Gethsemane
Text: Mark 14:32 – 42
Alright, let’s open our Bibles up to the Gospel of Mark. This morning we’re looking at one of the most troubling portions (at least to me), of the Passion Week… And the reason I say that, is because this story of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane really messes with me. Because I read this, and I see the anguish our Lord is going through, and I realize it’s because of me.
This is an amazing story that showcases Jesus’ humanity, but also His steadfast love for us, and His love and obedience to the Father.
So… if you’re in Mark, follow along as I read to you Mark 14:32 – 42 (READ).
Now we know from both Luke and John that during this final week of Jesus’ life, Jesus and the disciples had been coming into the city of Jerusalem and then going back out to the little town of Bethany nearby… and it had sort of become the pattern for Jesus, on His way out of town, back to Bethany to stop in the Garden of Gethsemane and pray. And no doubt Judas realized that, and by the time we get to our text here, he’s already gone out, and was making the final arrangements with the Sanhedrin on where, when, and how they were to take Jesus.
Now as far as Jesus and the disciples go… they had just come out of the upper room… They’ve had the Last Supper and Jesus has just washed their feet. It was a time of comradery and fellowship, and then they head out, and Jesus tells all the disciples except for Peter, James, and John to stop at a certain place while He goes ahead and prays… they go a little further into the garden and Jesus looks to Peter, James, and John and tells them to wait, and He goes on about 30 more yards or so, and Mark tells us He falls to the ground. Mark also tells us that Jesus was “Greatly distressed and troubled,” and Jesus has told Peter, James, and John that His soul was VERY SORROWFUL. So something major has happened from the time they’ve left the upper room to now, and Jesus is greatly distressed and troubled, and sorrowful. And He drops to the ground and prays.
Now we need to understand this… Jesus really was praying. And what is prayer really all about? I mean… why do we go to God in prayer? We want something right? Or we need something? Or we need help, right? So that’s dealing with our motivation to pray… but underneath that, we’re also saying, “God I want this, and I can’t get it unless You do something.” “God I need this, but it’s not going to happen unless You give it.” “God I need Your help.” “God I need Your strength, I need Your deliverance, I need Your guidance.” So prayer, if we’re praying correctly; is a confession of our complete dependence on God. When we pray, we’re saying we need His help, we need His strength, we need His enabling, sovereign, power to do something in our lives.
BUT THIS IS JESUS! This is the 2nd Person of the Trinity. This is the One who by Him and through Him were all things made. This is the Lord. He’s the One who walks on water. He’s the one who feeds 5000 with just a few loaves and fish. He heals the sick, He casts out demons. He raised Lazarus from the dead. But understand something – and this is a doctrinal and theological truth. Jesus is not only 100% God… He’s also 100% man. He was born of a woman. He eats food for sustenance and nourishment. He sleeps when He’s tired. He has the entire range of emotions that all human beings have. And what we’re seeing here is His humanity on display. And here He’s coming to God the Father, just like He’s done every day of His life, and He’s praying. Asking the Father to strengthen Him, and help Him, and fill Him with the Holy Spirit. And He needs this… because of what’s going to take place over the next 24 hours.
In the next 24 hours He’s going to be railroaded in a kangaroo court, falsely accused. He’s going to be kept awake and mocked. He’s going to be beaten to a bloody pulp and mocked, and spit on. He’s going to be whipped until His back looks like ground hamburger. He’s going to be hit in the face with a rod… a stick. He’s going to have a crown of thorns shoved down onto His head. He’s going to be forced the carry a heavy cross down a road where crowds are again going to mock him. He’s going to be nailed to that cross and lifted up for everyone to see.
But that’s not even the worst of it. All of that stuff is physical… we haven’t even gotten to the spiritual side of it yet.
What the disciples didn’t realize is that there was a battle taking place. A spiritual battle. You had better believe that the devil was involved in this. He had already entered the heart of Judas and was putting things into motion. And you can be sure once he was done using Judas, he sped back to the garden to tempt Jesus. Ever since Jesus was born the devil had been doing everything he could to get Him to not go through with God’s plan. He tried to have Herod kill Him when He was about two years old. When Jesus began His public ministry Satan tried to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world, if He would just worship him. Last week we saw how Satan tried to use Peter to sidetrack Jesus… and I’m sure he was in the garden with Jesus, saying; “You don’t have to go through with Jesus. Just let man die… are they really worth it?”
And the distress is real. Mark says Jesus was “greatly distressed.” Let me read it for you in the Greek. “Kai archo ekthambeo kai ademoneo.” If we were to translate that word for word, it would read “Jesus was filled with horror and dread concerning what was about to take place.”
You see; as bad as the beatings, and the mocking, and being nailed to a cross is… it’s nothing compared to the spiritual reality that was about to take place.
In the Bible, there are several occasions when people encounter God, and they are filled with trembling and fear. Think about Moses on Mt. Sinai, or John in the book of Revelation. It says that they saw God’s glory and they trembled with fear. But here’s the deal… Moses and John both saw God in covenant. They saw the grace and glory, and majesty of God, and it filled them with holy and reverential fear. But what Jesus is about to experience is His Father’s hand lifted up in judgment and wrath.
You see; that’s what takes place on the cross. While Jesus’ physical body is hanging on the cross, God the Father is going to pour out His wrath and judgment on His Son. All of that wrath and judgment that we have stored up because of our sin… past, present, and future. And has He hangs on that cross our sins are going to be laid on Him, and it’s going to cause separation between the Father and the Son… and it’s going to cause Jesus to say, “MY God, MY God, why have You forsaken Me?” And the wrath of God, and the anger of God, and the justice of God is going to be exacted on the Son.
Jesus knows this is coming. And He’s filled with horror and dread at the thought of this… at the thought of being separated from His Father, and at the thought of enduring the wrath of God Almighty.
And this is why Jesus prays what He prays, “If it’s possible, let this cup pass from me.”
Man has sinned. Man has rebelled against the Sovereign Creator of the universe. The people who were mocking Jesus, and beating Jesus, and spitting on Jesus, is a picture of all of us. And God is perfectly just. He cannot deny Himself. If God does not exact justice, He ceases to be God… that’s why those who deny the doctrine of hell are fools. To put it kindly… But here’s the deal; God is not only perfectly just and righteous and holy; He’s also loving, and merciful, and gracious, and He longs to show His love, and mercy and grace. And so since God cannot deny Himself, and cannot simply forego justice, someone has to pay for man’s sins… but since He is loving and merciful He Himself undergoes that justice and pays the price, in the Person of His Son – Jesus Christ.
That’s why I said at the beginning of this sermon, that this passage of Scripture messes with me. To know that the sinless Son of God, is brought to the point of this kind of anguish because of my sin.
But thank God… the passage doesn’t end there. Let’s look at it one more time. (READ).
So Jesus is greatly distressed and troubled about what’s going to happen. His disciples… these guys who have said, “We’re with you to the end Jesus…” They can’t even stay awake and pray for an hour. You know… they just had the Last Supper and the melatonin has kicked in, and it’s peaceful in the quiet garden. And so Jesus is going through this all alone. And He asks if it’s possible, let this cup of God’s wrath pass from Him.
But then look at what He says, “Yet not what I will, but what You will.”
If you had to sum up Jesus life with one word, what word would you use? Some of us might use the word love… We know that greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends… and we know that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So we might use the word love. But I think another word that would be just as true, and just as accurate is the word “obedient”. Jesus’ life is one of perfect obedience to His Father. He says “I have come to do the will of Him who sent me.” And really, those two words go hand in hand. Jesus loves… not only us, but His Father, and He loves His Father so much, He will obey His will.
Obedience and love are two sides of the same coin. That’s why Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.”
So Jesus has anguished over this, and He’s prayed about it – 3 TIMES, and He’s come to the point where He’s totally turned it over to the Father, and He’s resolved to go forward. This isn’t just lip service when He says, “Not my will but Thy will be done.” He’s totally resolved to go forward with His mission. And He has totally aligned His will with His heavenly Father’s will, and so it’s not like Jesus was in any way unwilling to go to the cross. He is laying down His life willingly.
It’s mind blowing when you think about it. That Jesus is willingly going to the cross, to suffer for people who don’t love Him or care for Him and who are enemies of God in order to reconcile them back to God. How is this even possible? Well Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus – “who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of God.” So He saw the horror of God’s wrath being poured out on Him. He saw the separation between Himself and God because our sins would be laid on Him… but He saw past that. He saw the joy that was set before Him. He saw Himself seated at the right hand of God. He saw all who would be saved by receiving God’s grace made possible through His act of obedience. He saw His Father glorified in the saving of sinners by the sacrifice of Himself.
Church this should amaze each and every one of us. It should fill our hearts with praise. We should stand in awe in His presence and sing out “Amazing love! How can it be, that you my King should die for me?”
What a wonderful Savior, and what a wonderful Lord!
The question is – is He your Savior and Lord?
Let’s Pray
