The Last Temptation

Overview

Our passage today takes place the night before Jesus is going to die. He has just had his last supper, and he goes out into the garden of Gethsemane with three of his disciples. Jesus’ career began with a temptation in the wilderness, and now it essentially ends with a great temptation in a garden.

Jesus goes to the garden to pray and he is described as “sorrowful and troubled” (Luke uses “agony”). This is an important clue to understand why Jesus died and how his death affects our lives today. We’re going to consider two questions that will help us dig a little deeper into this passage: Why the magnitude of Christ’s agony? Why the timing of it?