Jesus, Our Perfect Redeemer

“And he (Jesus) came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41

Those were the words which Jesus spoke to His disciples on the night He was arrested. Jesus had eaten the Passover meal with His disciples, and He had instituted the Lord's Supper for us. These disciples left the upper room with Jesus and walked outside the city of Jerusalem to a grove of olive trees known as the Garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus went off by Himself to pray to the heavenly Father. Jesus knew the pain and torment He was about to go through on account of our sins. Our Perfect Redeemer was so distressed that His sweat was like drops of blood (Luke 22:44). But when Jesus returned to His disciples He found them sound asleep and said to them, “could you not watch with me one hour?” Jesus was about to suffer for their sins and the sins of the whole world and yet they could not stay awake for one hour to support their Savior in His time of agony.

It may be easy for us to judge those disciples of Jesus. But are we any different today? Jesus has come and endured the torments of hell in our place upon the cross. Jesus was willing to undergo such tortures because of His love for us - yet at times we have trouble to keep watch with Him for one hour. Some may find it difficult to bring themselves to worship, not only on Sundays, but also for the special Wednesday Lenten services. We may fail to spend time in serious prayer with the Lord as Jesus did in Gethsemane. We may fail to always gladly hear and learn the Word of God and hold His name sacred. We may be unable to keep watch with Jesus and study His Word in our own homes and ponder the suffering He endured for us. We may find it difficult to keep watch with others during their times of tribulation and be comforting to them. Yes, like the disciples we too neglect our Savior and sin against Him.

But take heart dear Christians, for Jesus is our Perfect Redeemer. He suffered for those sins and for all others that we have committed in our lives. I therefore invite you to join us not only on Sunday mornings for worship and Bible Study, but also to join us in our Wednesday Lenten services. Come and behold Jesus our Perfect Redeemer. Come and see how Jesus perfectly submitted Himself to death. Come and see the One who is innocent suffer for us. Observe Jesus as He perfectly bears the curse of sin for us upon the cross. See the Lord Jesus perfectly love us even in the midst of His agonizing suffering. Come and behold your Perfect Redeemer. Then at the conclusion of Lent join us again as we celebrate with great joy our Savior’s perfect resurrection and salvation which He has accomplished for us.

Our Wednesday worship time is 7:00 pm. The themes and Scripture text for each week are listed in this newsletter. Invite someone to attend with you. I look forward to seeing you there as we come and behold Jesus our Perfect Redeemer.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Schoenfeld