Devotion / Family Worship Guides

Thursday: Jesus’ Final Passover, Farewell Discourse, and Prayer in Gethsemane

by Michael Johnson

Directions: Tailor this guide to fit your personal or family devotions. The goal is not to get through all of the passages and questions!  The goal is to spend time in God’s Word and in worshiping Him.  Choose from the passages and questions below.  Add your own questions.  Have fun!!  If you are leading others, you will want to read through the worship guide in advance to prepare. 

Thursday: Jesus’ Final Passover, Farewell Discourse, and Prayer in Gethsemane

A. Read Scripture:  Read one or more of the following passages and discuss the questions below

Possible Passages:  Matthew 26:17-46; Mark 14:12-42; Luke 22:7-46; John 13:1-17:26

Discussion Questions:  CHOOSE ONE of the following six options for your family worship.

Option 1: Read Luke 22:7-23 for your family worship tonight.  Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper.  What did the Passover commemorate (Read Exodus 12:1-28)?   How is Jesus dying on the cross connected to the celebration of the Passover?  How does this help us understand John the Baptist’s declaration when he sees Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  “For Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)

At the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah talk with Jesus.  “They spoke of his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:31). They’re talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection in Jerusalem that Jesus was about to “accomplish” or “fulfill.”  His “departure” here is the Greek word, “exodus.”  They are talking about the exodus that Jesus was about to accomplish.  This is amazing!  Here’s Moses – the man God chose to lead Israel out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land – talking with Jesus about the exodus He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem!

Just as Moses was God’s chosen servant to lead God’s people out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land. So Jesus is God’s chosen servant to lead God’s people out of bondage to sin and death to the ultimate promised land – heaven.  Jesus is the new and greater Moses (Heb 3:1-6) who brings about a new and greater redemption with a new and greater covenant (Heb 8:6-7, 13; 13:20; 12:24;).  Jesus leads God’s people to a new and greater place – “a better country, that is a heavenly one” (Heb 11:16).  But there are layers here, because Jesus is also our perfect and final sacrifice.  He is the Passover Lamb that is sacrificed to atone for our sins so that we can go free! And so he is also a new and greater sacrifice (Heb 9:23-28; 10:10-14).  Jesus is the fulfillment of all that Moses and the Exodus and the Passover pointed to.  Jesus redeems us from bondage to sin and death and leads us into the ultimate and final Promised Land, heaven.

Option 2: Read John 13:1-20 for your family worship tonight.  Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.  When does Jesus wash their feet?  What does he know about Himself as he does this?  What important lessons does Jesus teach his disciples through this act of cleansing and service?  How does Jesus cleanse us?  How can you demonstrate loving, self-sacrificing service to others in your life?

Option 3: Read John 15:1-16 for your family worship tonight.  Jesus instructs his disciples in the upper room.  Jesus is the true vine.  As the vinedresser, God does two things to increase the fruitfulness of the branches (Jesus’ followers).  First, he prunes them to make them more fruitful (v.2).  How does God “prune” us in our lives?  What is He pruning away?  Second, he removes and burns the fruitless branches (v.2, 6).  How do we bear much fruit?  What does it mean to “abide” in Christ?  What is the result?  What has Jesus called us to do?  What does Jesus tell his disciples to expect from the world and why?  What encouragement does he give them at the end of chapter 15 and into chapter 16?  

Option 4: Read John 17:1-26 for your family worship tonight.  Jesus offers His high priestly prayer.  Jesus’ prayer falls into three sections: 1) prayer for himself, 2) for His present disciples, and 3) for His future disciples.  What are some of the things that Jesus prays for his disciples, past and present? (List as many things as you can). How does this encourage your faith?  How does this shape the way we pray for one another and the church?  Did you know Jesus is still praying for you? (Romans 8:33-35; Hebrews 7:25)

Option 5: Read Matthew 26:31-35; Mark 14:27-31; and Luke 22:31-34 for your family worship tonight.  Jesus predicts Peter’s failure (and the others) yet He also promises restoration.  Jesus tells Peter that “Satan demanded to have you (pl) that he might sift you (pl) like wheat…”  (Luke 22:31).  What does the image tell us Satan wants to do to the disciples?  Can Satan sift without God’s permission?

No trial comes to you that is outside God’s control and God’s plan.  Notice also the overruling hand of God.  God purifies the grain by the same process the devil means to destroy it.  Be encouraged, God directs the threshing and the sifting you face in life for your good and His glory. 

What does Jesus pray for Peter?  How do we know Jesus fully expects his prayer to be answered?  When we fail, how are we to respond?  (Turn again to Jesus in repentance and faith.  Walk in faith with Jesus once more).   How does Jesus’ prayer for us and His promise of restoration encourage us when we fail?  It’s really encouraging that Jesus not only knows we will fail, he prays for our faith to be sustained, and he assures us of restoration when we turn back to Him in repentance & faith. How does Peter’s overconfidence put him in spiritual danger?  What does this teach us? 

Option 6: Read Luke 22:39-46 for your family worship tonight.  Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane.  What does Jesus twice tell his disciples to do in the Garden?  How does Jesus pray?  Why does he pray this way?  What can we learn from this?

This short prayer reveals at one time both the awful weight of sin and the devotion of Jesus to His Father.  The cup is God’s cup of judgement.  Jesus is about to bear our sins and die in our place as a substitute, sacrificing himself to save us.  Oswald Sanders says it well, “He drank a cup of wrath without mercy, so that we might drink a cup of mercy without wrath.”  Praise Jesus!!  He saves all who turn from sin and trust in Him by faith from God’s wrath.

How is Jesus’ prayer honest?  How does this encourage us to pray to God?  How is Jesus’ prayer humble?  How does this teach us to pray to God? 

In our trials we pray honestly and humbly.  Honest in asking without reservation for relief and deliverance.  Yet humble in submission to God’s will.  Knowing God has wise and good reasons for our afflictions.  Knowing God will display his power: either in delivering us from our trial or giving us the grace to carry us through it, as he does for Jesus.   

Summary:  Jesus celebrates the Passover meal with his disciples and institutes the Lord’s Supper.  He gives them a picture of what he is about to accomplish on the cross: His body broken and blood shed to establish a new covenant.  During the night he washes the disciples’ feet, delivers the Farewell Discourse, and prays with them.  After singing a hymn the disciples head to the Mount of Olives where Jesus prays with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Gethsemane was Jesus’ preparation for Calvary.  On the cross Jesus yielded his body as a sacrifice for sin. But in the garden, he first yielded up His will to God.  After wrestling in prayer, he was ready to endure the suffering ahead.   

B. Singing:  Consider one or more of the following songs

C. Prayer:  Use the Scriptures to guide your prayers of praise and petition. 

Jesus, thank you and praise you for offering yourself as our Passover Lamb as the perfect and final sacrifice for sin.  Thank you for establishing a better covenant with a better country, a heavenly one.  Thank you for your example of service.  Enable us to follow in your steps.  Teach us to abide in you that we may bear much fruit.  Forgive us for the ways we have relied on ourselves instead of you.  Thank you for the promise of restoration after failure when we turn back again to you.  Teach us to pray honestly and humbly, “Not my will but yours be done.”  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.