"24 Hours that Changed the World: The Garden of Gethsemane"
Mark 14:32-52
In my parents' house there is a map of the history of the world, and it's a BIG map.
It wasn't created by a specifically "Christian" publishing house; I believe it was put out by National Geographic, and fairly recently.
Anyhow, on this map, the history of the world, or the history of civilization is divided up into two categories...
...and the dividing line or the hinge of this map is the birth, life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is the hinge of History!!!
A few years after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, there were several thousand Christians living under Nero in the Roman Empire.
And it is reported that Christians were regularly "crucified or set on fire so that when darkness came they burned like torches in the night."
Three hundred years later, there were 34 million Christians or 56.5% of the total population.
And here we are 2,000 years after the events in the New Testament and Christianity is now the world's largest faith.
And we declare with boldness: "Hallelujah!!! Jesus lives!!!"
For those of us who follow Jesus: we base our entire lives on this fact.
It's the reason we do not fear death.
It's the reason our lives have been changed so radically and continue to change as we deny ourselves each day and continue to take up our cross and follow Christ.
It's the reason that billions of people around the world are able to face this terribly difficult life with courage, hope, faithfulness, and even thanksgiving!!!
It's one of the main reasons that we have so many hospitals, schools of higher education and of course, a church on just about every corner.
Certainly Jesus Christ...
...His life, teachings, death and Resurrection is the hinge upon which the doorway of history swings.
It is also the hinge upon which the doorway of so many lives swing.
What hinge does the doorway of your life swing?
What gives your life hope and meaning?
Sometime after eleven 'o'clock on a Thursday night, Jesus and His disciples finished their Passover Seder by singing a hymn.
After the meal Jesus predicted that all His disciples would scatter when He was to be arrested.
And Peter protested saying, "Even if everyone else stumbles, I won't.'
But Jesus said to him, 'I assure you that on this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.'"
He knew Judas had already sold Him out for 30 pieces of silver and would soon betray Him with a kiss.
And He knew that even Peter, whatever he promised, would deny even knowing Him.
The experience of being betrayed, deserted, and denied by one's closest friends is one of the most difficult things to endure.
If you were to go to your computer and search for "betrayal" you would find nearly 14 million sites where you can "bone up" on betrayal.
There are stories of betrayal, poems and songs about betrayal, articles on how to survive betrayal, and studies on the psychological and emotional costs of betrayal.
There are even websites that claim to help you be a more effective betrayer and get away with it!!!
And the internet isn't the only place where stories of betrayal reside.
They reside in us as well.
Almost everyone has stories of betrayal to tell.
In this room, there are most likely, stories about being betrayed by spouses, parents, and children.
There are stories about being betrayed by employers, pension funds, or financial advisors.
And there are stories about being betrayed by lifelong friends.
The stories are unending and the pain is often too deep for words.
There are also those who have done the betraying.
And the guilt runs deep, just like being betrayed leaves scars.
Perhaps one of the most painful things about betrayal is that we nearly always have to bear it alone.
Jesus bore the sins of the world on the Cross.
He suffered for sins He didn't commit in order to bring us to a place where we can have a relationship with God.
And no matter how difficult it is to be betrayed, on this Thursday night, approximately 2,000 years ago, Jesus' suffering was just beginning.
It's interesting that Jesus led His disciples to a garden--The Garden of Gethsemane.
It was also "in a garden" where Jesus was buried, and where Jesus rose again.
This causes us to think back to some things that took place in another garden, at the very beginning of the Bible.
It was in the Garden of Eden that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and our relationship with God was severed.
But Jesus, unlike Adam, comes to a Garden to restore what was lost.
The Apostle Paul went so far as to speak of Jesus as the "last Adam."
And Paul says in Romans Chapter 5, "the free gift of Christ isn't like Adam's failure.
If many people died through what one person did wrong, God's grace is multiplied even more for many people with the gift--of the one person Jesus Christ."
It's interesting how our passage from Mark ends.
"And all his disciples left him and ran away.
One young man, a disciple, was wearing nothing but a linen cloth.
They grabbed him, but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked."
Many scholars believe that this "naked young man" is none other than Mark himself.
But at any rate, it reminds us of Adam and Eve who hid from God in the garden because of their nakedness.
Certainly, in Christ, God has come to restore that which was lost.
Are you lost this morning?
Have you come to Jesus for forgiveness and new life?
We are told that, after Jesus and His disciples arrived in the Garden, Jesus said to them, "Sit here while I pray.'
He took Peter and James and John along with him.
He began to feel despair and was anxious.
He said to them, 'I'm very sad. It's as if I'm dying.
Stay here and keep alert.'
Then he went a short distance farther and fell to the ground."
For centuries, scholars have debated the "Why" of Jesus' anguish.
One reason may be that Jesus was, once more, wrestling with Satan.
All throughout Jesus' ministry the Tempter was trying to lead Jesus away from the Cross.
We should take note of what Jesus said to Peter when He came back and found him sleeping: "Stay alert and pray so that you won't give in to temptation. The spirit is eager, but the flesh is weak."
Perhaps Jesus could hear Satan whispering, "You will be throwing your life away."
"Would God really want His Son to die?"
"Are You sure there is not some other way?"
"You are only 33 years old! You've got so much more You could do with Your life!"
How easy it would have been for Jesus to justify a decision to bypass the Cross.
But God's love and God's will compelled Him.
And so Jesus withstood the temptation to go another way and instead prayed: "not what I want but what you want."
Arthur Blessitt, the man who obeyed God's call on his life to carry a wooden cross to 315 nations, island groups and territories around the world--stopping to speak with people about Jesus all along the way said: "I would rather die within the will of God than live outside of it."
All of us know what it is like to sense that God wants us to do something we don't really want to do.
It may be as simple as getting up on Sunday morning to come to Sunday school and worship or feeling compelled to serve the homeless, speak to others about Christ, or invite neighbors and friends to church.
And each of us, when we have moments of anxiety and hesitation in answering God's call, must ultimately pray: "not what I want but what you want."
This prayer captures the essence of complete trust.
When we pray this prayer we are saying to God--"I will do whatever You ask--because I trust You in all things and know Your will is good and right."
And this is the only way we can obtain peace and freedom.
To live within the will of God is what it means to be a disciple or follower of Christ.
Back to the garden.
We are told that "Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs."
Judas is such a tragic figure; and each of us have been a "Judas" both to Jesus and to others.
Judas appears to have been conflicted and in agony on that night as well.
And that is how all of us feel when we "betray God"--when we make the decision to follow our will over God's will--agony follows.
The sign Judas chose to betray Jesus with was a "kiss."
The Greek word for "kiss" that is used here is a word used to describe true affection for another.
Could it be that Judas loved Jesus, but he was--nonetheless--willing to betray Him?
Could it be that Judas loved Jesus, but he resented Him?
Could it be that Judas loved Jesus, but he sold his friend for 30 pieces of silver?
Some have suggested that Jesus forgave Judas in the end and that Judas stands in heaven as the ultimate sign of the grace of God.
Others disagree.
What do you think?
If Judas had asked for mercy from Jesus would Jesus have given it?
When they were arresting Jesus, Mark tells us that "one of the bystanders drew a sword and cut off" the ear of one of the high priest's slaves.
The Gospel of John tells us that this "bystander" was Peter.
Some think that Mark made the person anonymous in order to protect Peter, because Mark's Gospel was written early enough to have caused Peter trouble.
In any case, we are told by Luke that Jesus healed the man's ear.
On the night of His arrest and on the eve of His torture and Crucifixion Jesus took time to heal a man who came to arrest Him.
That is the kind of God we have.
The scene in the Garden of Gethsemane is filled with dread, despair and agony.
All of Jesus' friends desert Him, abandon Him, betray Him.
A group of men come with clubs to take Him to the most awful of all deaths.
And yet, the strange thing is that within all this chaos Jesus is the One Who finally stands as the non-anxious Presence.
For Jesus, the struggle in the garden was over.
And He had the peace of a person Who knows that He is doing God's will--no matter where that will may lead...
...no matter what happens.
For when we are living within the will of God--there is nothing too great, nothing too difficult, nothing we cannot overcome with the help of the One Who has blazed the Trail.
Jesus Christ was born.
He lived.
He taught us how to live.
He was betrayed, but He never betrayed.
As the only Innocent Man, He died the death we deserve and thus, He has opened for us the doors to Paradise.
And we are called to follow Him.
And in following Him we are given a peace which transcends all understanding.
It's a peace that changes everything.
It's the only peace that can change us and the world.
Praise God.
Amen.
