Rebels Redeemed: September 28, 2025

Not My Will, But Yours Be Done

Pastor Michael recently brought us to a deeply powerful and heart-wrenching scene in Luke chapter 22, where Jesus prepares his disciples—and us—for what's to come. It’s a sobering look at the reality of the Christian walk, one that’s often characterized by both God's provision and the certainty of persecution.

The sermon opened by reminding us of the amazing provision the disciples experienced on their first mission, lacking "not a thing." But then, the tone shifts dramatically. Jesus tells them: "whoever has a money bag should take it, and also a traveling bag, and whoever doesn't have a sword should sell his robe and buy one."

Why the sudden need for swords?

Pastor Michael revealed a brilliant and convicting insight: Jesus needed to be counted among the lawless. The disciples carrying swords helped set the stage for Jesus's political charge of insurrection. He was fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah 53:11, willingly submitting to death and being "counted among rebels" to ultimately redeem the rebels. The swords weren't meant for striking down enemies; they were essential for Jesus's mission to identify with and intercede for those who live by violence.

Fight Like Jesus Fought

This leads to the core lesson: we must prepare for persecution, but not by fighting with the world's weapons. The real battleground is not with a physical sword, but in our submission to God.

Jesus modeled this perfectly in the Garden of Gethsemane, his place of peace turned battleground. Knowing the agony ahead, He prayed the defining prayer of the Christian life: "Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done."

We, too, are often drawn to the world's way of fighting—with anger, fear, or a desire for control. But our call, as people transferred "from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Son," is to submit our will to the Father. That quiet place of fervent prayer, where we daily surrender our desires to God's perfect plan, is where the real victory is won.

It’s an invitation to stop fighting in the dark like the rest of the world and to become creatures of light, with one single theme echoing in our hearts: "Not my will but yours be done."