Blood, Sweat, Toil And Tears

BLOOD, SWEAT, TOIL (MEANING HARDWORK AND EFFORT IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES) AND TEARS

LUKE 22:44

IN GREAT ANGUISH HE PRAYED EVEN MORE FEVENTLY; HIS SWEAT WAS LIKE DROPS OF BLOOD FALLING TO THE GROUND.

Men started using the phrase ‘BLOOD, SWEAT, TOIL AND TEARS’ in the 1900’s. First said by Sir Winston Churchill in his famous ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat’ in 1940. Warning the British people of the hardships in World War Two.

Let us read Matthew 26:36-46 (also in Luke 22:39-46; Mark 14:32-42)

Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Every Christian is commissioned to a ministry of love and justice. The new life into which God is calling each and every one of you means to become an evangelist for God. Whatever your work, sales, lawyer, doctor, technician, secretary or homemaker – you are at the same time an Evangelist of God out there in the world.

And so often this means a genuine commitment of blood, sweat, toil and tears. Jesus gave up all his heavenly power to live like us. He was sinless yet Jesus fought for our salvation with

Cries and tears of desperation, discouragement, exhaustion. Tears of grief, betrayal and heartache. Jesus was truly human, YET HE IS GOD, Let us look at three points to how we can say that

1- We relate to his experience with pain.

PAIN – the gift nobody wants. But it is certainly a part of life, some more than others. Jesus knew pain. I bet he hurt deeply.

The garden of Gethsemane tells us how Jesus was feeling

MARK 13:44

‘Distress and anguish came over him, and he said to them, the sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.’

(also found in Matthew 26:37, and in Luke)

It was here that Jesus wrestled with the greatest decision of his earthly journey, he was deciding to go to the cross, and you can imagine every aspect of his humanity was crying out against it.

(An interesting fact, this is a condition in science known as HEMATIDROSIS. It is not unusual for people to sweat when they experience stress, when under stress the tiny blood vessels known as capillaries can burst. When they do they release small amounts of blood into nearby sweat glands. When the sweat is released it looks like great drops of blood.)

Jesus asked God to take this cup of suffering from me, so what exactly was it that brought on such anguish and agony?

What was this cup?

Physical agony?

Pain of the cross?

Mental agony?

Humiliation?

IN JEREMIAH 25:15 IT SAYS: ‘THE LORD THE GOD OF ISRAEL SAID TO ME, HERE IS A WINE CUP FILLED WITH MY ANGER.’

Let us remember God’s wrath – burns cities, changes weather. Imagine the vilest, disgusting, most foul smelling fluids sitting in a drum in front of you; it has been infected with mad cow disease, HIV, cancer and other awful diseases, bacteria and decayed flesh. Picture yourself drowned I it, drinking, tasting it, breathing it, having it get in your eyes, nose and mouth, ears. That is not even close to what it was like for Jesus. Our saviour was giving his close disciples a look into the depths of his emotional, physical and spiritual trauma.