¡§GETHSEMANE: PRAYING UNDER PRESSURE¡¨
Mark 14:32-42
Her name was Laurie. I only met her one time and that was for less than an hour. It was in the ICU at a university hospital. It was the last day of Laurie¡¦s life on earth, only neither of us knew that at the time. During the brief time I spent with her she asked one question and uttered one prayer. The question was for God, ¡§Why have I had to suffer so much?¡¨ At 36 years old, after a life of much hurt and intense suffering she now was laboring for every breath hoping for a lung transplant that would never come. I told her of Jesus Christ and of the place called heaven where there is no suffering. I asked if she would want to go there. She said, ¡§Yes¡¨ so I told her how to get there and she prayed one prayer the prayer of salvation expressing her faith and trust in Christ alone. She found peace and strength in the worst of times through a question, a prayer and the presence of God. And before another day could pass she died and went to be with the Lord.
When I read the opening words to our passage: (Mark 14:32 NASB) ¡§¡K And they came to a place named Gethsemane¡K¡¨ I thought of Laurie and her suffering, her prayer and the strength God gave to her. Although she probably had never heard of a place called Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus prayed on the eve of His death, she probably understood more than me what that experience was like for Jesus. Gethsemane )Mt. Of Olives = ¡§Oil Press¡¨ where the olive would be crushed to produce the oil¡K
¡§¡K And they came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed. 33 And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34 And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." 35 And He went a little beyond them (Lk - a stone¡¦s throw = 30-50 yards), and fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by¡K¡¨
But the hour didn¡¦t pass Him by¡K and neither will the hour of testing pass us by as we live out our lives here on earth. Sooner or later each of us will find ourselves in a Gethsemane like experience¡K (crushed and broken) We too will have a question, a prayer and the presence of God¡K God will meet us there and help us if we will let Him¡K
PROP: Lets look at this experience in the life of Christ together
and learn how to handle the Gethsemane like experiences of our lives.
TRANS: There Are Three Parts To His Experience That Can Help US With Ours
1. The Experience of His Pain ---¡V He Hurt Very Deeply
2. The Experience of His Prayer ¡V He Prayed Very Intensely
3. The Experience of His Power ¡V He was Strengthened Supernaturally
Setting: The occasion was the evening before His crucifixion. Jesus and His disciples had finished the Passover meal, Judas had left to betray Him and Jesus now took the 11 disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane so He could pray as He awaited His arrest and crucifixion. He has left 8 disciples at the entrance and taken 3 with him. He then instructs them and leaves them so He can pray alone¡K
There Are Three Parts To His Gethsemane Experience That Can Help US With Ours
1ST THE EXPERIENCE OF HIS PAIN ---¡V HE HURT VERY DEEPLY
Listen to words about Him and from Him:
33 ¡§And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.¡¨
„h ¡§Very distressed¡¨ --- to become visibly unsettled or bothered (sorrow shows)
„h ¡§troubled¡¨ --- emotionally distraught and in pain
This is what they saw¡K
Listen to His own words about His pain¡K
34 And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch."
„h ¡§deeply grieved¡¨ ¡V related to the word from which we get the word periphery and means ¡¥surrounded by sorrow¡¦ i.e. so distressed one might become nauseated
„h ¡§to the point of death¡¨- Can a person die from intense grief and emotional pain? Of course they can. Lk 22:44 (luke a physician) sweat like drops of blood. (1) intense WP (2) Medical condition: hematidrosis ¡V in which under great emotional distress, tiny blood vessels rupture in the sweat glands producing a mixture of sweat and blood.
What was the cause of His pain and deep sorrow?
What it was not:
„« Not Fear of dying nor the Not fear of remaining in the grave or failing: Read verses 14: 27-28
„« Not the betrayal of Judas although that hurt him deeply¡K
„« Not knowing that the other 11 would run away¡K
„« Not the injustices and humiliation and beatings He would endure¡K
„« Not even the loneliness of Gethsemane¡K the pain of loneliness is an awful pain.
(Most painful disease is not cancer or aids, but the feeling of being uncared for, un-wanted, of being deserted and alone¡K)
„« Pain itself creates a loneliness¡K no one else can bear it for you¡K But that was not it for Jesus.
What it was: He was deeply grieved to the point of death because of His having to become sin.
The thought and anticipation of the pure Holiness of God coming into contact with and actually becoming sin brought more anguish to His soul than we can imagine.
ILL: If you were to imagine the most vile, most disgusting, most foul smelling fluids in a vat in front of you all infected with madcow disease, aids and other awful diseases & decayed flesh; And if you were Picture yourself being submerged in it, drinking it, breathing it, tasting it, smelling it¡K It wouldn¡¦t even come close to imagining what it was like for the Holy Son of God to anticipate being submerged in the filth and death of sin.
At the moment He would become sin He would for the first and only time in all eternity feel the utter forsakeness of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit as they turned away and let the cup of God¡¦s wrath be poured out upon Jesus¡K as He became the sacrifice for our sins¡K
Only thing more painful than anticipating becoming sin and being forsaken was actually experiencing the agony on the cross itself¡K Why did He suffer so? He suffered for us.
Purpose of our pain? Our growth and God¡¦s Glory¡K
In anticipation of that awful day¡K the hour of His agony and death and separation from the Godhead..He turned to His Heavenly Father in prayer¡K..
2ND: THE EXPERIENCE OF HIS PRAYER ¡V HE PRAYED VERY INTENSELY
(Heb 5:7 NASB) ¡§¡K He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death¡K¡¨
¡§ 35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by¡K¡¨ 36 And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." 37 And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."39 And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 3X¡K.
Before you come down on them too hard: Luke..fell asleep ¡§¡Kbecause of sorrow¡K¡¨ They couldn¡¦t handle the sorrow that overwhelmed them or what they saw in Jesus¡K worn out..
BUT HOW DID JESUS PRAY?
(1) As a child to a loving Father ¡K
¡§Abba! Father¡K!¡¨ In our language¡K ¡§¡KPapa! ¡KDaddy!¡¨
Aramaic word that conveyed tenderness, love, goodness and closeness¡K one He could trust
When you or I are in a Gethsemane like experience¡K
¡Khospital room, ¡K court room, loneliness of pain, isolation.., injustice, grief¡K or betrayal¡K
Need to pray as a child to a loving Father¡K. (Papa¡K Daddy¡K)
Speaks of and assumes a closeness in a loving trusting relationship¡K
(2) As a child to a powerful Father ¡§All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me¡¨
The cup for Jesus = becoming sin and separation from the Trinity¡K the cup of wrath & death
„« Was it possible for the Father to remove the cup? YES!
„« Was it possible for Jesus to refuse the cup? YES! (John 10¡K)
All things are possible with God, BUT¡K it was not possible for the Father to remove the cup or for Jesus to refuse the cup and accomplish redemption. It was not possible to remove or refuse the cup and provide atonement for our sins¡KIt was not possible to remove it or refuse it and still keep you and me out of Hell¡Keternal damnation!
His Cup: becoming sin..forsaken by God¡K Broken relationship with Father ¡K
There was no other way¡Kand so Jesus prayed: Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
ASK: What Is Your Cup? {A divinely ordained trial to mold you into the image of Christ}
Romans 8:28,29
ASK: Can God remove your cup? ¡K Yes!
ASK: Can you refuse your cup? Yes, at least in the way we respond to it¡K
All things are possible with God¡K
He can remove your cup, but He cannot remove your cup and still accomplish His purpose in your life. He can not remove your cup and use you to bring others to Jesus Christ as they see Christ in you.Can you refuse your cup? Yes.. at least in attitude and actions..our response to the cup. We can refuse the cup, but not if we are to glorify God¡K grow in the faith and be used of God in our time on earth...
Our growth & His glory¡K
(3) As an obedient son to an all-wise Father
¡§¡K yet not what I will (desire), but what You will (have decreed)¡K¡¨
He struggled in the garden. He agonized in the garden¡K He was tempted in the garden¡K
Yet He yielded to the Father¡¦s will¡K.
Heb 10:9 Before the incarnation¡K Christmas: ¡§ "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD."
APPLY:
Are you here to do the Father¡¦s will, at whatever the cost?
Romans 12:1-2: (Rom 12:1 NASB) I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. We are here to prove, demonstrate what the will of God is and that it is good, acceptable and perfect! No matter what¡K.
¡§Present¡¨ = full surrender¡K point action verb/inf. A definite one time act (Consecration)
¡§Present¡¨ ¡V point action verb meaning ¡V a point of unconditional surrender to God
(No holding back: living sacrifice (might hurt to let go of some stuff), Holy (I am set apart for God¡¦s use), acceptable (I want to be well-pleasing to God), worship (showing God how much He is worth to you¡K More important¡K full surrender in a relationship I.E. Wedding¡K
Goal: prove the will of God¡K and how good it really is.. (Not my will but yours..)
TRANS: There Are Three Parts To His Experience That Can Help US With Ours
„« The Experience of His Pain ---¡V He Hurt Very Deeply
„« The Experience of His Prayer ¡V He Prayed Very Intensely
„« The Experience of His Power ¡V He was Strengthened Supernaturally
3RD: HE WAS SUPERNATURALLY STRENGTHENED
Mark 14:41,42 ¡§And He came the third time, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 "Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"
What strength! What courage! What resolve!
But a moment ago he was collapsed in emotional distress¡K and prayer.
From where did this strength come?
Luke 22:43 adds this to the scene: ¡§Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.¡¨
The Father did not take away the cup, but sent what was needed for Jesus to drink of it.
God may not take away your cup¡K but He will provide everything you need to drink of it.
Why an angel? (Angels are supernatural, but created beings)¡K
„« Perhaps it was because His closest friends slept when He needed them most¡K.
„« Perhaps it was because there was nothing more His disciples were willing to do for him.
„« Perhaps it was because human hands and human hearts had failed Him¡K
So the Father sent an angel (supernatural being)¡K
I do not know how the angel strengthened God the Son¡K. Nor do you.
I do not know what your Gethsemane might be or when, but I know that for your Gethsemane
there is a provision of God just for you¡K. It will be the presence of God ¡K
Jesus promised: I will never leave you nor forsake you¡K
(Isa 41:10 NKJV) Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isa 43:1,2 "¡KFear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Sometimes God may send an angel¡K
¡§For every Gethsemane there is an angel¡Kto come along side of one of God¡¦s children and strengthen us!!!!!
But Angel (angelos) = messenger ¡K. Sometimes you or I may be called upon and privileged to strengthen another person who is in their own Gethsemane¡K
That is our calling and our privilege as the children of God¡K
Remember Laurie¡K ¡§This is what angels do!!!!¡¨ Messengers of God ¡K Hundred¡¦s of opportunities to strengthen others¡K to be Christ to them¡K
LISTEN!!! What goes for me goes for you¡KChristian (little Christ)
Today you can¡K encourage¡Kpray ¡K care¡K bring hope to ¡K strengthen ¡K because you can be Christ to them¡K
Why has God allowed you to experience Gethsemane¡¦s in your life?
So you could experience the presence and comfort of God in order that you could then bring that same comfort and presence of God to another¡K our Growth and God¡¦s Glory¡K
Your Gethsemane has another name¡K. Woodstock, CL, NJ, MI¡K. divorce, death, failure, loneliness.. illness or loss¡K But God wants us to see it as Gethsemane and remember that it was at Gethsemane where your pain & questions were transformed into growth and glory through supernatural strength through prayer and the presence of God.
