Week 1 – Sorrowful and Troubled

Sacred Insight: Context 
As you read, look for answers to these questions: What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?

Have you ever wondered what it was like for Jesus in the days and weeks leading up to his crucifixion? What would it be like to know ahead of time, that you were going to be tortured and killed? 

Matthew 26: 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Although Jesus repeatedly tried to tell his followers what was about to happen, they never quite understood that he was about to suffer this fate. His heart must have felt so heavy, surrounded by his best friends, his loyal followers – knowing that these people that had come to lean on him, love him and cling to his every word, would soon be in shock, grieving and in fear of losing their own lives. 

Add to that his own sorrow and fear – the sorrow of knowing that his time with his dear friends and family was about to come to a sudden and violent end. What an incredibly scary and intensely helpless feeling that must have been.
 
To add insult to injury, Jesus was also dealing with the knowledge that two of his disciples were going to betray him. First, Judas would knowingly turn him over to be tortured and murdered and then Peter would deny knowing Jesus. After all of the time they had spent together… after all of the love and guidance Jesus had poured into them – how could these dear friends – brothers of his be so callous, so cruel?
 
It may seem weird to think of Jesus having these feelings, but remember, although Jesus was the Son of God and knew that his betrayal and crucifixion were imminent, he was also flesh and blood. He was created to feel the same grief, confusion and sadness that we feel.
 
The verses immediately preceding our scripture passage detail Jesus’ state of mind as he walks to the Garden of Gethsmene in search of a quiet place to pray.

Matthew 26: 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

It was at this point in our scripture that Matthew says of Jesus “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed…”.
Yes – Jesus, the Mighty Warrior and Almighty God (Isaiah 9:6), took this submissive posture of pleading, asking his father – please – won’t you change your mind? Yet, Jesus concluded his prayer asking, despite his grief and pleading, that God’s will be done nonetheless.
 

Matthew, a former Jewish tax-collector-turned-disciple of Jesus, wrote the book of Matthew in A.D. 60-65 to a Jewish audience, in order to show the diety and fulfillment of their long-awaited Messiah through the genealogy (Matthew chapter 1) and the story of Jesus’ life. In order to appeal to fellow Jews, you can find that throughout this book, there are numerous references to Old Testament prophesies about the Savior. Though those prophesies,  he draws a distinct line pointing directly to Jesus. 

Indeed, it’s possible that our scripture is one of those reminders of how perfectly Jesus fulfilled those prophesies. Our scripture paints a picture of a sorrowful and troubled man, just like Isaiah had prophesied so long ago.

Isaiah 53:3. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

 What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?

Have you ever been betrayed by someone you love? Talk about the pain you felt and relate that to what Jesus must have felt in his betrayal by Judas and Peter.

What part of Jesus’ experience in this story feels most surprising to you—and why?

Why do you think it’s important that Jesus felt fear, sadness, and loneliness?

How does knowing Jesus understands pain change how you think about prayer?

What would it look like to say, “God, I don’t understand—but I trust you,” in your life right now?

  • Live It Out:
  • See if you have any of the following: A study Bible, index in the back of your Bible, concordances, historical timelines, etc. What contextual information can you can dig up about the author, the time in history in which it was written, what was going on in the lives of its recipients, etc. Pick any contextual element that interests you and find out more.
  • Jesus asked his friends to stay and keep watch. This week, without fixing or preaching,  choose one person who might be hurting or stressed and intentionally show up for them in a simple way: Have lunch with them, send an encouraging text, pray for them by name.