Sermon Central
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#58 The Bitter Cup Of Gethsemane Series
Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Feb 7, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: We can never comprehend the cosmic struggle Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. The sermon helps us to see the emotional struggle between Jesus’ human and divine sides, and what that teaches us.
The best that we can do in our suffering is to gain some sense of fellowship with Christ and His suffering, some minutely small sense of what He underwent for us. Paul says He gave up all His high position in the Jewish faith that he might gain Christ. Why?—He says in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, [now watch this:] AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS, being made conformable unto his death.”
We like knowing HIM; we like knowing the power of His resurrection…not so much the fellowship, or the sharing, in His sufferings. But we should. It would help us love Jesus more and be more thankful, because what we suffer does not even begin to approximate His sufferings. It would help us keep our sufferings in a little better perspective.
• Lastly, in this story, we’re reminded of the tremendous power of prayer.
Prayer, in this text, did not deliver Jesus FROM suffering, but it did deliver Him THROUGH it. So often we pray that God might get us OUT of adversity, rather than THROUGH it. Prayer is one of God’s primary provisions for our endurance and perseverance. His words to His disciples apply to us too: “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”
