Agony is Not Defeat
Mark 14:27-42
Anticipation can be the worst part of any experience. Anticipation is often the most painful of experiences. Throughout the week as Friday loomed nearer and nearer, Jesus’ sense of anticipation must have grown exponentially. You’ve been there. You know how you felt the last time you had to go to the dentist to have a cavity filled, or a tooth pulled? You sat in the waiting room imagining how much it was going to hurt, you could almost feel the prick of the needle as they numbed your gums, and as you heard the sound of the drill coming from the dentist’s chair, it was as if it was your mouth. Your blood pressure went up, your palms got sweaty, your pulse increased and everything is magnified. Then the moment finally arrived….
And so it had come to this. For three years Jesus had taught, for three years he had healed and performed miracles and for three years he tried to make a difference in his world and to point people to his Father. And now it had come down to this. Jesus and the disciples had arrived in Jerusalem to a great procession with people laying their cloaks on the ground, waving palms and crying out to Jesus to save them. They spent the week in Jerusalem with the 100’s of 1000’s who had gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles with its all its excitement, pageantry, activity and noise. But then comes the quiet solitude of the Passover, an event which was meant to look back and remember when God delivered the Hebrews from slavery. But that night unbeknownst to the disciples, it foreshadows what was about to happen. Picture of the seder plate
- The removal of all leaven signifying the removal of sin from that house and now comes the one who is going to remove the sins of the world
- The Haggadah which is the re-telling of God’s physical deliverance of his people and now through Jesus they will be spiritually delivered from their sin
- The parsley which is the symbol of life dipped into salt water symbolizing the tears of the Hebrews in slavery and now Jesus the one who came to give life and the tears which will soon be shed at his death and crucifixion and the role God’s people’s had in it
- The horseradish which brings tears to the eyes reminding people that you cannot experience the sweetness of redemption without the bitterness of sin and slavery and how salvation and forgiveness of sins cannot come without crucifixion and death
- The shankbone of a lamb reminding us of the lamb sacrificed at the temple and now Jesus becomes the perfect paschal lamb
- The motza which is striped and pierced as Jesus own body would be
Picture: Cup of wine with matza As part of the seder, Jesus would take the first of 4 cups of wine. It was a symbol of the gift of freedom they received. The second, the cup of deliverance, was to remind the people of the 10 plagues used to free the Hebrews from Pharoah and his hardened heart. The disciples ate their meal and after Jesus takes some striped and pierced matza he said, This is my body given for you. Both Luke and Paul tell us that then Jesus took the third cup which is the cup of redemption, reminding the Jews of the blood shed by the lamb which was placed on the doorposts so the angel of death would pass over. It was over this cup that Jesus changed the Passover when he said, "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.” Suddenly, the Passover was no longer a remembrance of what God had done but a foretelling of what God was about to do for his children through His son, Jesus Christ. There must have been a quiet whispers, quizocal looks and then a hushed silence amongst the disciples as they pondered what this could have meant. Then Mark tells us that Jesus refuses the fourth cup of wine, which is the cup of celebration, leaving the seder meal unfinished, for this is not a time of celebration but one of darkness as Jesus begins his journey of redemption, the journey to the cross.
It was in the midst of this uniting experience of the seder that Jesus announced one of the disciples was about to betray him. Jesus knew deep within his heart that this was already the beginning of the end. From the very beginning he knew that the people would reject him and his message, would reject his call to draw near to God. But he also knew that he had to make the offer, he had to walk among the people and offer them the chance to embrace him, even knowing that most would reject him, but he had to make the offer. Three years of preaching, teaching and healing and still that nation of Israel rejected God’s son. But this night, it is one of his very own chosen disciples who is going to betray him. And so it had come to this.
So Jesus gets up from this unfinished seder meal and leaves the large Upper Room with the now remaining 11 disciples. He leaves the city through the nearby Essene Gate and descends the steep slope down into the Valley of Ben Hinnon, (Picture of the Valley of ben Hinnon) past what later would be called the Blood Field and came to the Kidron Brook. As they walked through the desolate ravine of the Kidron Valley, Jesus turns to the disciples and says, “This night, you will take offense at me and you will all fall away.” How painful and difficult that statement must have been for Jesus to say. Yet He knew that within hours every one of the disciples would desert and deny Him. Peter responds empahtically, I won’t. But Jesus tells Peter before sunrise, Peter will disown Jesus not once but three times. Still he protests, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." and the other disciples do as well. But Jesus knows differently. Within hours, three years of companionship, teaching, mentoring and friendship will disappear with each denial. The anticipation and waiting of such a painful and excruciating death was bad enough but now Jesus finds himself enveloped by the desolation of the surrounding Kidron Valley and the loneliness of having everyone close to him desert him. Even though he was in the midst of a crowd, this was a journey he would have to take alone.
They now climbed up the Kidron Valley, along the murmuring creek which carried water this time of year and past the eerie (picture) moonlit tomb of the priestly family of Bnei Hesir hewn out of the rock. On either side stand Absolum’s Pillar and Zechariah’s tomb which strike a an imposing view. One can imagine dogs barking as these passers-by and a set of eyes peering in the darkness to see the destination of this group traveling in the darkness. Judas had anticipated correctly. They would not travel to Bethany so late but instead toward the olive groves above on the rising hill. There at the foot of the Mount of Olives, not far from the Kidron brook was a cave with an olive press known as a gethsemanes, thus giving the place its name. The caves were ideal to prepare and store olive oil with its cool temperatures in the hot summers. Eight of the disciples stayed in the cave and Jesus took Peter and James and John with him to the olive grove (picture of olive grove) which adjoined the cave just to the south. He became very distressed and troubled in body and voice. In the moonlight, the three must have seen Jesus’ brow had broken out into a cold sweat. He was emotionally distraught and his words were filled with pain as he said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Don’t miss the depth of what Jesus is saying, “I’m suffocating here. I can hardly breathe. This thing that is hanging over me is so overwhelming that I feel I’m about to die”. Grief was enveloping Jesus.
Can a person die from intense grief and emotional pain? Of course they can. One spouse dies and then just days or weeks after the other dies. The Gospel of Luke, you remember Luke was a physician, describes it this way: Jesus had “sweat like drops of blood.” The medical condition is called hematidrosis in which under great emotional distress, tiny blood vessels rupture in the sweat glands producing a mixture of sweat and blood. What was the cause of His pain and deep sorrow? In all of his humanness were mixed many fears: the fear of the pain of torture which preceded the crucifixion. Jesus knew that before the day was done that he would die, and not just die but die a very painful death. Dying would be the easy part, it was the prolonged suffering which would be excruciating. The Romans had perfected such anguish to where they could bring a man to the point of death and then stop so he could be crucified. Julius Caesar once said “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” The pain of crucifixion was unbearable to any man as flesh was literally ripped from your body with each swing of the cat of nine tails.
Jesus must have also contended with the growing feeling of being more and more alone on this journey. Judas had already betrayed him. The other 11 would do the same in the next few hours. The dark hours of the night filled with an almost deadening silence must have only contributed to the pain of that loneliness. Jesus must also have struggled with the thought and perhaps even knowledge of that perhaps even after his crucifixion and death, there would still be some who resist the call of God on their lives and fail to believe. Would his crucifixion and death be for nothing if every one of God’s children didn’t believe and return to living for God? Because Jesus didn’t die just for those who believed, he died so that all of God’s children might know, understand and experience God’s love and then believe.
But as real and overwhelming as all these emotions were, felt fully through the humanity of Jesus, Jesus was deeply grieved to the point of death because of His having to become sin. The thought and anxiety of the pure Holiness of God coming into contact with and actually becoming sin brought more anguish to His soul than we can imagine. Think of it this way: Imagine the most vile, most disgusting, most foul smelling fluids of human waste infected with disease and decayed flesh. Now picture yourself being submerged in it, drinking it, breathing it, tasting it, smelling it and it wouldn’t even come close to what it was like for the Holy Son of God who was sinless anticipating being submerged in the filth and death of sin resulting in separation from God. At the moment He would become sin, He would for the first and only time in all eternity physically, emotionally and spiritually feel the utter forsakeness of and separation from God as He took on the sins of the world. In such a condition, he would experience the excruciating agony on the cross. Why did He suffer so? He suffered because of God’s love for us
It is in this state that Jesus leads Peter, James and John into the Garden of Gethsemane, one last moment of community and support with those in whom he had invested his whole being. One last moment of camaraderie and communion through both physical presence but also the power of prayer and thus shared pain and burden. Jesus asks them to stay awake and pray for him.
Jesus goes further into the olive grove to pray, a man who was emotionally and physically overwrought with grief and pain. Picture of Jesus praying Mark tells us that the weight of sorrow upon Christ was so great he physically collapsed in prayer. He would not be able to go through with this unless he connected with the Father. And so he begins to pray, but I think a better description would be he literally begins to cry out to God. Jesus calls out to God ‘Abba’ which means daddy or pappy. Whereas Jews would use ‘Abinu’ (our Father) when addressing God, at this moment Jesus calls out to God as a child calling to his father lost, afraid, alone and with the lack of strength to accomplish what lies before him. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus prays for the cup, that is the fact that he must die on the cross, to be removed, that some other way be possible for him to save and deliver God’s children. Not once but three times Jesus prays for this, allowing us to see the agony and anguish he was experiencing regarding his impending crucifixion. The Gospel of John 17 give us greater insight into Jesus’ prayers that night. Jesus prays not only prays for himself. He also prays for his disciples for their spiritual protection and safety that they might not fall away or be victimized by the work of Satan. He prays that they might be sanctified or made holy by the truth for the work of God. Jesus also utters those same prayers for us that we may become one with God and one with each other united by our faith and the one Spirit. He prays that the love God has for us will always be with us but also be in us. So there we get a little better look at what Jesus is praying about.
As Jesus cries out to his Father if there is any other way then let this cup pass from me, he concludes each prayer for himself with these words, “Yet not my will, but thine be done.” At the heart of prayer is his sole desire to do the will of the God and if that will is to go to the cross, then he is God’s humble servant and sacrifice. Jesus concludes with humble submission and obedience. Jesus moves from being overwrought with sorrow and grief to faith-filled obedience and submission. He has received from God the strength of faith needed for the rest of the journey. And that prayerful and prayer-filled obedience of Jesus made the cross possible.
Jesus and the disciples sleeping. Three times throughout prayers, Jesus breaks and returns to the disciples. Jesus arrives to find the disciples asleep. He wakes them and says, Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Jesus goes back to pray and the very disciples he took with him to support him and pray for him during the most challenging time of his ministry have fallen asleep once again. Jesus woke them again but the disciples did not know what to say to Jesus. He left a third time for prayer only to return to find the disciples sleeping again.
The story of the Passover dinner and the Garden of Gethsemane is not just a story to be remembered about Jesus and those he called to be his disciples. It is our story. As Jesus was going through the agony of his impending crucifixion and its subsequent events, there was a persistent theme of those around him betraying him, disobeying him and pulling away from him. While we can be quick to say that’s the other guy’s or other woman’s story, if we are honest when we look in the mirror, it is our story too. Like Judas, we have placed false expectations on God and gotten angry when those expectations were not fulfilled. Like Judas, we have tried to force what we thought was God’s way on Jesus and those who serve him, all in the name of God, only to discover in the end that it was not God’s will at all but our own. Like Judas, we have at times resisted the new work that God seeks to do for the salvation of his children who are separated by sin from God, all because we’ve never done it that way before. Yes, we are guilty of betraying Jesus in our word and actions.
Like Peter, James and John in the Garden, we have received instructions from God in what to do and allowed life to get in the way. The disciples were exhausted that night which got in the way of them being in ministry to Jesus by being present for Jesus and by being in prayer for him during his darkest hour rather than asleep. How often do we allow the circumstances of our lives to prevent us from being in ministry when God needs us most? How often do we say, Lord’ I’ll serve you but in our actions and words we place all types of pre-requisites on the offer, like when its convenient, or if it doesn’t ask too much of me or if it doesn’t place me in a dangerous ministry situation like, i.e. New Orleans. How often have we been talking to someone and they share a need or a difficulty they’re facing and we earnestly tell them I’ll be in prayer for you never to lift them in prayer again, when we had the chance to pray for them right there in that moment?
And we hear these things and say, “Surely, not I, Lord.” Remember Peter’s words, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” He would then go on to say, Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all of the disciples said the same. Jesus’ response was, “The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” Oh, we may not have overtly denied Jesus like Peter did three times just hours after his protests and promises to Jesus. But we have him when we have failed to speak up when an injustice occurs in our presence. We have denied Jesus when we have seen someone in need and crossed to the other side of the road because we couldn’t get close to someone so dirty or we have an appointment we couldn’t be late for. We have denied Jesus in words, actions and thoughts. This story of Peter and the disciples is our story for we have all betrayed Jesus, failed to do the will of God when asked and denied Jesus. Lent is not only a time a time to remember the passion story but it is a serious time of reflection to see ourselves in the story and how we have contributed it. So let us take some time of quiet prayer, reflection and confession in how we have betrayed and denied Jesus or fail to do what he has asked in our lives.
Russell Brownworth Our daughter Carrie and her husband Shannon have a dog; rather he is a small horse. He is called Coltrane. Cole does not realize he weighs 150 pounds. He also does not realize he has "drooling issues". (Now that may be caused by the fact that my wife brings hot dogs to the house whenever we visit...the dogs are for the dogs...Cole starts drooling when we turn on their street. The sound of our car’s engine is like music to his ears!) Whenever we visit Cole comes charging; he has only two gears, wide-open and stopped (on top of your chest, after you’ve been slammed to the ground). The hound is not going to miss hot dog call! Cole eats before saying "hello". (Got his priorities straight, that dog does!) Once the Ball Park dogs are inside the dog (is that an "inside-the-park-dog"?), then comes a gregarious welcome. The welcome always includes generous portions of "slime". A 150-pound Rottweiler who has just consumed 18 hot dogs can produce impressive amounts of saliva!
Needless to say, I have learned to wear my yard clothes when we visit. This is for two reasons --1. I can’t afford to buy clothes as often as we are at Cole’s place. 2. I love the dog...even the way he says "hello". When that hound comes to me, everything living (or that which wants to stay living) has to get out of the way. He is going to get his ears scratched and his tummy rubbed. In fact, if you rub his belly long enough, he just slides down to one side, flops-over and falls asleep while you "say hello". "Keep rubbing...a little to the left...harder, that’s it....ahhhhh."
This is so much like God’s acceptance of me. He wants me close to Him, even with all the goofy things I do, and the mess which I bring. He loves me and calls me friend, even with my sin and betrayal. He loves me and calls me friend, even though it meant taking on all my slime, my sin. He is still called, the Friend of Sinners!
