The Path Of Pain Part 2 Series

Alliance Church

Pastor David Welch

“The Path of Pain Pt 2” John 18-19

Review

I. The Public teaching and ministry of Jesus 1-12

II. The Private teaching and ministry of Jesus 13-17

III. The Personal salvation ministry of Jesus 18-21

Last week we began tracking the various elements of this salvation ministry. We followed Him as He entered a disturbing path of pain and suffering. We already encountered some difficult scenes and have yet to witness unfathomable atrocities.

We wonder, “Why?” We realize he did it for ME! We consider, “If only a death was necessary, why all the suffering and torture?” Why such a horrible prolonged death? We must come to grips with the apparent fact - he did it for ME! These events didn’t just happen by chance. The majority of the events along this path of pain were meticulously mapped from eternity. Many of them were predicted decades, even centuries before they occurred. The gospel writers appropriately pause to point some of them out. There are no less than 29 specific prophesies related to just this last day. There are over 300 Messianic prophecies finding their fulfillment in Jesus. The odds that all of these prophecies would converge at one time regarding one man’s experience are astronomical. The odds of just eight coming to pass in ONE person are 1017.

It is a good plan.

The LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:10-11

The eternal Son who willingly embraced frail humanity in order to restore many sons to glory enters the final hours of the focal point of all prophecy.

A. Treachery and Trial 18:1-42

1. Garden Gloom

Our walk with Jesus down the path of pain began in a special familiar garden getaway where we gained a concise but gritty glimpse of the human side of Jesus. We tried to get in touch with the trauma Jesus experienced in this first stop on his path of pain leading to the rescue of man from the grip of sin. This was the whole reason for His earthly trek in a human suit.

a) A passionate Plea to the Father (Matthew, Mark, Luke)

The Holy Spirit inspired the gospel writers to describe His experience in striking terms.

“grieved”(physical or emotional pain or sorrow)

“distressed” (intense pain, excessive concern)

“deeply grieved” (profound physical or emotional pain or sorrow) to the point of death”.

“very distressed” (greatly or utterly astonished)

“agony” (conflict, tension, internal conflict)

All these terms describe the emotional state of Jesus as the harsh reality of the plan to reconcile man to God, established before time, began to unfold in time and space and fully flood His human brain. The emotional impact on the Son of Man should not ever be overlooked. The anticipation of bearing every person’s sin and the resulting separation from the Father weighed heavy on Jesus’ heart and mind. The cup Jesus appealed to the Father to circumvent represented the full wrath of God against the sin and rebellion of the creature. Jesus made a simple request really. Three times Jesus appealed to the Father.

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”

Three times Jesus obediently acquiesced to the Father’s will, to the eternal plan.

“yet not as I will, but as You will."

Jesus would willingly receive the cup of wrath against sin from the Father’s hand even in the midst of excruciating physical and emotional agony.

b) A bitter betrayal by Judas 3-11

Following this emotional ordeal, Jesus prepared to meet betrayal and abuse head on.

Judas arrived with a mob of 1000 officials and soldiers to arrest Jesus.

John records a graphic demonstration of the power of Jesus as he describes a divine blast blowing them to the ground. As a necessary part of the plan, Jesus submitted, for the first time, to the whim of evil men. The Creator confined and bound by the creature. God constrained by man. Omnipotence constricted by incompetence and ignorance. A scene the angels could hardly bear to watch.

There is much to learn watching the man of sorrows walking the path of pain for us.

• Jesus experienced the deepest sense of pain with much more to come.

• Jesus appealed to the Father in his darkest hour.

• Jesus committed Himself to the will of the Father in spite of a personal ache to avoid such pain.