We are two Sundays away from celebrating Easter, the most important day in the history of mankind, past, present and future. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation on which we base everything that we believe concerning God. Without the resurrection we have nothing to stand on as Christians.
1 Corinthians 15:13-18 (NKJV)
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile (pointless); you are still in your sins!
The resurrection is God’s greatest victory against the enemy. But before there was a resurrection there was a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. And this morning I want us to visit there for a few minutes because without Gethsemane there would have been no resurrection morning.
Mark 14:32-36 (NKJV)
32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."
33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
34 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch."
35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.
36 And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."
The Garden of Gethsemane was situated on the Mt. of Olives opposite the Temple. Normally it was a place of meditation and prayer, a sanctuary for Jesus. He would go here to escape the business of ministry and spend time in His Father’s presence. But on this day it became a place of agony and distress. For three and a half years Jesus ministered to the people. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He performed miracles that had never been heard of by feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes and by walking on the stormy waters of Galilee. He served the people from sun up to sun down because He loved them.
He gave out of Himself to the point of exhaustion because He loved people. He loved the ones that no one else would love. He helped those that no one else would help. At the beginning of His ministry He stood up in the synagogue of Nazareth and said…
Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
And that’s how He lived every day of His life, by standing up and ministering to those who were in need. There was never a moment of hesitation on His part. When a need was presented He met the need. He was there for the people. He had surrounded Himself with twelve men, His disciples. They had been with Him since the beginning of His ministry. He trained them to minister and helped them to understand who God is, who He was and what the Kingdom of God was all about. They were His closest friends. But now one of them had betrayed Him. This was it. The moment was here.
The very reason that He had left the beauties of Heaven and entered the darkness of earth was upon Him. He was the Gift of God, salvation, given to humanity and that Gift was about to be opened. But this was no easy task because in order for Him to bring salvation to the world He had to first do what He had never done before… He had to take on himself every single sin that had ever been committed and that would ever be committed. That was His reason for coming here. The sacrificial system that Israel had in place was just a substitute that God had given them until the Final Sacrifice could be given, and that Final Sacrifice was none other that Jesus the Christ.
Hebrews 10:4-7 (NKJV)
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ’Behold, I have come-- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God.’ "
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
And because He became sin for us it also meant that He would have to walk this path alone because the sins that He would carry would bring a separation between Him and His Father, a separation that had never been before. God would have to look away from His Son and leave Him to the hands of His enemy.
The scripture says that Jesus…
began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
34 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death…
As He began to contemplate what was about to take place the garden of Gethsemane became a battle ground. Light and darkness began to clash. The victor of this battle would claim the souls of untold millions of people. Your soul and my soul were at stake. Our eternal destiny would be decided in this battle. If Jesus doesn’t go to the cross then the world lives on in darkness. If Jesus doesn’t go through with the will of the Father, the last three and half years of His ministry are in vain. If Jesus refuses to obey God then death remains unconquered and our sins are forever upon us.
35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.
I can see as He prays this prayer a smile coming across satan’s face. For he knows if Jesus fails this task he wins not only the battle but he wins the war. Ever since Jesus was born into this world satan tried to stop Him but was defeated at every attempt. But now it seems as though he might succeed, if he can just whisper great despair into Jesus’ ear, if he could just plant seeds of doubt, if he could cause Jesus to focus on the horror of the battle before Him and not the outcome, if he could somehow detour Christ’ attention from the results of obedience he would finally have his victory against God. As he mocks Jesus, Jesus begins to see the cup of sacrifice that He must drink…
And one more time Jesus begins to pray…
36 And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me;… "
Again, the enemy laughs at Jesus as he watches like a lion stalking its prey. Who knows what Jesus was seeing in the cup that he didn’t want to drink. It may have been the rejection of His closest friends. It may have been the betrayal of Judas. He may have looked into that cup and saw His own mock trial, scourging and crucifixion or even the loneliness that he would experience because of being the sacrificial Lamb. He may have even seen the sting the death. Whatever it was that He saw caused Him to cry out to God the Father to take it away and it brought a moment of confidence to His arch enemy. The devil thought he had won. he thought finally… “i have God where i want Him, humanity is mine for the taking.” I can see him as he begins to circle Jesus like a scavenger circling its meal. And just as he begins to revel in victory, I see Jesus as He stands on His feet, squares His shoulders up, looks the devil strait in the eyes and finishes the prayer…
Father…, nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.
You could have dropped an atomic bomb on the enemy and it wouldn’t have even come close to the devastation that was carried out by these words. Why… because they revealed the heart of Jesus. He was saying… “My will is submissive to the will of My Father. If He has chosen this path for Me, then this path I will walk. If it is His will that I have to face the rejection of friends, then I will face it. If it is His will that I must face betrayal then I will face it. If it is His will that I give my back to those who will strike Me and I give my cheek to those who will pluck out My beard and I give My face to those who will spit on me, then so be it… let God’s will be done. For I know when My Father’s will is accomplished that on the other side of this trial there is a victory. On the other side of the cross there’s a resurrection. It might be the Father’s will that you bruise My heel now, but three days from now when I walk out of that borrowed tomb, I’m going to bruise your head, because that’s also the Father’s will. Go ahead and beat My back, place a crown of thorns on My head, drive nails into My hands and feet and pierce My side, have you forgotten what the prophet Isaiah said… It’s the Father’s will… But know this devil…
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
5 I’m wounded for their transgressions, I’m bruised for their iniquities; The chastisement for their peace is upon Me, And by My stripes they are healed.
That’s the Father’s will also.”
These powerful Words that Christ spoke are just as powerful for you and me today. When you are able to bring your petition before God and cry out to Him concerning your heavy burden and then close your prayer out with… never the less, not my will but Yours’ be done, and then walk in the will of God, you have reached a level of maturity that few believers walk in. But it is that level that will not only bring victory every single time to you but it will also allow God to do a great work in you and through you. If He can get us to the place where our will is submissive to His will then the world around us will experience the presence of God from our lives.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
