Prayers Make A Difference

"Luke 22:1-38

God was about to act in a miraculous way on behalf of his people. But the people themselves had a part to play. Joshua tells the people to prepare themselves: ‘Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you’ (3:5, MSG).The Lord did ‘amazing things’ (3:5). One of these amazing things was the crossing of the Jordan (Joshua 3).

Predestination and free will

Are you sometimes tempted to compare yourself with other people?

It is encouraging to see that Jesus’ disciples struggled with many of the same things that we do. There is bickering among the disciples over which of them would end up the greatest (v.24). It is always a temptation to compare ourselves or our ministry with others. This either leads to pride (if we think we are doing better) or jealousy, envy and insecurity (if we think we are not doing as well).

Jesus points out that the values of the Kingdom are the polar opposite to the world. ‘Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant ... I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves’ (vv.25–27, MSG).

As we look at the parts played by each of the people in this drama, we see, once again, that the Bible teaches both predestination (that God has planned everything in advance), and free will. This is a mystery that the Scriptures hold in tension, and we are rightly suspicious when any human system attempts to explain it away one way or the other. In this passage we see three examples of how this tension operates in practice.

Judas

Jesus says that all this was foreknown and indeed predestined: ‘The Son of Man will go as has been decreed’ (v.22a). But the fact that it is foreknown and predestined does not absolve Judas of responsibility: ‘But woe to that man who betrays him’ (v.22b).

The paradox is that although ‘it has been decreed’, Judas is a free agent. We see in the account how Judas’ ‘will’ was involved. When he was offered money to betray Jesus, Judas ‘consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over’ (v.6).

Simon Peter

Peter was very confident that he would not let Jesus down, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death’ (v.33). Jesus knew that Peter would fail, ‘I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows today, you will deny three times that you know me’ (v.34).

But ultimately his faith did not fail. Jesus said, ‘But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail’ (v.32). This shows that in the midst of this extraordinary paradox of predestination and free will, prayer really does make a difference. Why and how it works we may never understand. However, the example of Jesus shows that it really does count. Your prayers do make a difference.

Jesus

We see the balance between God’s part and our part. We are reminded of it every time we take communion. Jesus said, ‘This is my body given for you ... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’ (vv.19,20). That was the hard part – the sacrifice of his life voluntarily given for us. Our part is relatively simple: ‘do this is in remembrance of me’ (v.19).

Lord, thank you that you have done all this for me. Thank you that you pray for me that my faith will not fail. Thank you that you gave your body and shed your blood for me."

1. Forgive me, Lord, when I get to the point of comparing myself to others. Remove pride and jealousy from my heart, O, God. "Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant ... I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves’ (vv.25–27, MSG)." Amen! Thank You for this!

2. Thank You that prayers do make a difference. May this encourage mo more to lead a prayerful life. Hallelujah!

3. It was an interesting weekend of great hotpot lunch, awesome KTV experience, and sightseeing with new friends.