He Went A Little Further

HE WENT A LITTLE FURTHER

Matthew 26:39.

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” [NLT]

I would like to link this ministry with our communion service, so that we might have a better appreciation of what the Lord Jesus did for us on Calvary, as I believe the sharing of the bread and wine will be more meaningful for us as a result.

Our text speaks of the Lord going ‘a little further’, and we shall see that He continued to go further, during this time of great trial. I realise that the Lord went further during His life on earth, as He lived a sinless life; a life of caring for others; a life of pointing men and women to the wonderful love of God for them. In each of these He went further than anyone else, showing us an example of how we should live. This morning I want to centre our thinking on the fact that our Lord went further than anyone else as He took our place, dealt with our sin, and purchased our salvation.

I make no apology for drawing you attention to a number of scriptures this morning, let the Word of God speak to our hearts.

First of all I would like to see that He went further as

A. HE WENT TO GETHSEMANE’S TORMENT

AND THE CUP OF SUFFERING

Luke 22:39-46. 39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." [NIV]

Here we have a picture of the Lord going ‘a little further’. The disciples could only go so far, the sorrow they felt had exhausted them, and they fell asleep; but Jesus went further and prayed through His personal anguish as He faced the dreadful cup that was His to drink.

The Master is about to taste the bitter dregs in the cup of death for the sin of the world. He was not afraid that he would die before the Cross, though he instinctively shrank from the cup, but instantly surrendered his will to the Father’s will and drank it to the full. [Robertson’s NT Word Pictures]

Gibson, in his comments on these verses says,

"Let this cup pass from Me:" It was not the weakness of the flesh, but the purity of His spirit, that made Him shrink, that wrung from Him once and again, and yet again, the cry, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." [Gibson]

We need to try and understand that the Lord Jesus lived a perfect life; He is described in the Epistle to the Hebrews as - holy, faultless, unstained, separated from sinners. Hebrews 7:26 [J B Philips]. He fulfilled the requirements of the law, and so could not be penalised by the law, but here He is taking our sin on himself, and so became subject to the law’s penalties – death, the wages of sin is death. [Romans 6:23. NLT]. Yes, He went further.

He went even further as

B. HE WENT TO GABBATHA’S TRIAL

AND THE CROWN OF THORNS

John 19:1-16. 1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face. 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" 6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him." 7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. [NIV]