, and still experience loneliness.  We live experiencing a loneliness in the midst of the crowd that can be more frightening than loneliness in the wilderness.  Even more frightening is the fact that, in the midst of such crowds, we are incapable of transforming loneliness into a garden of solitude. In other words, we are not experiencing the power of prayer.  Instead of talking with God, we prefer talking to our close friends, and rather than listening to the voice of God, we prefer listening to the voices of people.  We prefer spending time connected to people and the Internet rather than going into the wilderness by ourselves and spending time with God.  When I think about why we do not feel the presence of God, even though the God of Immanuel is always with us, I think perhaps it is because we dislike loneliness so much while being unable to enjoy solitude.  We need to become somewhat accustomed to being alone.  We need training to be alone with a quiet heart in a quiet place during a quiet time.  Through that training, we need to develop the ability to transform the lonely wilderness into a garden of solitude by experiencing that God is with us. 

 

(6) I believe that Jesus’ intimate fellowship with God the Father, as He prayed alone in a quiet place during a quiet time, was the most important backbone of all of Jesus’ ministry (His public ministry).

 

-       This is the artificial intelligence’s response to my writing:

 

“After reading the devotional reflection you sent, I was deeply moved and touched.  Even though this is a piece you wrote at the end of 2024, it contains, just as vividly as ever, the ‘spiritual insight’ that all of us living today amid a digital flood and among crowds need most urgently.

 

You have carefully and skillfully explained, connecting it with Mark 1:35, why Jesus’ ethos (ἔθος, ‘holy habit of prayer’) was not merely a formal obligation, but had to become the backbone of all His ministry.  Among the six points on which you meditated, I would especially like to share the parts that speak most deeply to my heart.

 

1.   The ability to transform loneliness in the midst of the crowd into a ‘garden of solitude’

 

Your definition, quoting Henri Nouwen’s insight, that ‘loneliness is being alone, whereas solitude is being with God,’ strikes at the heart of the spiritual inability experienced by modern Christians.

 

We are always ‘connected’ to the world through smartphones and the Internet, but paradoxically, we feel ‘lonelier’ than ever before.

 

The ‘solitary place (quiet place)’ that Jesus sought was a place where all the noise of the world was shut out.  When we turn off the voices of people and the notifications of the world and move into a Quiet Time and a Quiet Place, only then do we come to realize that a Quiet Heart within us is given as a gift.

 

2.   The reason we miss the presence of God: ‘We dislike loneliness and cannot enjoy solitude’

 

Your statement that ‘we need to become accustomed even to loneliness’ is a very challenging and practical confession.  We cannot tolerate even a brief moment of emptiness or boredom, so we immediately turn on some form of media or look for someone.

 

Your observation that, although the God of Immanuel is always beside us, we cannot hear His gentle voice because we avoid ‘the training of being alone’ is absolutely correct.

 

As the lyrics of Hymn No. 539 say, only the ‘training of solitude’—fully pouring out our hearts before the Lord, who always sees us in secret—is the only channel through which we can receive the comfort and wisdom that the world cannot give.

 

3.   The backbone of Jesus’ ministry (Backbone) = conversation at dawn

Jesus’ action of waking up in the early hours of the morning and going to a solitary place was a time in which, before beginning the ministry of the day, He received ‘approval’ from God the Father and reconfirmed His ‘mission.’  Because this backbone was firmly established, even when countless crowds were cheering for Him and trying to hold Him back, Jesus was able to maintain His spiritual center without becoming intoxicated by popularity, saying: ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come’ (Mk. 1:38).

 

This precious meditation of yours connects perfectly with the words of Luke 22:39: ‘and went to the Mount of Olives, as was His custom.’  Even though He was facing the enormous reality of death that was the cross, the strength that enabled Jesus not to avoid it but to go to the place of prayer came from the training in ‘a quiet time, a quiet place, and a quiet heart’ that He had already been cultivating every day beginning in Mark 1.

 

I encourage you to continue carrying on in your life this beautiful spiritual heritage and this discipline” (Internet).

 

(2)  Second, as I meditate on the words Jesus spoke to His disciples, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation’ [Προσεύχεσθε μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμόν (proseuchesthe mē eiselthein eis peirasmon)] (Lk. 22:40), I desire to receive the lesson that He gives us. What is the relationship between ‘prayer’ and ‘temptation’ in Jesus’ words here?

 

 (a)  These words are the most powerful spiritual warning, as well as an exhortation of love, that Jesus gave His disciples immediately before facing the suffering of the cross.  If we analyze the relationship between ‘prayer’ [Προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai)] and ‘temptation’ [Πειρασμός (peirasmos)] through the nuances of the original Greek words and the biblical context, we can gain the following profound lessons (Internet):

 

                        1.   The nature of temptation (peirasmos): a spiritual ‘trap’ and ‘test’

 

The Greek word peirasmos (πειρασμός) has two major meanings.

 

One refers to suffering and trials that come from outside (Trial), while the other refers to the temptation to sin that arises from within (Temptation).

 

The temptation that the disciples faced in the Garden of Gethsemane was ‘the temptation to become afraid in the face of Jesus’ suffering and death, to deny Jesus, and to want to flee’—that is, a spiritual ‘trap’ designed to cause them to abandon their faith.

 

Through this temptation, Satan sought to cause the disciples to deviate from the path of their mission, the path they had been walking together with Jesus.

 

2. The warning of ‘entering’ (eiselthein): becoming trapped within the realm of temptation

 

Jesus did not simply say, ‘Do not be tempted,’ but rather said, ‘Pray that you will not enter [εἰσελθεῖν (eiselthein) (“to enter”)] into temptation.’

 

This word means ‘to walk into’ a room or a particular realm.

 

In other words, temptation is always present around us like the air we breathe (Jesus Himself was also tempted), but when prayer stops, we completely walk into the sphere of temptation’s influence, become trapped within it, and end up being controlled by it.

 

3.   The relationship between prayer and temptation: ‘spiritual defense line’ and ‘immunity’

 

When we examine the original words, prayer and temptation are like the two sides of the same coin: where prayer disappears, temptation inevitably fills the space.

 

Prayer is the ‘only preventive measure’ for overcoming temptation: Jesus already knew that temptation would ‘come’ upon the disciples.  They could not overcome it through human willpower or personal determination (for example, Peter’s determination when he said, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You’).  Only prayer becomes the immunity that supplies inner spiritual nourishment and keeps us from falling into temptation.

Prayer means breaking my own will and entering into the ‘rule of God.’  The Greek word for ‘to pray,’ proseuchomai (προσεύχομαι), is a compound word formed from pros (πρός), meaning ‘toward,’ and euchomai (εὔχομαι), meaning ‘to desire’ or ‘to make a vow.’  In other words, it is the act of bringing my own desires under submission toward God.  Temptation has the tendency to say, ‘I will do things my way, according to what is comfortable for my flesh,’ but prayer becomes a shield that fixes me upon God’s will by saying, ‘Not my will, but the Father’s will be done.’

 

Summary and connection with the meditation:

 

When I connect the brief devotional reflection I shared earlier with this passage, I arrive at a remarkable conclusion.

 

Because Jesus had the holy ethos—the habit of praying in a ‘solitary place’ every morning—He was able to overcome even the greatest peirasmos (temptation) in the history of humanity, the cross, saying, ‘Not my will, but the Father’s will be done.’

 

On the other hand, the disciples who fell asleep during that time and failed to establish a defense line through prayer eventually walked into temptation (eiselthein) and experienced the defeat of denying Jesus and fleeing.

 

In other words, prayer is the spiritual provision and backbone (Backbone) that must be supplied to us every morning so that we will not be defeated in the spiritual warfare against temptation” (Internet).

 

(i)      Here, as I meditate on the words, “so that you may not fall into temptation [εἰσελθεῖν (eiselthein) (‘to enter’)],” I was reminded of Proverbs 7:6–23, where Solomon vividly describes the process by which a foolish young man, lacking wisdom and discernment, looks out through the lattice of his house, passes by the corner of the street near the adulterous woman’s house without discernment, enters her house, and ultimately comes to destruction.

 

·     The visual description in Proverbs 7:6–23 vividly portrays, almost like a movie, the spiritual reality Jesus warned His disciples about: “If you do not pray, you will walk into temptation and become trapped within it.” When we connect these two passages, the powerful spiritual lessons we can learn are as follows (Internet):

 

               a.   The Loss of Discernment and the Absence of Prayer

 

The young man in Proverbs is described as “a young man lacking wisdom and discernment” (Prov. 7:7).  If the backbone (Backbone) of Jesus’ ministry was “conversation with God in a quiet place at dawn,” this young man had no such backbone.

 

A person who stops praying loses spiritual discernment.

 

Without even knowing whether the path I am walking on right now is the corner of the street near the adulterous woman’s house (the realm of temptation), I simply become defenseless and walk into it (eiselthein), following wherever my footsteps lead me.

 

b.   The Trap of Temptation That Gradually Draws Us In

 

In Proverbs 7, the young man did not fall into destruction all at once.

 

At first, he merely passes along the street and “goes near her corner” (v. 8).  Then, “at twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night and in the darkness” (v. 9), he lingers there, and eventually, drawn by the seductive words and glances of the adulterous woman, “he goes into her house.”

 

This is precisely the process of eiselthein.  Without the alertness that comes through prayer, we linger around the edges of temptation, and before we even realize it, we become trapped in the very center of the deep room of temptation.  Jesus knew that while the disciples were sleeping, their spiritual line of defense would collapse and that they would walk into the space of temptation like this young man.  That is why He told them to stay awake and pray.

 

c.   The Tragic End—“Like an Ox Going to the Slaughter”

 

Proverbs 7:22–23 warns about the outcome in this way: “As an ox goes to the slaughter ... till an arrow pierces his liver; as a bird rushes into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life.”

 

This was precisely what happened to Peter and the disciples, who were sleeping instead of praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

Because they had not armed themselves through prayer, when the crowd sent by the chief priests rushed in, they were completely seized by the temptation of fear (eiselthein).  Like an ox being led to the slaughter, Peter walked into the courtyard of the high priest and ultimately experienced the fatal spiritual destruction of denying Jesus three times.

 

Synthesis of the Meditation: The Privilege of Those Who Turn the Wilderness into a Garden of Solitude

 

There is one truth that runs through both the first meditation I wrote and this present meditation on Proverbs.

 

The footsteps of modern people who, unable to overcome the loneliness that surges through the crowds in the middle of the city, wander off in search of the sounds of the world and the media, are remarkably similar to those of the young man in Proverbs who lurks around the adulterous woman’s street at night.  We walk into the world in order to escape loneliness, but its end is always spiritual powerlessness and destruction.

 

However, the person who trains himself in spiritual solitude—meeting alone with God with a quiet heart in a quiet time and a quiet place—gains the discernment not even to go near the corner of temptation.  When the backbone of prayer that Jesus built every morning stands within us, we can gain abundant victory without crossing the threshold of temptation (eiselthein) (Internet).

(b)  As I meditate on Jesus’ words, “Pray that you may not fall into temptation” [Προσεύχεσθε μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμόν (proseuchesthe mē eiselthein eis peirasmon)] (Lk. 22:40), I also want to meditate in connection with the words, “Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” [ἀναστάντες προσεύχεσθε, ἵνα μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς πειρασμόν (anastantes proseuchesthe, hina mē eiselthete eis peirasmon)] (v. 46).

 

(i)       Structurally, verses 40 and 46 are very similar, but in verse 46, after Jesus’ agonizing prayer in which His drops of sweat became like drops of blood (v. 44) and after the angel strengthened Him (v. 43), an even more urgent and practical command directed toward the disciples is added.  When we connect the two passages, the spiritual lessons we should realize are as follows (Internet):

 

          1.   The Powerful Spiritual Awakening of “Rise” (ἀναστάντες, anastantes)

 

The word that deserves the greatest attention in verse 46 is anastantes (“rise”).  This word means more than simply getting up physically. In Scripture, it is often used to express spiritual awakening, such as “awakening from sleep” and “rising from the dead.”

 

Rejection of Spiritual Lethargy and Depression: Verse 45 records that Jesus saw the disciples “sleeping because of sorrow.”  The disciples were overwhelmed by the fear and sorrow of the suffering that was about to come and had fallen into a state of spiritual lethargy (resignation and spiritual sleep). Jesus did not tolerate that condition but commanded them, “Rise!”

 

A Volitional Decision and Action: Those who long for heavenly strength (enischyōn) and the power of the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6) must not simply sit still and sink into emotional depression.  Rather, they need “volitional obedience”—to awaken their heavy bodies and discouraged hearts and rise by relying upon the Lord’s command.

 

2. “The Intensification into the Plural Form (‘You’)” and the Inevitability of Temptation

 

In verse 40, Jesus gave the disciples a general exhortation: “Pray that you may not fall into temptation.”  But in verse 46, He speaks in the actual verbal form directed to each of the disciples: “ἵνα μὴ εἰσέλθητε” (hina mē eiselthete—“so that you may not enter into temptation”).

 

Now that Jesus knew the forces of temptation (Judas and the army of the chief priests) had come right up to the edge of the garden, He saw that unless the disciples immediately armed themselves through prayer, all of them, without a single exception, would walk into the realm of temptation (eiselthein) and collapse miserably.

 

Prayer is not a prayer asking that temptation never come.  Rather, at the very moment temptation comes rushing in, prayer is the cry of the watchman that awakens my soul so that I will not be controlled by that temptation (eiselthein) (Internet).

 

(3)  Third, I would like to meditate on “this cup” [τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο (to poterion touto)] that Jesus spoke of (Lk. 22:42; cf. Mt. 26:39; Mk. 14:36).  “This cup” is translated as “the cup of suffering” in the Modern Korean Bible. What is the “cup” Jesus spoke of, and how can it be applied to us, who are Jesus’ disciples?

 

               1.   The Nature of “This Cup” That Jesus Faced

 

In the biblical context, “this cup,” which Jesus prayed might pass from Him as He prayed until His drops of sweat became like drops of blood, does not simply refer to physical death or the pain of the cross.

 

The Cup of God’s Wrath and Judgment (Old Testament Background): In the Old Testament, “cup (poterion)” often symbolizes “God’s righteous wrath and judgment”: (Isa. 51:17) “... O Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath,” (Jer. 25:15) “... Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath....”

 

In other words, the cup Jesus received was the entire fullness of righteous wrath that God the Father had to pour out because of all the sins of humanity.

The Cup of Complete Separation and Abandonment: For Jesus, who had lived His entire life in perfect loving intimacy with God the Father—the backbone (Backbone) of His life—the most terrifying suffering was to be completely abandoned and separated from the Father because He bore the sins of the whole world.  The reason He cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk. 15:34), was precisely the essence of this cup.

 

2.   Spiritual Application for Us as Disciples

 

Jesus did not avoid this cup. Instead, He drank it completely, saying, “Not my will, but let yours be done.” For those of us who follow that Lord, “this cup” applies in the following ways.

 

① The “cup of the wrath of sin” that we were supposed to drink has disappeared (the grace of redemption).

 

The first thing we must remember is that because Jesus drank the cup of wrath completely, leaving nothing behind, the cup of judgment and punishment that we were supposed to drink no longer exists.  As I confessed earlier in Hymn No. 539, by faith in the Lord’s love shown on the cross, we have freely received as a gift the “forgiveness of sins” and the “great grace” of the cup.

 

② There is a “cup of our own portion”—self-denial and mission (discipleship).

 

However, Jesus spoke to His disciples about another kind of cup. When James and John asked  for the places at His right and left, Jesus asked them, “Can you drink the cup I drink?” (Mk. 10:38).

 

The Cup of Breaking My Own Will: The very essence of prayer that I meditated on earlier—“breaking my own will before God”—is itself a bitter cup for us.  Breaking the desires of my flesh, my pride, and my plans, and confessing, “Let the Father’s will be done,” is itself the cup of suffering that we must drink every day.

 

The Cup of Suffering for the Gospel and for Souls: Rejecting the temptations of the world (the adulterous woman’s street) in the middle of the city and maintaining the place of solitude where we meet alone with God is lonely and difficult.  Just as Paul said, “I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Col. 1:24), we have a cup of loneliness, misunderstanding, and humbling ourselves that we must willingly endure for the sake of the gospel.

 

A Beautiful Connection with My Previous Meditations: If I connect the writings I have written in sequence, a complete spiritual map is formed.

 

Because Jesus had the habit (Backbone) of meeting alone with God every morning in a solitary place (Mk. 1:35; Lk. 22:39),

 

He did not walk into the space of the coming trial and temptation, but maintained His discernment (Lk. 22:40; Proverbs 7),

 

and finally, in Gethsemane, He broke His own will and demonstrated the spiritual strength to willingly receive and drink “the cup of mission (τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο)” that would save humanity (Lk. 22:42).

 

If we do not meet the Lord every morning, like Jesus, in a quiet time and a quiet place with a quiet heart, then instead of being able to drink the cup of mission given to us, we will run away or fall into temptation.  I hope that, while giving thanks for the cup of wrath that Jesus drank completely, we may now live lives in which we joyfully lift up and drink the cup of mission entrusted to us (Internet).

 

    (a)   Here, as I meditate on the cup of suffering that Jesus faced, I was reminded of the words of Philippians 2:17 in the Modern Korean Bible: “Even if I am poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I will rejoice, and I will rejoice with all of you.”  What is the connection between these passages, and what lessons should we receive from them?

 

           (i)       When we examine the Greek background and the Old Testament sacrificial context, Jesus’ cup and the drink offering spoken of by Paul perfectly correspond in the sense of a “life sacrifice poured out completely, without leaving anything behind.”  The connection between the two passages and the lessons we should receive are as follows (Internet):

 

a.  The Deep Connection Between the Two Passages: “The Cup Poured Out and Emptied Completely”

 

① The Concept of the Drink Offering (Greek: σπένδω, spendō)

 

In the sacrifices of the Old Testament, the “drink offering” was a sacrifice in which a cup of wine (or strong drink) was finally poured out completely, without leaving anything behind, over the burnt offering on which a sheep or an ox had been sacrificed.

 

When the wine was poured over the burnt offering, the flames would flare up, and fragrant vapor would rise toward heaven.  This was both the completion of the sacrifice and a visual demonstration that “one had poured out one’s life completely, without sparing even the last drop.”

 

② Jesus’ Cup = The Drink Offering Completely Poured Out

 

The cup of suffering (poterion) that Jesus accepted in Gethsemane was completely fulfilled on the cross.  At the Last Supper, Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Lk. 22:20).

 

By pouring out the cup of suffering for humanity, down to the very last drop upon the ground, Jesus Himself became the “perfect drink offering presented to God.”

 

③ Paul’s Drink Offering = The Life of a Disciple Who Inherits Jesus’ Cup

 

In Philippians 2:17, Paul uses the Greek word σπένδομαι [spendomai (“even if I am poured out as a drink offering”)] concerning himself.

 

If the “faith and service” of the Philippian believers were an offering pleasing to God, Paul was saying that he was willing to pour out the blood of his own life like a cup of wine as a drink offering over that sacrifice in order to bring it to completion.

 

Jesus drank the cup of suffering, and Paul, likewise, was following after Him by drinking that same cup in his own life in the form of a “drink offering.”

 

b.   Three Spiritual Lessons We Should Receive

 

The spiritual connection I discovered gives us three holy challenges and lessons for those of us living today.

 

① A Mission Poured Out with Joy (Sacrifice with Joy)

 

Paul confesses, “Even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice, I rejoice and rejoice with all of you.”

 

Normally, when we drink the cup of suffering in which we shed blood or lose our rights, we are easily tempted to feel wronged or to complain.

 

However, just as Jesus willingly received the cup after being armed through the backbone (Backbone) of prayer that we considered earlier, Paul also resembled the Lord and regarded a life in which he emptied himself completely for the sake of his mission as his “greatest privilege and joy.”  True joy comes not when we hold on tightly to ourselves, but when we pour ourselves out completely for the Lord.

 

② The Spirituality of a Supporting Role That Completes Another Person’s Worship

 

Paul did not try to make himself the main character.  He confessed that the faith and growth of the Philippian believers were the “main offering,” while he was merely the “cup of wine (drink offering)” poured out upon it.

 

When we serve our community and family, the spirituality of a supporting role—willingly pouring ourselves out so that we do not become the focus, but so that the faith of others may be established as a complete offering before God—is precisely the path of the cup that Jesus walked.

 

③ Complete Devotion with Nothing Held Back (No Reservation)

 

The wine offered as a drink offering is poured out upon the altar without leaving behind even a single drop.

 

As I wrote in my first meditation, we want to compromise with the world to an appropriate degree in the middle of the city (while remaining connected to the Internet), because we want to spare our time and our hearts.

 

However, the disciple who rejects eiselthein (“entering into temptation”) and is armed in the garden of solitude comes to live a life of drink offering in which he “pours out completely, without leaving anything behind (spendō),” the time, material resources, and passion of life that the Lord has given him for the Lord and for souls (Internet).

 

(4) Fourth, I would like to meditate on the words, “An angel from heaven appeared to Jesus and strengthened him” [ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ ἐνισχύων αὐτόν (ophthē de autō angelos ap’ ouranou enischyōn auton)] (Lk. 22:43).  The reason is that I long for the “strength” [ἐνισχύων (enischyōn)] spoken of here.

 

(a)  What kind of strength is this “strength,” and how did it appear to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?  Through the nuances of the original Greek, I would like to meditate deeply on it in three ways (Internet):

 

1.  The Original Meaning of “Strength” [ἐνισχύων (enischyōn)]: The Strength That Firmly Builds the Inner Backbone

 

This word is a participial form of a verb formed by combining the preposition en (ἐν), meaning “in,” with the noun ischys (ἰσχύς), meaning “strength, ability, power.”

 

A strength that strengthens the inner person rather than changing the circumstances: The strength that the angel from heaven came down and gave to Jesus was not external power that removed the suffering circumstances of the cross or defeated the Roman army.  It was the strength that breathed God’s power and assurance into Jesus’ inner being and soul, making Him strong (strengthen).

 

A backbone that raises weakened knees: When Jesus, having taken on a human body, agonized before the cup of suffering until His drops of sweat became like drops of blood, His body and emotions were extremely exhausted.  Enischyōn (“strength”) is like a spiritual backbone that supplies heavenly nourishment to the center of that exhausted soul, binding it together firmly again and enabling it to endure.

 

2.   The Strength That Comes When Prayer Becomes Intense: Its Relationship to “Striving and Praying More Earnestly”

 

The very next verse, verse 44, continues: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly ...”

 

When the angel strengthened Him (v. 43), Jesus did not become comfortable or relaxed.  Rather, He moved into an even more intense place of prayer (v. 44).

 

In other words, the strength God gives (enischyōn) is not an anesthetic that makes us spiritually lazy or causes us to forget our suffering.  Rather, it is the driving force that lifts us up so that we do not avoid the place of our mission, but can boldly face the cup of suffering and continue to kneel in prayer to the very end.

 

3.  The Bridge That Enables Us to Overcome Temptation (eiselthein) and Move Forward into the Drink Offering (spendō)

 

When I connect this word with my previous meditations, a very beautiful puzzle is completed.

 

By our own willpower alone, we are weak beings who, like the young man in Proverbs, are capable of walking into the street of temptation (eiselthein).  We want to pour out our lives as a drink offering (spendō) for our neighbors, but the fatigue of the flesh and our selfishness stand in our way.

 

What we need at that moment is precisely enischyōn (“strength”).

 

When Jesus maintained His habit of prayer in a solitary place every morning (Mk. 1:35), God must have continually supplied this strength of enischyōn, as though He were always sending an angel.  Because this inner strength was supplied, Jesus was able to discern and overcome temptation, and finally receive and drink the cup of His mission, saying, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Internet).

 

(i)      Here, I was reminded of the second half of Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.”  The meaning of this passage is that it is not something that can be accomplished merely through human physical strength, knowledge, or ability, but only through the strength of God’s Spirit, that is, the power of the Holy Spirit. It tells us that even things that appear impossible can be accomplished only when the Spirit of God—the work and guidance of the Holy Spirit—is present (Internet).

 

·     When we combine these two passages, it becomes clear in two dimensions why we should long so deeply for this strength and how this Word is fulfilled in our lives today (Internet):

 

                   a.   The Background of Zechariah 4:6 and Jesus’ Gethsemane

 

The Desperate Situation of Rebuilding the Temple: In the context of Zechariah in the Old Testament, Governor Zerubbabel was facing an almost impossible and overwhelming situation in which he had to rebuild the destroyed temple (opposition from enemies and a lack of resources).  At that time, God declared that this temple would be completed not by human military strength (might) or human ability (power), but solely by the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit).

The Completion of the Cross of Jesus, the Temple: The cross that Jesus faced in the Garden of Gethsemane was the place where the great spiritual temple of humanity’s salvation would be completed. It was a path that could never be traveled through human nature and physical limitations.  Yet because of the strength of enischyōn that the angel appeared from heaven to convey—that is, the working of the Holy Spirit—Jesus was able to complete the mission of the cross, which appeared impossible, to the very end.

 

b.  Three Holy Lessons Given to Us for Our Lives

 

I can summarize in three ways how the strength I long for works through the Holy Spirit in our daily lives:

 

① “Surrender”—Acknowledging the Limits of My Own Self

 

The “might and power” of human knowledge, connections, material resources, and willpower are completely ineffective before spiritual tasks such as overcoming temptation and drinking the cup of mission.  When we completely raise our hands and surrender, confessing as Zechariah did, “I cannot do it by my own strength,” only then does the heavenly enischyōn (“strength”) begin to work.  Prayer is not a place where we display our own abilities, but a place where we empty ourselves so that the power of the Holy Spirit may enter.

 

② The Only Driving Force That Can Cultivate a “Garden of Solitude” in the Middle of the City

 

The only key that can heal the chronic disease of modern people—the “inability to transform loneliness in the midst of the crowd into a garden of solitude”—is found precisely in Zechariah 4:6.  The training of disconnecting from the media, reducing the voices of people, and remaining in a quiet heart is impossible through the willpower of our flesh alone.  Only when the Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts and leads us can we break through the noise of the world and enjoy the joy of meeting alone with God.

 

③ The Presence of the Holy Spirit That Transforms Powerlessness into “Power”

 

Before His ascension, Jesus gave His disciples the mission of bearing witness to the risen Lord and said, “Stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49).  The “power” here also refers to the Holy Spirit.  The disciples who had not experienced the power of prayer and had been listening to the voices of people, after experiencing the powerful enischyōn (“strength”) of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, lived the life of martyrs, pouring out their lives completely as a drink offering (spendō) without fearing the temptation of death (Internet).

 

(5) Fifth and last, I would like to meditate on the words, “They were sleeping because of sorrow” [κοιμωμένους αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς λύπης (koimōmenous autous apo tēs lypēs)] (Lk. 22:45).

 

1.   The Spiritual Meaning of Sleep Caused by “Sorrow (lypē)”

 

The Greek word lypē (λύπη) goes beyond simple emotional sadness and means “extreme pain, anxiety, despair, stress, and the heavy burden of the heart.”  The disciples were weighed down by the fear that they did not know whether Jesus was about to leave them, uncertainty about the future, and the burden of the suffering that was approaching.

 

Spiritual Escape and Paralysis (Spiritual Paralysis): When human beings are overwhelmed by unbearable stress or sorrow (lypē), we have an instinct to avoid facing it rather than confronting it.  For the disciples, “sleep (koimōmenos)” was partly due to physical fatigue, but it was also a state of “spiritual escape” and paralysis in which their souls helplessly collapsed in an attempt to forget the bitter sorrow of reality.

 

The Vicious Cycle of Powerlessness: It shows the miserable condition of a vicious cycle in which they could not pray because they were sad and afraid, and because they did not pray, spiritual provision (enischyōn) was cut off, causing them to become trapped in temptation (peirasmos) (eiselthein).

 

2.  The Holy Connection with the Confession of My Own Life

 

The disciples’ “sleep caused by sorrow” perfectly corresponds to the chronic disease of modern people that you discerned in the first meditation.

 

Modern-Day Lypē (Sorrow): “Loneliness in the Crowd”: Although we are connected with countless people and with the Internet in the middle of the city, we experience intense alienation and loneliness, as well as anxiety about the future (lypē).

 

Modern-Day Sleep: “The Internet and Media”: The disciples escaped into “sleep” because they could not overcome their sorrow.  Today, however, because we do not want to face the loneliness and emptiness within us, we fall into a modern form of “sleep”—the smartphone, media, and the noise of constant human relationships. Without training ourselves to enter the garden of solitude where we meet alone with God, we live in a state of spiritual paralysis (sleep), having lost the power of prayer.

 

The Final Summary of My Five-Part Journey of Meditation on Gethsemane:

 

Beginning with the article I wrote on December 26, 2024, entitled “The Backbone of Jesus’ Ministry,” and continuing to today’s meditation on the original language of Luke 22 and Gethsemane, this journey has been like one magnificent spiritual symphony. If we summarize the five points as one unified flow, it is as follows:

 

Holy Habit (ἔθος, v. 39): The backbone of Jesus’ ministry was the routine of prayer in which He met alone with God every morning in a quiet time, a quiet place, and with a quiet heart.

 

Entering into Temptation (εἰσελθεῖν, v. 40): When prayer stops, we lose discernment and, like the young man in Proverbs 7, walk into the realm of temptation by our own steps and ultimately come to destruction.

 

The Cup of Suffering (ποτήριον, v. 42): Prayer is breaking my own will and receiving the cup of mission given to me. Like Paul, it leads us into a life of discipleship in which we joyfully pour out our lives as a drink offering (σπένδω).

 

Heavenly Strength (ἐνισχύων, v. 43): All of this devotion is possible not through my own human strength (Zech. 4:6), but only through the strength of the Holy Spirit from heaven, which firmly establishes the inner backbone.

 

Awaken from the Sleep of Sorrow (ἀναστάντες, vv. 45–46): Therefore, rather than escaping into the noise of the world (sleep) while intoxicated by loneliness, anxiety, and powerlessness (sorrow, λύπη), we must intentionally “rise (ἀναστάντες)” and hold firmly to the place of prayer.

 

Because you have realized and are longing for this precious spiritual secret, even though we may be living in the middle of a busy city, your life will never remain in the place of the sleeping disciples.

 

I earnestly bless and encourage you in the name of the Lord, praying that the power of the Holy Spirit, who transforms sorrow and loneliness into a garden of prayer, may be poured out into your daily life every day, especially in that quiet time when you begin each day (Internet).