Following Jesus (14)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Scripture: Mark 14:32-42
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 4/2/2017
With just two weeks left until Easter, we are nearing the end of our sixteen-week journey of following Jesus through the Gospel of Mark.
Last Sunday, in Mark 12, Jesus replied to a scribe who asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” And, as many of you already know, Jesus answered that the greatest command is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus reminds us once again that life is all about love—a love that’s both upward and outward. What an incredible conversation and a meaningful message for both then and now.
Sadly, following this inspiring exchange, the Gospel of Mark takes a noticeably darker turn. All of Mark 13 is dedicated to Christ’s prophesy concerning the catastrophic fall of Jerusalem. A casual remark about the magnificence of the Temple by one of the disciples led Jesus to make a startling prophetic statement about its fate. His prophecy fills the entire chapter and not only accurately predicts the final days of Jerusalem, but also hints at the final days of earth before the Second Coming.
Afterward, Jesus and is followers return to the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany, where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with an expensive perfume. But even this beautiful act of worship carries an ominous meaning as Jesus says that Mary “has anointed my body for my burial.”
The next day, Jesus shares The Last Supper with his disciples in a picturesque upper room in Jerusalem. Jesus identifies Judas as a traitor and predicts Peter’s denial. He also creates a new covenant between God his people represented by the body and blood of Christ embodied in the bread and wine of communion.
Following that final supper, Jesus leads his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a secluded olive Garden, known as Gethsemane. Hidden in the shadows of the knotted and knobby olive trees, the Garden provides Jesus with a quiet place to spend his final hours. It’s now midnight. The night sky sparkles with a thousand stars. Insects sing in the background as a cool breeze whispers through the trees. The word Gethsemane literally means the olive press, but the meaning of the word and the nature of the garden are not nearly as important as what took place there.
In the garden, Jesus wrestled with crippling sorrow. He knew precisely what was coming. Betrayal. Humiliation. Torture. Agony. Abandonment. Within hours he would be brutally beaten and nailed to an old rugged cross. How could he face such a future and not flinch? How could anyone prepare for such a fate?
Let’s see how Mark describes it.
They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.
When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!” (Mark 14:32-42 NLT)
As they enter Gethsemane, Jesus tells his followers, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death” (Mark 14:34 NLT). Maybe you can relate. Do you know what soul-crushing grief feels like? Do you know what its like to be deeply troubled and distressed? And how do you handle it? Where do we turn when there is nowhere to turn? Where do we put our feet when the rug has been pulled out from under us?
As always, I think the answer is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. As Jesus wrestled with His destiny that night, there were certain things that He sought, certain lessons for us to learn. First, Jesus sought solitude.
• SOLITUDE
As he prepared to meet his faith-shaking fate, Jesus sought out a place of solitude, where he could deal with his dilemma uninterrupted. As we’ve already seen, Jesus was always in the public eye. Remember, there were times when he and his disciples barely had time to eat, because the crowds pursued him so relentlessly. When he was on his way to heal the daughter of Jarius (the synagogue leader), “a huge crowd followed Jesus and pressed him on every side” (Mark 5:24 GWT). When Jesus and his followers retreated across the sea by boat to escape the crowds, the Bible says, “many people saw them and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place were Jesus was going, and they got there before him” (Mark 6:33).
Rather than complain, he felt compassion for them. Jesus always took time to help the helpless, to heal the unhealthy, to love the unloved. But tonight, as he prepared to climb the hill of Calvary, he made no time for the sick or the sinners. The “Great Physician” would be taking no appointments.
Jesus walked away from the spotlight to focus on the crushing grief within his own soul. He got out of eyesight of the multitudes, out of earshot of the disciples, and got in touch with His Father. He went into the Garden to collect His thoughts, wrestle with God’s purpose for His life, and gather the strength He would need to face tomorrow.
The message that Christ left for us is—take some time away. Away from doctor’s offices, business meetings, and daily chores. Away from family gathering, and extracurricular activities. Find a quiet place to sort things out in your own mind. Spend some time in solitude.
Anne Frank expressed a profound truth in her diary. On February 23, 1944 she wrote, “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.” That’s just what Jesus did.
However, even though Jesus sought solitude, he did not seek complete isolation. The second thing Jesus sought this long dark night was support!
• SUPPORT
Mark says that Jesus took Peter, James, and John into the Garden with him. Of the twelve apostles who had committed their lives to following Jesus, these three were his closest friends. And even though Jesus sought solitude as he faced his greatest challenge, he also sought the company and support of his friends. Jesus’ friends were important to him and, although he prayed alone, he kept coming back to see them. Even when Jesus needed to get away from it all, he never wanted to be too far from his friends.
Solomon, who was given special wisdom from God, once said, “Don’t forget your friend or your parent’s friend. Don’t always go to your family for help when trouble comes. A neighbor close by is better than a family far away.” (Proverbs 27:10 NCV).
This is why I’m so thankful for my church family. God never meant for us to live Lone Ranger lives. He meant for us to lean on each others, to rely on each other, and support one another through troubled times.
It is interesting that twelve of the sixteen times the word “friend” is used in the New Testament, Jesus either said it, or it was used in His presence. In other words, Jesus understood the value of friendship.
Unfortunately, Jesus’ friends didn’t offer too much support. They couldn’t even stay awake! Mark says, “they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say” (Mark 14:40 NLT). Let’s not be too hard on them, though. Luke tells us that Jesus found them “asleep, exhausted from grief” (Luke 22:45 TLB). His friends didn’t want to desert him. They weren’t trying to ignore his needs. But the emotional strain was getting to them and they didn’t know how to help.
The truth is—your friends probably won’t know what to say either. Unless they’ve been in your shoes they won’t be able to offer many words of wisdom or comfort. But they’ll still be there for you. Jesus’ friends felt his grief. They shared his sorrow. Perhaps you’ve heard the old Swedish proverb: “A joy shared is twice a joy, a sorrow shared is half a sorrow.” God gave us friends and family so we can share our sorrow.
Although Jesus’ earthly friends couldn’t offer much support, Luke tells us that an angel from heaven appeared to him to strengthen him (Luke 22:43). Who was it, I wonder? Was it Michael who gave Jesus a shoulder to cry on as he wept in the Garden? Or, was it Gabriel who spoke tender words of encouragement, gently lifting the spirit of Christ? Whoever it was, they gave Jesus the support and strength that he needed to face tomorrow. In his darkest hour, even Jesus did not fight his final battle alone. He depended on the love and support of his friends—both earthly and heavenly. Finally, the in addition to solitude and support, Jesus sought supplication.
• SUPPLICATION
Prayer. Mark says, “He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.” (Mark 14:35 NLT). Jesus knew that his greatest battle could not be won on his feet; it could only be won on his knees. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he stressed certain qualities that make prayer powerful: passion, persistence and submission. Here in the Garden, Jesus exemplifies each of these qualities.
Walking a stone’s throw away from Peter, James, and John, Jesus prayed so earnestly; so passionately. His posture here reveals his total dependence upon God. First, he kneels down to pray. Then, he falls on his face as if being crushed by the weight of the sins of the world. In fact, Luke (a medical doctor) tells us Jesus prayed so intensely that his capillaries burst into his sweat glands, and he literally sweated blood! Had you visited Gethsemane at daybreak, you could have found a damp piece of earth tinged red with Jesus’ blood. Never before or since, has anyone prayed so passionately.
His words were few, but persistent. Three times he prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me” (Mark 14:36 NLT). He wore no façade. No masks. He honestly confessed that he did not want this. If there was any other way to accomplish the salvation of humanity, Jesus was open to suggestions. He knew the plan. He understood what he was supposed to do, but he also acknowledged that "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). God the Father could have changed the plan, but he didn’t. Jesus could have chosen not to die, but he didn’t. There would be no alternatives. This was the way it had to be.
But in the end, Jesus surrendered to his Father’s will and submissively prayed, “Not my will, but Your will be done” (Mark 14:36). Jesus surrendered his will to God the Father’s. He did just as he instructed his disciples when he taught them to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed by thy name. They kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The good news is—no matter what struggles we face, each one of us can do the same. Every child of God can lift up their tear-stained face to heaven and say, “Father,” and the God of the universe turns His head and bends His ear to listen. You can pour your heart out. You can pray passionately and persistently, but ultimately we want to pray submissively.
When the road you’re on is irreversible and you’re not sure what lies ahead, it takes faith and trust in God’s plans to be able to pray, “Not my will, but your will be done.” But what a joy to know that God is listening. As the hymnist Joseph M. Scriver put it:
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
He knows, and He cares.
Conclusion
So where is the relevance of Gethsemane for you and me? Simple.
As we face life’s challenges, as we struggle with our own soul-crushing grief, and our faith is tested, we can follow Jesus to the Garden.
We can spend some time in Gethsemane by seeking solitude.
We can receive strength from our friends and family by seeking support.
We can embrace God’s love and plan for us through supplication.
No matter what struggles you’re facing, no matter how difficult the road, we can follow Jesus’ example and find the strength to face tomorrow.
Invitation
Next week, we’ll continue following Jesus through the Gospel of Mark. In the meantime, if you need to come to the Garden today, if you need the support of your church family or prayers to overcome whatever you’re facing, then please talk with me—you can talk to me after church, call me at home, or come forward now as we stand and sing. Let’s sing together.
