Introduction:
In each of these messages we've been looking at a different aspect of the humanity of Jesus as revealed in the Gospel of Luke. So far we've learned that Jesus understands shame because he came from shameful circumstances...and that no matter how often you've failed, how untrue you've been, or how insignificant you feel, Jesus is the shame-lifter.
We've also learned that just as Jesus was tested, you'll also be tested. You'll be tested because you need to know if you're able to discern what matters most. You need to know if you're able to stick to God's purpose for your life in spite of anything. And you need to know if you've got what it takes to soldier through the rough spots instead of looking for an easier way.
Then we learned that just as Jesus' identity as the Messiah of God caused him to be rejected by the power-systems of his day, we should expect the same rejection. We learned that our love for Jesus and belief in his way must be above every national loyalty, each religious affiliation, and all knowledge that we acquire. If we're going to follow Jesus, we've got to take up our cross daily.
This message wraps up the series, and we finish up with a look at a story that's known as "Jesus In the Garden", and it's found in Luke 22:39-48. In this message we'll briefly examine how Jesus dealt with suffering, and what that has to teach us about dealing with suffering in our own lives.
Segue
This reading in Luke's gospel is the history of Jesus last moments as a free man. It's a transitional story in that sense, that opens with Jesus going out to pray in his customary place and ends with Jesus' betrayal and arrest. We know what comes next. The rest of chapter 22 and all of 23 present Jesus three trials, his condemnation, crucifixion, and burial.
While his trials and crucifixion aren't necessarily the focus of our message, I did notice something that surprised me. And it's that Luke's description of the Calvary event is remarkably straightforward and simple, without any of the gory detail provided by Matthew and Mark. Perhaps that's because the Imperial Court (if that's the intended audience) needed no reminder of the horrors of crucifixion; they were too familiar with it to need a refresher course in Roman executions.
There's the agony of Jesus' prayer, his betrayal and arrest, his trials and condemnation, Simon of Cyrene forced to carry the cross, Jesus crucified, the mocking of the priests and criminals, the darkness, the Temple's veil being torn, then Jesus crying out in victory surrendering his spirit in death. Luke's story moves quickly through all of these events. In all of them Luke presents Jesus as retaining his composure and control, almost as Stoic, as being the kind of man a Roman could respect. In Roman eyes, a guilty man would beg for mercy, plead, and die horribly. Only an innocent man would have the strength of character to comport himself as Jesus did during such terrible suffering.
The detail of Jesus being crucified with two criminals is significant. Three men were crucified, and all three would have endured almost identical tortures leading to crucifixion. All three would have been virtually unrecognizable by the time of their executions. One dying man is recorded as angry and mocking. Another is recorded as pleading for comfort in the next life. But one man dies on his own terms, at the moment of his own choosing. To a Roman, this meant something. You see, to a Roman, what you suffered in this life wasn't nearly as important as how you endured it. It wasn't what Jesus endured at Calvary that marked him as different in their eyes; it was how he endured it that caused the centurion to say, "Certainly this man was innocent."
There's a lesson in this for us. There's no question that at some point in this life you will suffer. The question is; "When that suffering comes will you endure it as Christ's?"
Anticipation
It's interesting that the greatest detail Luke provides about Jesus' suffering is actually in the period just before his arrest. Our text today presents Jesus as praying on the Mount of Olives. The other gospels provide the detail that he was in the Garden of Gethsemane there. "Gethsemane" means "olive press"...and was named that because at some point in its history, the Garden contained a large stone press where olives were crushed and oil produced. (It was the Mount of "olives" after all...) It doesn't seem accidental to me that Luke would choose this place to provide the greatest detail about Jesus suffering, for it was in this place that Jesus was crushed. Luke is telling us that what happened here was actually more horrible for Jesus than all that would come after.
We notice first of all that Jesus told his disciples to pray for deliverance, that they wouldn't be tested. A curious command...but then again, Jesus knows what's coming. Then, Jesus goes a bit further...one translation says 50 steps...and begins to pray himself. "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."
Jesus doesn't want what's coming. He's troubled by it, disturbed by it...but both words "troubled" and "disturbed" can't describe what Jesus must have been feeling. His emotional and spiritual state is in such agony that something incredibly extraordinary happens; an angel comes to strengthen him. Then he prays even more intensely as his agony and anguish continue. The stress he bears is so great that the blood vessels around his sweat glands begin to rupture, and he begins to bleed through his pores. It's called "hematidrosis", and it's caused by acute fear and extreme anxiety.
Then Jesus rises from prayer and returns to his disciples to find them asleep. He exhorts them once again to pray for deliverance, but as he's speaking the words the mob arrives to arrest him...and Judas to betray him.
Agony
Try to grasp why this experience is worse than anything else for Jesus, why this time is his time of greatest suffering and crushing. Jesus knows what's coming. He's fully aware of his purpose, of this time as the culmination of his entire life. He's reached the final climactic moment of his 33 years, and he's filled with the knowledge of what that means. Why is this time so agonizing for Jesus?
Because he knows he is at this moment, more than at any other in his life, completely and utterly alone. No friend, no loved one, and no disciple, can walk this path with him or carry a portion of his load. The only possible help is from above. And while an angel comes to provide strength, Jesus' prayer to be delivered from his horrible duty is answered by silence. So, he is alone.
Next, he knows he will be betrayed. As mentioned in the first message in this series, betrayal was one of the most shameful things that could be committed...or experienced. So in this hour Jesus is experiencing the intense shame of betrayal, as well as the brokenness, the sense of emptiness and loss that comes from knowing his betrayer is one of his closest friends.
Finally, he knows that he will suffer undeservedly. Nothing he will experience from this point on will happen because he is guilty. All who will be involved in his trials, condemnation, and execution will recognize his innocence. No crime has been committed to warrant such an extreme punishment. But it's not just that he's undeserving legally, he's undeserving morally. There is no sin in him. None. Of any kind. Yet bearing sin is exactly what he'll do. None of his own, but all sin of every other man, woman, and child living, who has lived, and who will live; all will be borne by him.
So he is utterly alone, he is betrayed by a dear friend, and he suffers undeservedly. Can there be an agony greater than this? But...his entire purpose was to bear this pain. Calvary was the focal point of his entire existence.
Pain & Purpose
I think it's extremely difficult for us in North America to consider that our life's purpose may include pain. To us, pain and suffering must always be the temporary rough spot on the road to comfort and reward. And that's if we recognize any justice or purpose in pain at all. When we suffer we are more likely to rage against life as unfair. To us, pain is an aberration that signals that something is wrong. So, we must seek the wrong, right it, and end the pain. To us, pain is a symptom that must be treated.
But what if it's not? What if it's not something to be fixed? What if suffering is part of a path to be walked, a bona fide part of the journey that God has set our feet to travel? What if there is supposed to be a larger purpose in it somewhere? What if pain is supposed to be the teacher of lessons we could not, would not learn any other way? Could pain and suffering not be the coach of character that brings change to us like no other? After all, if life has purpose, and if pain comes in the course of life, then you must consider that pain may have purpose, too.
Then another challenge emerges. Once we recognize the possibility of purpose in suffering, we will usually begin to tie ourselves into spiritual and emotional knots trying to discover that purpose. To our way of thinking, the awareness of that purpose may serve to mitigate the pain. We feel that if we know the why then we are better equipped to deal with the how. So, while we may be at peace with the idea of pain and with the fact of our suffering, we now find our minds in turmoil as we try to ferret out the reason of it all. The patience needed to simply allow a lesson to unfold eludes us. We must analyze and over-think everything instead of simply living the process.
While preparing for this message I coincidentally received an email which contained an article called "Seven Reasons for Suffering". Since I was preparing a message that talked about suffering, I was intrigued and read the article. Know what? It was good! Very good. But even as I recognized the value of the article, I realized that it proved this very point. We must know why. Knowledge of the purpose must be discovered. We simply can't accept suffering at face value.
But none of us are Jesus. We're not privy to the information pipeline of eternity. The Eternal Logos of God doesn't rattle around in our brains. The difficult truth is that we often only understand the purpose of pain and suffering in retrospect. We may discover the why of pain only when the trial has passed and the suffering endured.
Closing
Pain may have purpose, and you may never really know it until it's over.
The purpose of the olive press was to crush the olive to release oil...but the olive didn't know it. To the olive it was only pain. The olive couldn't see or understand the larger benefit of its being crushed. To the olive, it was only agony. That there would be oil to heal wounds, to light darkness, and to feed the hungry couldn't be grasped by the olive in the press. To the olive, it was simply suffering.
Pain may have purpose that you may never understand while you're in the press of life. Some things you simply have to endure. And it's not the fact that you suffer that marks you as different...everybody suffers. It's how you endure, how you suffer that sets you apart.
I close this message today with these words from Peter; "Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while continuing to do what is good."
When in the press, trust God with your life. He's faithful. Even if you're utterly alone, He's faithful. Even if you're betrayed by those closest to you, He's faithful. And even if you suffer undeservedly, He's faithful. Keep doing what brings glory and honor to Him. Trust Him to bring His purpose to pass, even when you cannot see or understand what that purpose may be.
