1. Urgently prepare in solitude
2. Urgently prepare in sorrow
3. Urgently prepare in submission
4. Don’t prepare by sleeping
What would you do if you knew what was going to happen to you tomorrow? If, somehow, some way it was possible for you to look into the future—what would you do? Would seeing into the future change your behavior today? If you knew the date of your death, would it change the way you live today? Would it make you live with more urgency? The fact is, none of us knows what tomorrow holds. Most of us know people who have been given a timeline on their life. Some doctor somewhere has told them how much time they have left to live. I’ve got news for you—no doctor in the world can tell a person how long they’re going to live. Because no doctor in the world holds the power of life and death. There is no person in the world that knows the future. But Jesus does. As God, Jesus created time. And He holds time in His hands. He knows the end from the beginning. Because He is the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end. And because Jesus is the only One who knows our future, He warns us to be prepared. He warns us to urgently prepare for our unknown future. He warns us to prepare for the darkness before the night falls. To prepare for the storm while the seas are calm. In our passage this morning, Jesus knows what is in store for Him. He knows that within just a few short hours, He would be beaten and bruised and hung on an old rugged cross. He knows the tremendous task that lies ahead. So He knows He must urgently prepare. In the few short hours of calm, Jesus knows that He must urgently prepare for the storm that lies ahead. So that’s what He did.
Picture the scene with me if you will. Jesus and all the disciples except Judas had just finished the Last Supper. Judas was off plotting and preparing the Lord’s betrayal. But here was Jesus and the eleven. It was already late at night by the time they finished the meal and sang their hymn. They climbed down from the upper room and out into the streets of Jerusalem. They wound their way through those narrow streets, out one of the city gates, and across the southern steps of Herod’s temple. As they were walking away from the city, they went down into the Kidron Valley. When they came out of the Kidron Valley, they walked partway up the Mount of Olives to a beautiful, peaceful grove of olive trees called Gethsemane. Scripture indicates that it was a familiar place to Jesus and the disciples. It was probably one of those few places where Jesus could get away from the crowds and get alone with His heavenly Father. Because of the crowds that constantly followed Jesus, it seems like they had developed a routine when Jesus needed to get away in prayer. They would come to this garden, which like most olive groves of the day, was surrounded by a short wall with a gate. In order to keep the crowds from disturbing Jesus as He prayed, His disciples would sit at that gate. We don’t know how often this happened, but it seems as if it was frequent enough that the disciples knew the routine. But this time was different. This time, Jesus took three disciples in the garden with Him. He took Peter, James and John. Jesus knew what awaited Him in just a few short hours. And He knew what awaited His disciples. He knew how urgently He needed to prepare Himself for the crucifixion with prayer. And he knew how urgently His closest disciples needed to prepare themselves with prayer. Just a little bit earlier, Jesus revealed to Peter that Satan had asked to sift him like wheat. Peter urgently needed to prepare. When James and John’s mother asked Jesus if they could sit at His right and left hand in the coming kingdom, Jesus revealed to them that they would indeed have to drink of the same cup of suffering He would have to. James and John urgently needed to prepare. So Jesus took them along to give them that opportunity. He took them along so that they could see their Lord’s urgent preparation and follow Him in His example. And some example it was. In verse 38, Jesus says that His soul was exceeding sorrowful—even unto death. The words that are translated in verse 37, “sorrowful and very heavy” are loaded with meaning. Have you ever experienced that all-over tingling and numbness from being suddenly terrified by something? The kind that feels like your entire body has been hit with an electric shock? That’s the feeling those words describe. Except it wasn’t a sudden feeling. It was an intense feeling of mind and body numbing heaviness. Excruciating grief. Grief that we cannot even begin to fathom. But don’t mistake the reason why Jesus was feeling that kind of grief. Jesus wasn’t grieving because of the physical pain He knew He was going to have to endure. He wasn’t grieving because of the emotional pain He was going to endure. It wasn’t for the beatings or the bruising or the crown of thorns or the nails. It wasn’t for the humiliation or the rejection or the shame. He was grieving over sin. He was grieving over the fact that He—Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God—God in the flesh—the perfect, sinless Lamb of God—would within just a few short hours actually become sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Jesus knew that He would soon become sin for us. He would take on your sins and mine. And all of the sins of the whole world would be nailed to the cross. Why was Jesus grieving so intently? Because He knew that, even though He who knew no sin… that as He became sin for us… He would be temporarily separated from the Father. He would have to endure a period of time separated from the perfect, eternal Trinitarian relationship. The Godhead would be broken for a period of time. And Jesus was grieved beyond anything you or I could imagine. Verse 38 says that His grief was almost enough to bring on death. But notice what Jesus did with that grief. He didn’t allow it to paralyze Him. He didn’t allow it to terrify Him. He didn’t allow it to defeat Him or make Him run away from what faced Him. What did He do with it? He used it to prepare Himself. He knew the anguishing task that awaited Him, so He had to prepare with prayer.
It’s interesting how our image of this event has been shaped by pictures, isn’t it? How many of us immediately think of that classic picture? You know—the one where Jesus is kneeling peacefully with His hands folded on a rock. Of course He has a halo. And He is serenely looking up at a faint light from the sky. How peaceful. How calm. How far from the truth of what went on that night. In the original language, the verbs in verse 39 are used to describe ongoing, continual action. In other words, Jesus was falling on His face and praying. And He was falling on His face and praying. And He was falling on His face and praying. It brings to mind a picture of Jesus standing, pacing, pleading, kneeling, and falling down prostrate. And then getting up and doing it all again and again and again. Have you ever been so anguished in urgent prayer that you just couldn’t be still? Jesus was. And what was He so urgently praying? In our passage, Matthew sums each of the prayers up in just a couple of phrases. In verse 39, Jesus said, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” In verse 42 He prayed, “O my Father, if this cup my not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” And verse 44 says that He prayed the third time saying the same words. When Jesus prayed those words, what was He asking? Was He asking the Father if He could get out of dying? No, that’s what He came to do. He was asking if there was any other way to redeem His children. And Jesus already knew the answer. He knew that Isaiah 53:10 said that it pleased the Father to bruise Him. It pleased the Father to pour out His divine fury on our sin in the person of His Son. And Jesus knew that the only way He could be prepared for such a task was to be completely in the center of the Father’s will. So that’s what He prayed for. But what were Peter, James and John doing? Were they watching Jesus this whole time? Were they watching and learning so they could follow His lead? No—they were sleeping. I mean, why not? It was well after midnight by now. They had a full belly and the night was so peaceful. Why not grab a little shut-eye? But didn’t Jesus tell them to watch? Didn’t Jesus tell them to pray? Didn’t Jesus tell them the awesome trials that were ahead of them as well? He told them all that in order that they would be prepared. In order that they would struggle in prayer with Him. But they slept. I want us to wake up. I want us to be prepared. The Bible warns us of trials, and temptations, and sufferings, and persecutions. In Matthew 24:22, Jesus warns of a terrible time in the future that we should urgently be preparing for. He said, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Are we sleeping? Or are we urgently preparing?
Each of us in this place has trials that are awaiting us. Many of you have already been through tremendous trials in your life. Some of you are going through trials as we speak. But the fact is, we will all experience trials in the future. I believe there is one reason that God doesn’t let us see into the future. And that’s because we couldn’t handle it. If many of us knew the troubles that were awaiting us, we simply couldn’t handle it. But the fact remains, that even though we don’t know what they are or when they’re coming, each of us will experience challenges in our lives. And the only way for us to pass those challenges victoriously is if we wake up and get prepared. I want each of us here this morning to urgently prepare. In order to do that, we’re quickly going to look at five points of application. We’re going to look at Jesus’ example of four ways to urgently prepare for the challenges of life. The first way is in solitude.
Prepare in solitude. Jesus knew that He needed to spend time alone with the Father. When Jesus saves us, He saves us into His Body, the church. He saves us into a corporate body of other believers. As that corporate body of believers, we are called to pray for each other and bear one another’s burdens. When one of us goes through a trial, we all go through a trial. But for the Body of Christ to truly work like it’s supposed to, each of us must prepare in solitude. Each of us must spend time alone with the Lord. And that’s hard to do. But it’s not as hard for us as it was for Jesus. Jesus was constantly swarmed with crowds of people. He had to be very intentional about the way He would get alone with the Father. So what’s your excuse? What kept you from getting alone with God this week? I’m not talking about a few seconds in the shower. I’m not talking about a few minutes in the car. I’m talking about dedicated, quiet, concentrated blocks of time alone with the Lord. What kept you from that this week? Were you too busy? Did you just not think about it? Were you sleeping? Don’t wait for the storm to come before you prepare your boat. Prepare now. Prepare in solitude. Starting today, intentionally plan blocks of time in your schedule to get alone with God. Schedule your time with Him just like you would a doctor’s appointment. You wouldn’t miss a doctor’s appointment once you’ve scheduled it. Why should you miss a scheduled appointment with the Lord? Urgently prepare for the challenges of life by preparing in solitude. You should also prepare in sorrow.
Prepare in sorrow. Jesus was tremendously burdened about the sin He would bear. He was burdened to the point that Luke said, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Doctors tell of an very rare condition that is brought on by the most extreme stress a person can endure. The stress that causes this condition is so severe that many times it will kill the person. But with this condition, the tiny blood vessels under the surface of the skin actually burst. They burst and blood seeps through the pores of the skin. Jesus told Peter, James and John that He was sorrowful unto death. Why? Because of sin. Not His sin, but your sin. And my sin. And the sin of the whole world. Do you grieve over sin? Are you truly sorrowful for sin? Does you sin convict you to the point that you can no longer live with it? Does it convict you to the point where you cry out with Isaiah, “Woe is me for I am undone?” Where you cry out with Paul, “Oh wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?” That’s the thing about the Christian life. The closer you walk with Jesus, the more you will hate your sin. And when you hate your sin, you will prepare in sorrow. Don’t wait until the conviction passes. Prepare in sorrow now. Starting today, when the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin—confess it. See that sin the way God sees it and hate it the way that He does. Grieve over it, confess it before Him and turn from it. Set up barriers in your life that will keep you from committing that sin again. Urgently prepare for the challenges of life by preparing in sorrow. Prepare in solitude, prepare in sorrow, and prepare in submission.
Prepare in submission. No matter how much Jesus, in His humanity, wanted to avoid the agony of the cross. No matter how much He wanted to avoid becoming sin. No matter how much He wanted to avoid separation from the Father. He purposed to endure it. Why? Because it was the Father’s will. And Jesus’ will was such that, even though He pleaded for the cup to pass from Him… Jesus’ will was such that, it was the same as the Father’s. In John 10:30, Jesus told the Jews, “I and the Father are One.” They knew what He was saying. So much that they wanted to stone Him for it. Jesus was telling them that He is God. But even though Jesus is God, He submitted His physical, human will to the will of the Father. Is that something that we can fully understand? No. But what we can understand is that we need to submit our will to the Lord’s. do you know what the Lord’s will is for your life? I do. Pray. Read His Word. Live a Christlike life. Be a witness everywhere you go. Be faithful to use your gifts to build up His church. That’s God’s will for your life. The rest is just details. Submit to the parts you know and He’ll let you know the details. But first you have to submit. Pray for God’s to freely work His will in your life. And then when He does, submit to it. Do what you know you’re supposed to do. Then He’ll let you know the details. Urgently prepare for the challenges of life by preparing in solitude, sorrow and submission.
But then there’s Peter, James and John. They had all of that perfectly modeled in front of them. They had Jesus modeling how to prepare in solitude. He perfectly modeled how to prepare in sorrow. He perfectly modeled how to prepare in submission. But what were they doing? They were preparing by sleeping. Jesus had told them about the trials to come. He had told them what was coming. He told them what to expect. And before He went a stone’s throw away to pray, He warned them again. He said, “now’s the time when you need to prepare.” Now’s the time when you need to watch. Now’s the time when you need to pray. But what did they do instead? They slept. You may have heard a song called “While You Were Sleeping.” Katelyn sang it at the New Years watchnight service. There’s a line in it that says, “America, what will we miss while we are sleeping? Will Jesus come again, and leave us slumbering where we lay?” How are you preparing for what lies ahead? Are you preparing? Are you preparing in solitude? Are you preparing in sorrow? Are you preparing in submission? Or are you sleeping? If you’re sleeping this morning, listen to Jesus. He’s calling. He’s telling you the same thing He told Peter, James and John. Listen—He’s telling you, “Rise, let us be going.” Will you rise and prepare for tomorrow by following Him today?
