Series: Jesus’ Blood for Me
“From Jesus’ Brow”
Luke 22:39-44
Pastor John Bright
Luke 22 “39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
So far, we have discovered five of the seven ways Jesus bled for you and me. Today is number six. Of course, I am leaving out the first time Jesus bled for us – His circumcision when He was eight days old. That blood fulfilled the law of Moses.
Today, we look at what is the first in a sequence of events that begin in the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy (Holy) Thursday and end at Calvary on Good Friday. In the reading, we hear, “His sweat became like great drops of blood.”
This scripture gives us a glimpse of the struggle of Jesus – His very human struggle to do the will of God. It’s here that we see the weakness of His fully human side.
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Fully God & Fully Human
This is a matter of Christian Orthodoxy. What is that? Orthodoxy is the truth we all agree on within Christianity. This truth is found in the creeds of the Church. The Nicene Creed, composed in 325 AD, calls Jesus “true God from true God” and says He “became truly human.” We believe Jesus is the only person who ever lived who was fully God and fully human. The real question is HOW? Lots of folks have tried to answer that one. Here’s one explanation: Hypostatic Union.
"Hypostatic union" sounds fancy in English, but it's actually a simple term. Hypostatic means personal. The hypostatic union is the personal union of Jesus's two natures: one fully human and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches is that these two natures are united in one person in the God-man. Jesus is not two persons. He is one person. The hypostatic union is the joining (mysterious though it be) of the divine and the human in the one person of Jesus.”
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-hypostatic-union
This is vitally important if the shed blood of Jesus was to be effective in taking away the sins of the world. The only way Jesus could be without sin is to be fully God. The only way Jesus could die for our sin is to be fully human.
We need to return to Isaiah 53:4-6 again:
“Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
If Jesus has “He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows,” then He understands what we are going through. Jesus understands our times of weakness.
Jesus understands our times of fear.
Jesus understands our times of worry.
Jesus understands our times of doubt.
Jesus understands our times of questioning God’s will.
He did more than just understand. Jesus bled from His brow for all these times.
Hematidrosis
The Gospel of Luke gives us an accurate description of a very real and yet uncommon medical condition: hematidrosis. It occurs during times of great mental and emotional stress. There are tiny blood vessels that surround all our sweat glands, especially on our brows. When a person is experiencing emotional trauma, the body reacts with a sudden rise in blood pressure. This can cause those tiny blood vessels, which we call capillaries, to burst. The blood then mixes with the sweat.
Like I said, it’s rare. This is most often seen or recorded during times of war as soldiers prepare to go into battle. This makes sense. In battle, they face the real possibility of death. For Jesus, it was not the possibility of death facing Him that night. It was a sure thing. It was a done deal. Jesus had to die for all our sins, transgressions, and iniquities.
He knew this had to happen– that’s the fully God part of Jesus.
He prayed, “take this cup away from Me;” – that’s the human desire of Jesus.
He also prayed, “not My will, but Yours, be done” – that’s the human submission to God’s will.
Going into a Battle
Jesus bled from His brow because He was going into a battle. That battle would have eternal consequences for you and me. In Isaiah 53:6 we read, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;.” Each of us is born with a particular type of iniquity passed down from Adam and Eve. We see it in all little children. It’s called “I WANT IT MY WAY!”
Today, most parents tend to give in. At my home church, a former pastor once told folks in a sermon that he saw too many children controlling their parents in the hall of the church. Four families left the church because the pastor exposed their sin. On a recent trip to Walmart, I watched a child scream and scream for more than five minutes. The father never gave in. Good for him! Amen? When God looks at us, do we look like that child? Who has turned to my own way in Isaiah 53:6? EVERYONE!
We Have a Choice to Make
One of the great truths of God’s Word is that Jesus was a willing sacrifice for going MY WAY. That means He had to have a choice. We are also faced with a choice: God’s way or My way. We don’t remind folks in church enough that there are only two paths: Matthew 7:13-14 “13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Let’s see, that would be a choice between death or life. Is that a hard choice?
Remember, all the bodies are going to die. Jesus had a body. What happened on the cross? He died. So will we. Amen – the end.
That would be a terrible place to end a sermon but it reminds me of a Sunday School story. The teacher asked the children, “If I sold my house and car and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?” The children all said, “NO!”
“If I cleaned the whole church daily and mowed the yard weekly, would that get me into heaven?” Again, the answer was, “NO!”
“If I were kind to animals, gave candy to kids, and loved my wife, would that get me into heaven?” Once again, they all gave the same answer, “NO!”
“So,” the teacher asked, “how can I get into heaven?” It was a five-year-old who quickly shouted, “You gotta be dead.” 😊
No Fear
In Psalm 23:4, we read: “4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” I often to talk to folks who are grieving the loss of a loved one to remember the “FIVE LITTLE WORDS” of Psalm 24 – For… thou… art… with… me. In the Garden of Gethsemane, every drop of blood from the brow of Jesus as He prayed less than 24 hours before the agony of Roman crucifixion, every drop was shed so that we never have to fear death, or fear being alone, or fear what the future will bring. FOR THOU ART WITH ME!
We deserve to die for our sins. I know I’m going to mess up this week. We all miss an opportunity or two tomorrow to love more and fear less. That’s alright. When we let go of all those fears, confident in the work of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, there’s a reward… a prize to be had. Back to Isaiah 53:5: “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him.” You see, we also deserve to be at peace. It’s a sad thing that we put “Rest in Peace” on grave stones when the peace of rest is ours now! I realize that peace today can be hard to come by.
Maybe you never realized that Jesus shed His blood for you… JUST FOR YOU! Have you ever seen someone explain the love of Christ by holding there arms out wide like this, like they are nailed to a cross? (Example – “Jesus loves you this much.”) Stop. Wrap your mind around that for just a minute. Every drop of blood, from His brow, from His head, from His side, from His back, from His hands and feet, every drop was for YOU!
Jesus would have been the willing sacrifice if you were the only one that needed it… if you were the only one. Amen.
Homework:
• Look up all the Bible verses on your teaching sheet. What is the source of your fears right now? Can those fears be covered by the blood of Jesus?
• Have you considered the battle between your way and God’s way? If you believed that God’s will and God’s way are the best for you, would it be easier to let go having it your way?
• Next week: Series: “Jesus’ Blood for Me” Titus 2:11-14 “From His Bruises”
I’m thankful to Dr. Dale M. Sides for his book, “Perfect Redemption: The Purpose of His Passion,” 2004. You can find the book through his website: https://lmci.org/
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TEACHING SHEET
Series: Jesus’ Blood for Me
“From His Brow”
Luke 22:39-44
Jesus – Fully God and Fully Man
“Hypostatic union” sounds fancy in English, but it’s actually a simple term. Hypostatic means personal. The hypostatic union is the personal union of Jesus’s two natures: one fully human and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches is that these two natures are united in one person in the God-man. Jesus is not two persons. He is one person. The hypostatic union is the joining (mysterious though it be) of the divine and the human in the one person of Jesus. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-hypostatic-union
We need to return to Isaiah 53:4-6
Hematidrosis
When a person is experiencing emotional trauma, the body reacts with a sudden rise in blood pressure. This can cause those tiny blood vessels, which we call capillaries, to burst. The blood then mixes with the sweat.
He knew this had to happen– that’s the fully God part of Jesus.
He prayed, “take this cup away from Me;” – that’s the human desire of Jesus.
He also prayed, “not My will, but Yours, be done” – that’s the human submission to God’s will.
Going into a Battle
Isaiah 53:6 Each of us is born with a particular type of iniquity passed down from Adam and Eve. We see it in all little children. It’s called “I WANT IT MY WAY!” When God looks at us, do we look like a child screaming to get what we want? Who has turned to my own way in Isaiah 53:6? EVERYONE!
We Have a Choice to Make
Jesus had to have a choice. We are also faced with a choice: God’s way or My way. We don’t remind folks in church enough that there are only two paths: Matthew 7:13-14 Let’s see, that would be a choice between death or life. Is that a hard choice?
Remember, all the bodies are going to die. Jesus had a body. What happened on the cross? He died. So will we. Amen – the end. That would be a terrible place to end a sermon…
No Fear
In Psalm 23:4, we read: “4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” I often to talk to folks who are grieving the loss of a loved one to remember the “FIVE LITTLE WORDS” of Psalm 24 – For… thou… art… with… me. In the Garden of Gethsemane, every drop of blood from the brow of Jesus as He prayed less than 24 hours before the agony of Roman crucifixion, every drop was shed so that we never have to fear death, or fear being alone, or fear what the future will bring. FOR THOU ART WITH ME!
Isaiah 53:5: “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him.”
Maybe you never realized that Jesus shed His blood for you… JUST FOR YOU! Every drop of blood, from His brow, from His head, from His side, from His back, from His hands and feet, every drop was for YOU!
Jesus would have been the willing sacrifice if you were the only one that needed it… if you were the only one. Amen.
Homework:
• Look up all the Bible verses on your teaching sheet. What is the source of your fears right now? Can those fears be covered by the blood of Jesus?
• Have you considered the battle between your way and God’s way? If you believed that God’s will and God’s way are the best for you, would it be easier to let go of having it your way?
• Next week: Series: “Jesus’ Blood for Me” Titus 2:11-14 “From His Bruises”
I’m thankful to Dr. Dale M. Sides for his book, “Perfect Redemption: The Purpose of His Passion,” 2004. You can find the book through his website: https://lmci.org/
