Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / Agony & Glory in The Garden | Mark 14:32-42 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Transcript

Agony & Glory in The Garden | Mark 14:32-42 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

• 0:01
  I hope you recovered from conference last week.
• 0:04
  And as I said Friday, what was more exciting than any funds
• 0:07
  that we were raised raising for the building fund is that we saw
• 0:10
  people give their lives to Jesus Christ.
• 0:12
  We saw people confessing Christ for the first time.
• 0:15
  And that is the greatest thing that can ever happen in any
• 0:18
  church meeting. So we give God, God glory for
• 0:21
  that, and we trust that those who know Christ and knew Christ
• 0:24
  then were built up in their faith.
• 0:27
  And we're going to build our faith even more as we come to
• 0:29
  the Bible together. Do you have a copy of God's Word
• 0:31
  in your hand? I hope you do.
• 0:34
  Meet me in Mark chapter 14, please.
• 0:37
  Mark chapter 14 beginning in verse 32.
• 0:48
  And we're going to read down to verse 42.
• 0:56
  And they went to a place called Gethsemane.
• 1:00
  And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray.
• 1:05
  And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be
• 1:08
  greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is
• 1:14
  very sorrowful, even to death, Remain here and watch.
• 1:22
  And going a little farther he fell on the ground and prayed
• 1:25
  that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
• 1:31
  And he said, ABBA, father, all things are possible for you.
• 1:38
  Remove this cup from me yet not what I will, but what you will.
• 1:46
  And he came and found them sleeping.
• 1:48
  And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?
• 1:53
  Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not
• 1:57
  enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
• 2:02
  but the flesh is weak. And again he went away and
• 2:06
  prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them
• 2:10
  sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not
• 2:15
  know what to answer him. And he came the third time, and
• 2:20
  said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
• 2:25
  It is enough. The hour has come.
• 2:29
  The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
• 2:32
  Rise, let us be going. See my betrayer as is at hand.
• 2:41
  Lord, this is a text that we need your help with.
• 2:50
  It requires your wisdom. It requires your guidance.
• 2:54
  It requires your power for the full force of the agony and the
• 2:59
  glory that Jesus displayed in this garden to make an impact in
• 3:07
  our hearts. So we ask in great humility that
• 3:11
  we would see something that we've not seen, that these shoes
• 3:16
  would reignite a love, a passion, a worship for what
• 3:20
  You've done for us. We trust that you will be here
• 3:24
  as we come to Your Word. In Jesus name we pray.
• 3:28
  Amen. According to the Law, during the
• 3:34
  Passover, faithful Israelites were to remain in their homes
• 3:40
  until morning during the feast. And this practice commemorates
• 3:47
  the original Passover, when the Israelites were protected by the
• 3:53
  smeared blood of a lamb on their doorpost while the Angel of
• 3:58
  death passed over and claimed his victims.
• 4:04
  But on this particular Passover, this very unique evening, we
• 4:09
  don't find the Lord Jesus in the upper room.
• 4:13
  We don't find them in any room. As you and I read, we see him
• 4:18
  transitioning and making his way to this place called Gethsemane.
• 4:23
  And according to John's Gospel in chapter 18, verse one,
• 4:27
  Gethsemane was a garden. And it's important to confirm
• 4:33
  that the departure Christ and the disciples made here was not
• 4:36
  defiance. When Jesus made this move, he
• 4:40
  was symbolically confronting death, not hiding from it, but
• 4:46
  embracing it so that he would conquer it, overcome it, and
• 4:52
  then through that make way for a new exodus.
• 4:57
  Because as much as Jesus was the perfectly obedient servant,
• 5:01
  perfectly obedient Israelite, he was also sent to fulfill his
• 5:07
  duty as the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the
• 5:10
  world. But I read this and I think to
• 5:15
  myself, why did the Lord Jesus move from the upper room to this
• 5:20
  place? And it's very plain.
• 5:23
  There's no mystery here. We're told right in the
• 5:26
  beginning of where we read that he went to this place to pray.
• 5:32
  In fact, prayer is the theme that dominates this section of
• 5:37
  Scripture. We find the Lord Jesus, aware
• 5:41
  that His hour has come, feeling the great need and urgency to
• 5:48
  commune with the Father, to be alone with the Father.
• 5:54
  However, we know that he was not completely isolated because in
• 5:57
  verse 33 He called for three out of the 11 disciples to join him
• 6:02
  at a nearer distance. Why?
• 6:07
  Why did Jesus call for Peter, James and John to be near to Him
• 6:13
  if there are different reasons? And one of the reasons I believe
• 6:18
  according to Jesus own words was for the sake of companionship,
• 6:24
  for the sake of a level of support.
• 6:27
  You may not get that impression from Mark's account, but listen
• 6:29
  to how Matthew adds 2 important words when he invites these
• 6:34
  three, his inner circle, to join him this very important night.
• 6:40
  You don't have to turn there, but listen to Matthew 26 verse
• 6:42
  38. Then he said to them, My soul is
• 6:46
  very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.
• 6:57
  Watch with me. There's a level of fellowship
• 7:04
  that the Lord desired in His greatest hour, a great hour of
• 7:08
  trouble. But it's more than that.
• 7:12
  Christ and His invitation for these three leaders was also
• 7:15
  intended for their instruction. The same group that learned from
• 7:22
  Jesus as they were called up to that mount.
• 7:24
  Remember that mount called the Mount of Transfiguration?
• 7:26
  When Jesus unveiled His Majesty and His splendor, there was
• 7:31
  instruction there. There was something that they
• 7:32
  were to apply to their own hearts.
• 7:34
  It is no different as they are now LED into this garden.
• 7:38
  They are to learn a few things, learn a few things about Jesus
• 7:43
  and learn a few things about themselves.
• 7:45
  And that is why you and I also have been invited to witness a
• 7:50
  very solemn scene, the Lord Jesus Christ enduring this great
• 7:56
  agony before his arrest, more than just for you to be moved by
• 8:02
  it, but also to grow and mature from it.
• 8:09
  And since prayer is what permeates this passage, that
• 8:13
  will be the main focus of our instruction as we consider 3
• 8:18
  vital truths that the Master models for us.
• 8:24
  And this will be our source of meditation before we come and
• 8:26
  partake of the bread and the cup.
• 8:29
  The first thing that we should take away.
• 8:31
  There are many ways to go about this text, many angles, but the
• 8:35
  first thing that we should absorb from this is that like
• 8:39
  our Master, we must go to prayer in our times of sorrow.
• 8:47
  Very quickly we read that Jesus felt and even admitted the deep
• 8:54
  despair and anguish that was rising within his soul.
• 8:57
  Soul. What was it though?
• 9:00
  What was it that caused him to be distressed and not just
• 9:03
  distressed? Look here again at verse 33,
• 9:07
  we're told there and began to be greatly distressed.
• 9:11
  And in his own words in verse 34, not just sorrowful, but he
• 9:15
  says my soul is very sorrowful. And it makes you wonder, what
• 9:21
  was this agony about? But before we get there, the
• 9:25
  agony was so profound, so extreme, so intense that the
• 9:31
  beloved physician Luke documents something that a doctor would
• 9:35
  document that when Jesus was there writhing and wrestling
• 9:41
  with this inner turmoil, it did something to him physically.
• 9:46
  It brought him to a a point in which Luke tells us that great
• 9:50
  drops of blood were falling down to the ground.
• 9:55
  And Luke was not speaking in hyperbole.
• 9:59
  Luke here is telling us in detailing for us, a very rare
• 10:04
  but very real medical condition known as hematyrosis.
• 10:09
  Tiny blood vessels around the sweat glands dilate and can even
• 10:15
  erupt, causing the blood to leak into the sweat glands.
• 10:21
  And that emotional stress can bring somebody to the point
• 10:25
  where it looks like there is an open wound on their skin, when
• 10:29
  in fact that is not the case. It's a phenomenon, and the cause
• 10:34
  of this condition is exactly what Jesus here is describing.
• 10:39
  But what's taking place in his heart?
• 10:44
  And it makes you wonder, what was it?
• 10:46
  Was it the faithlessness of his disciples?
• 10:49
  Was it the vile partnership between Judas and this vicious
• 10:54
  group known as the Pharisees? Would it be the false
• 10:59
  accusations as he stood on trial and all these people lied about
• 11:01
  his character and his actions? Would it be the torture that he
• 11:07
  would experience, the shame of hanging suspended on a cross for
• 11:14
  all to mock and for all to add to his pain with their slander
• 11:20
  and their spit? Would it be all of those things
• 11:24
  combined? I don't think so.
• 11:29
  I don't think so because history testifies of many Saints who are
• 11:34
  martyred and who also experienced devastating
• 11:38
  betrayals and excruciating executions, but had resolve and
• 11:43
  were embracing their death with singing hymns and smiles and
• 11:49
  bold witness. I refuse to believe that mere
• 11:53
  men showed more determination than the Savior.
• 12:01
  No, what Jesus is experiencing is beyond human comprehension,
• 12:07
  nevermind what humans have experienced.
• 12:09
  The imagination can't even conjure up what he was
• 12:12
  undergoing. The eternal Son of God moments
• 12:18
  away of becoming the sin bearer of the world and as a
• 12:22
  consequence becoming the object of God's fury, the Father's
• 12:30
  wrath, and for the first time sensing a separation from the
• 12:36
  one that he is known. Uninterrupted communion with the
• 12:42
  thought alone for the Lord Jesus was crushing.
• 12:49
  And it is no coincidence that Jesus experiencing this
• 12:52
  pulverizing of the soul took place in Gethsemane because the
• 12:57
  very name of that garden means oil press.
• 13:01
  And so in this Grove of oil trees would have been an
• 13:04
  instrument that would allow for olives to be crushed until every
• 13:14
  drop of oil can come out of its skin and substance.
• 13:18
  And here we find Jesus being crushed.
• 13:25
  Why? Because He said right before
• 13:28
  approaching Gethsemane that his blood would be poured out for
• 13:34
  many. And it's beginning here.
• 13:40
  But I I do not believe this is the only reason why the Lord
• 13:42
  chose this location to prepare Himself to be the ultimate
• 13:45
  sacrifice for humanity. Turn to John 18I quoted to you
• 13:51
  briefly John 18, one where Gethsemane, according to John's
• 13:55
  word, was a garden. But look at it John 18, verse 2,
• 14:01
  John 18, verse 2. Now Judas, who betrayed him,
• 14:10
  also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His
• 14:16
  disciples. This is not Christ's first time
• 14:19
  at the site. The Spirit, through John, tells
• 14:23
  us it was a very familiar place. He frequently visited there, and
• 14:29
  I believe the reason why he visited there was because it was
• 14:32
  his pleasurable preference. That was his spot.
• 14:36
  He delighted to be there. That is where he retreated from
• 14:40
  all the noise and all the demands of ministry.
• 14:43
  That is where he felt the greatest refreshment.
• 14:47
  That is where he would pray often with the beautiful scenery
• 14:54
  and helpful seclusion. Jesus went to this place many
• 14:59
  times before He would come here with his disciples.
• 15:01
  So it is no surprise that this was where He decided to pour out
• 15:04
  his heart before before the Father.
• 15:08
  You might have a room like that in your house.
• 15:11
  You might have one particular Bible that you enjoy going to,
• 15:16
  and Gethsemane was a preferable place for Christ.
• 15:21
  And though you and I can't relate to the source of His
• 15:23
  suffering, we can identify with how He handles it.
• 15:29
  The Lord shows us here where you and I must flee, when we begin
• 15:34
  to feel our hearts flooded with pain and fear, not necessarily
• 15:42
  to a garden, but before God. There's so many staggering
• 15:49
  things about this moment, including how Jesus Christ
• 15:53
  addresses God as He senses his very body being crushed.
• 16:02
  Go here to mark 1436 with me. And he said, ABBA, ABBA, Father,
• 16:12
  all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me yet.
• 16:15
  Not what I will, but what you will.
• 16:17
  ABBA, ABBA. You know, sometimes art muddies
• 16:24
  our picture of what the Bible portrays.
• 16:28
  You've probably seen the image of Christ there in the Garden of
• 16:31
  Gethsemane with a Halo around His head, kneeling on some rock,
• 16:35
  so poised, so put together, that that is not the image that we
• 16:41
  get from the Bible. He fell to the ground.
• 16:45
  There was red stains of blood mingling with dirt as He fell on
• 16:52
  his face. And yet with all of that, he did
• 16:58
  not lose sight of the comforting truth of who God is and His
• 17:03
  immense love and compassion and who He was to Him.
• 17:11
  He could have said father. That's how we always addressed
• 17:14
  the father. But he adds ABBA, according to
• 17:16
  Mark, and it's a word in the Aramaic that a child would use
• 17:20
  to address his dad in a very personal and intimate way.
• 17:28
  The Lord didn't lose touch of His Father, and He fully
• 17:34
  understood the amazing mercy of the one that He was spilling his
• 17:41
  soul before. And I believe there are many who
• 17:43
  can't seem to find the liberty to do that as Christians, even
• 17:47
  before God, because they can't seem to shake off this idea that
• 17:53
  God is more like an unpredictable boss, a very hard
• 18:00
  to read judge who is more inclined to listen to you on
• 18:03
  some days over others. What a great loss to have such a
• 18:09
  poor perspective of who God is and never challenge it.
• 18:18
  The proper revelation of the character of God will make
• 18:22
  prayer a real experiential means of relief even though you don't
• 18:32
  receive what you are requesting in the way or in the timing you
• 18:35
  were hoping for. Simply knowing, simply knowing
• 18:41
  that you are entrusting your burdens into the hands of an all
• 18:44
  powerful yet incredibly wise and personally caring Father is
• 18:53
  healing in itself. And I just want to speak to you
• 18:57
  from my heart to yours. If you go to the Lord and pray,
• 19:02
  not believing that, not seeing him in that way, you're not
• 19:08
  going to know the potential of this heavenly gift.
• 19:13
  And if you go to him but are not sensing increments of comfort,
• 19:18
  then perhaps you have to rediscover his character before
• 19:24
  you can actually enjoy communion with him.
• 19:28
  Here's the Lord who comes before God, the very one who is going
• 19:34
  to pour out his judgement, and yet he addresses him as ABBA
• 19:41
  Father, He runs to God. Yes, the Son of God runs to God
• 19:48
  with his sorrow, but it's more than that, because we also
• 19:53
  learned that we must go to prayer not just because of our
• 19:57
  sorrow, but in order to overcome temptation.
• 20:01
  Let me read to you again, verse 37.
• 20:05
  Then he returned to his disciples and found him
• 20:07
  sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, Simon,
• 20:14
  are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
• 20:18
  That must have stung. He doesn't call him Peter.
• 20:20
  He calls him what his name was before he met Christ.
• 20:24
  Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
• 20:29
  So we know how much time Christ spent in prayer up to this
• 20:32
  point. Watch and pray that you may not
• 20:35
  enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
• 20:38
  but the flesh is weak. Some here might deems Christ's
• 20:42
  rebuke as being insensitive, but we have to remember that earlier
• 20:45
  he commanded all the disciples to pray while he was praying.
• 20:49
  You won't find that in in Mark. You're going to find that in
• 20:51
  Luke's version. If you want the reference, it's
• 20:54
  Luke 2240. He tells all the disciples to be
• 20:58
  in prayer, including these 3. And that's important to know
• 21:02
  because whenever the Lord commands anything, we are
• 21:05
  assured that He provides the grace to fulfill it.
• 21:08
  And if He provides the grace of the fill, any of His commands,
• 21:11
  then we are without excuse to realize it.
• 21:15
  Including these three disciples. They were asleep.
• 21:20
  Yes, it was late, but Christ gave them an order.
• 21:24
  And with that order, He gave them the power, surely the
• 21:28
  mercy, the grace to be able to walk in it.
• 21:30
  Now, on a side note, let me make this practical point of
• 21:33
  discipleship, OK? I would never use a text like
• 21:36
  this to teach Christians to deprive themselves from needed
• 21:38
  sleep, even in the name of spiritual discipline.
• 21:42
  I'm saying this for a reason. I know it seems like there's a
• 21:44
  flow with the main sermon, but give me some space, please.
• 21:49
  Godly Saints who have done this to themselves admitted later in
• 21:53
  life of the great harm that they put themselves through because
• 21:56
  of such thinking. So let me let me be very clear
• 21:59
  here, as as a person who loves you and cares about your
• 22:02
  sanctification, beware of extreme measures and of those
• 22:06
  who teach and advocate them. Nonetheless, this was a very
• 22:15
  important evening. This was a unique time for the
• 22:18
  disciples, one that in a few moments would present a
• 22:21
  tremendous challenge to their faith.
• 22:24
  And the Lord was aware of that, and so He wanted them to be
• 22:28
  prepared for that. These obstacles were about to
• 22:32
  come and they needed to pray to overcome them.
• 22:35
  And what would be the temptation that these disciples would face
• 22:37
  exactly? We all know it very well.
• 22:39
  To flee, to flee from danger because they were associated
• 22:43
  with Christ and even to deny Him.
• 22:48
  Did the Lord expect faithfulness from His own?
• 22:51
  Yes, especially after their collective boasting in the upper
• 22:55
  room, that they would go to the end with Him.
• 22:58
  You remember that right led by Peter, of course.
• 23:04
  Look at Jesus last words of their of our text.
• 23:06
  Look at verse 42. Maybe you missed this when he
• 23:10
  said that his betrayal was at hand.
• 23:11
  He said something right before it rise.
• 23:14
  Let us be going. He didn't say all right, it's
• 23:20
  time for me to go. I know you're going to flee so
• 23:23
  go ahead. He said let's let us be going.
• 23:26
  Let's go together now. Let us be going.
• 23:29
  My betrayer is at hand. So Christ expected them to stand
• 23:36
  with Him like He expects us to stand for Him.
• 23:41
  Unfortunately, it did not matter what the disciples said earlier
• 23:46
  that evening, and it even didn't matter the command that Christ
• 23:50
  called them to follow. Do you know why?
• 23:53
  Because the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
• 23:57
  We need power. We need supernatural help.
• 24:02
  We need God even to please God. And interestingly here, Peter's
• 24:09
  threefold denial. That's how many times he denied
• 24:11
  Christ, right? Peter's threefold denial came
• 24:15
  soon after his threefold failure to pray.
• 24:20
  Let me remind you, look at Mark 14 verse 30.
• 24:26
  And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you this very night before
• 24:30
  the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.
• 24:37
  And how many times did Jesus go back and forth between his
• 24:39
  private time of prayer and ensuring and calling his
• 24:43
  disciples to pray? Look at verse 41 of Mark 14.
• 24:46
  And he came the third time and said to them, are you still
• 24:52
  sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough.
• 24:54
  The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into
• 24:57
  the hands of sinners. You're going to deny me three
• 25:01
  times and have followed a threefold failure of praying for
• 25:07
  every temptation. It doesn't matter it's
• 25:10
  frequency, regardless of how fierce it is, prayer can help us
• 25:17
  defeat it. Prayer can help us conquer it.
• 25:23
  But listen, this victorious, temptation defeating kind of
• 25:32
  prayer carries a quality that you and I cannot afford to
• 25:37
  overlook. And many people do.
• 25:40
  When did Christ call his disciples to be watchful and to
• 25:44
  be prayerful? Can I tell you when before the
• 25:49
  temptation came? Do you know why I say that?
• 25:53
  Because it's the tendency of Christians to run and rely on
• 25:59
  this resource called prayer. The moment temptation comes, the
• 26:05
  moment the test surprises you, that is not how Jesus trained
• 26:12
  his disciples to pray. Instead, he calls them, and he
• 26:16
  calls us to draw from it, even when the sun is shining.
• 26:23
  Because the design of prayer is that as you engage in it and as
• 26:26
  you enjoy it, it builds you. And that building them prepares
• 26:31
  you. And that preparedness keeps you
• 26:35
  when unforeseen tribulation visits you.
• 26:40
  We see this working positively and negatively in this very
• 26:43
  scene. Christ was able to succeed and
• 26:45
  stand and go to the cross. Why?
• 26:49
  In great part because He was victorious in the garden,
• 26:54
  whereas the disciples, when their tests came, collapsed.
• 26:58
  What was the difference? One was watching and praying and
• 27:01
  the others were sleeping and snoring.
• 27:03
  That's the difference and one minister put it wisely.
• 27:09
  Listen to this. This is this is gold, he said.
• 27:14
  Often times the spiritual battle is won or lost before the crisis
• 27:22
  comes. Spiritual battles are often won
• 27:29
  or lost before the crisis. Watch and pray, lest you enter
• 27:39
  into temptation. Have you ever wondered why the
• 27:43
  disciples fell asleep even after Jesus?
• 27:46
  How are you sleeping? You would think that if Jesus
• 27:50
  tells you wake up, you need to pray, that you're going to wake
• 27:53
  up and you're going to pray. They were tired.
• 27:58
  Yes, they were tired. Do you know why they were tired?
• 28:00
  It was late. Yeah, it was late.
• 28:03
  But there was something else. Luke tells us you'll see it in
• 28:06
  Luke 22. Meet me there.
• 28:11
  Luke 22, verse 45. And when he rose from prayer, he
• 28:24
  came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow.
• 28:30
  Why were their eyes very heavy? Why were they exhausted?
• 28:34
  Because emotionally, they were spent.
• 28:38
  They were absolutely drained. Why were they drained
• 28:41
  emotionally? Well, just look at the events
• 28:43
  leading up to this. They were told by their master,
• 28:49
  one of you is going to betray me.
• 28:53
  Things began to register and they were grieved.
• 28:56
  And so that weight caused them to doze off.
• 29:03
  But that wasn't an excuse. The sorrow wasn't an excuse.
• 29:09
  What did Jesus do with his sorrow?
• 29:11
  He spread it at the feet of the one who said, cast all your
• 29:14
  anxieties on me. It wasn't an excuse.
• 29:20
  And the broader lesson is this. This is so important, so vital
• 29:25
  to grasp. The lesson is that we cannot
• 29:28
  afford to allow what you feel to keep you from doing what you
• 29:32
  know you need to do. Brother, do you always feel like
• 29:41
  praying? No, sometimes it's flesh.
• 29:45
  I wake up to it and it's more aggressive than I thought it
• 29:50
  would be. But I don't go with what I feel.
• 29:57
  I go with what I know. I know that I need prayer.
• 30:04
  I know it and I I've read the Bible, yes.
• 30:08
  And I've also witnessed enough tragedies among ministers
• 30:15
  especially to realize that when people crash and fall, usually
• 30:20
  where it all begins is when they neglect prayer.
• 30:26
  That's the common denominator. That's where it all starts.
• 30:28
  The first thing to usually go before somebody's faith goes,
• 30:31
  before somebody's testimony goes, is a dependency on God
• 30:37
  expressed in prayer. I don't go with what if I go by
• 30:40
  what I feel. Disaster awaits me and disaster
• 30:44
  awaits you. You go with what you know.
• 30:47
  Unfortunately, these disciples allowed what they felt to remain
• 30:52
  in the driver's seat of the devotion.
• 30:55
  And Jesus here reminds them, you must watch and pray if you're
• 30:59
  going to overcome anything. We must go to prayer with our
• 31:05
  sorrows because there is a loving God who has, yes, all
• 31:10
  power, but also immense affection for us, who is willing
• 31:14
  to hear us and do something with our request.
• 31:16
  We must go to prayer to overcome temptation and closely associate
• 31:19
  with that truth #3 we must go to prayer to receive grace, to do
• 31:24
  His will. Mark tells us that after the
• 31:29
  third session of prayer and verse 41 and 42, Christ returns
• 31:34
  to his sleeping students and announces that his betrayer is
• 31:38
  only steps away. But when you read verse 41 and
• 31:41
  verse 42, you get this impression.
• 31:47
  You are moved by his choice of words, as though He emerges from
• 31:53
  this time of prayer with remarkable ascendancy and
• 31:56
  authority. Read it again with me in verse
• 32:00
  41. And he came the third time and
• 32:02
  said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
• 32:06
  It is enough. The hour has come.
• 32:09
  The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
• 32:13
  Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.
• 32:19
  Do you sense it? A strong Savior with his
• 32:26
  shoulders rolled back and his head up.
• 32:29
  Yes, perhaps there are stains of blood on his brow.
• 32:34
  Yes, perhaps there is dirt on his knees.
• 32:38
  But what we see here is a Jesus ready to drink the cup that His
• 32:45
  Father prepared for him. Don't you dare disconnect the
• 32:53
  awesome determination we see here in Jesus from his time of
• 32:59
  prayer. That would be a grave mistake.
• 33:04
  He is ready to drink the cup. Now.
• 33:05
  I have to say this. I have to make mention of this
• 33:09
  and briefly address the need to carefully interpret Jesus's
• 33:14
  words when He came before the Father and said not my will but
• 33:18
  yours be done. When He requested take this cup
• 33:22
  if it's possible, let it be removed from me when Christ
• 33:27
  prayed that it is in no way any indication that He was forced to
• 33:32
  do this and that He was trying to escape it, that He was
• 33:37
  begging for this not to happen, that would be wrong.
• 33:44
  Instead, what you see here in His reaction is exactly what you
• 33:49
  and I should expect from the perfectly holy, extremely and
• 33:55
  eternally pure, sinless Son of God.
• 33:59
  The fact that Christ cringes and He shudders at the thought of
• 34:03
  becoming, in Paul's words, becoming sin.
• 34:07
  You got to tread carefully with that verse.
• 34:10
  Becoming sin and drinking the wrath of God would make sense in
• 34:20
  light of His Immaculate purity. He who knew no sin would become
• 34:27
  sin. So why is it even a debate?
• 34:30
  Why is it a matter of criticism to see Christ here saying, if
• 34:36
  it's possible, let this cup be removed from me?
• 34:43
  And the fact that it was not removed from Him and He did
• 34:47
  embrace the cross, means for us today that there is no other way
• 34:51
  to be saved. There is no other way to be
• 34:55
  saved. This is the only way, not only
• 34:59
  because the apostles who were in dwelt with the Holy Spirit and
• 35:01
  inspired by the Spirit writing that in their epistles, but
• 35:05
  because of the Father's silence. There's no other way.
• 35:11
  This is the only way that humanity will be redeemed.
• 35:13
  This is the only way that sins can be forgiven.
• 35:15
  This is the only way that we'll be able to populate heaven with
• 35:19
  fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
• 35:28
  Is there another way? There is no other way.
• 35:32
  Why the request then? Because of His royal holiness,
• 35:40
  the horrific thought of the sin being placed on him, and as a
• 35:48
  result, God the Father turning his face away.
• 35:54
  If anything, this does not defame his character.
• 35:57
  It actually affirms His transcendent holiness.
• 36:05
  That is why he wrestled. But he was able to, in his
• 36:09
  wrestling, overcome and embrace the will of the Father.
• 36:12
  Because when he prayed, not my will, but yours be done.
• 36:15
  Something happened. Can I tell you what happened?
• 36:19
  Luke tells us what happened again in Luke 2242, saying,
• 36:28
  Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me,
• 36:32
  nevertheless not my will, but yours be done.
• 36:36
  And there appear to him an Angel from heaven, strengthening him.
• 36:44
  And so great was this supernatural strength that was
• 36:47
  administered to him, that when Judas and the mob were around
• 36:51
  the corner, Christ said, Rise, let us be going.
• 36:59
  What would be the reflex of any of us if we knew that a mob, a
• 37:03
  crowd of enemies were on their way to apprehend you?
• 37:07
  It wouldn't be rise, it would be retreat.
• 37:12
  It wouldn't be let us be going. It'd be let us be fleeing.
• 37:16
  But what was it that contributed to Christ standing tall and not
• 37:22
  running from His enemies? Get this.
• 37:24
  Walking towards them. He prayed, He prayed, let your
• 37:33
  will be done. And when you, like the Master,
• 37:37
  pray and desire God's will. He doesn't just grant His will,
• 37:43
  He grants the strength to obey it and to walk in it.
• 37:52
  It sustains you and it surges through you, and it's only
• 37:57
  reserved for the prayerful and despite the intimidations or the
• 38:01
  persuasions, ready to confront you.
• 38:04
  Jesus shows us he showed it to his apostles who would no great
• 38:07
  suffering after his departure and his ascension into heaven.
• 38:11
  Seek him. Wait on him and trust that with
• 38:17
  all his resources He will find a way to strengthen you for any
• 38:24
  temptation. Is this the only time an Angel
• 38:26
  came and ministered unto the Lord Jesus?
• 38:28
  No, you remember in Matthew or he was tempted by the devil.
• 38:33
  And at the end of that account Matthew tells us that there were
• 38:35
  dispatched angels ministering to the Lord Jesus.
• 38:41
  He is faithful. So Christ here in this holy
• 38:45
  moment, he shows us that we must pray.
• 38:49
  Run to him with your sorrow, that you must pray if you're
• 38:52
  going to overcome any temptation, and you must pray if
• 38:54
  you're going to receive grace to do his will, Jesus, his agony,
• 39:01
  his glory in the garden. The Bible is a masterpiece for
• 39:07
  different reasons, including how it all connects.
• 39:12
  We read early in Romans 5 the contrast between the first Adam
• 39:16
  and the last Adam, and that theme continues even here in
• 39:19
  this gospel account, because the first Adam was in a garden, but
• 39:24
  he rebelled. The second and last Adam was
• 39:27
  also in a garden, but he submitted.
• 39:31
  The first Adam was in a garden and he did not care for the will
• 39:35
  of God, He cared for his will to be done.
• 39:38
  But now you have the last Adam who says not my will, but yours
• 39:41
  be done. You have the first Adam who
• 39:45
  through disobedience brought in sin into the world.
• 39:51
  Now you have Jesus, the last Adam in his obedience in a
• 39:55
  garden bringing redemption and hope and salvation.
• 40:01
  There's a lot of debate today about identity, right?
• 40:04
  Identity politics. University classes about
• 40:09
  identity. Classes of identity.
• 40:14
  The Bible talks about identity, but it presents two classes and
• 40:19
  only two. You're either in Adam or you're
• 40:22
  in Christ. You're either a part of the the
• 40:28
  race that is condemned or you're part of the race that is
• 40:33
  redeemed. And what makes a difference is
• 40:39
  you making the willful choice of who will be your representative.
• 40:43
  You have a choice in how you are identified in this way.
• 40:47
  And so every person has a choice to either remain under Adam and
• 40:54
  to expect the consequences of his failure in the Garden of
• 40:58
  Eden, or to shift your allegiance to a new
• 41:03
  representative for humanity in the person of the Jesus Christ,
• 41:07
  where he at a garden wins your obedience and wins eternal life.
• 41:13
  And the way you transfer that is through repentance and faith.
• 41:18
  Are your sins forgiven? Are you sitting here today with
• 41:21
  a full assurance that if you stand before God, your record of
• 41:25
  wrong will not be held against you?
• 41:29
  Have you made a conscience decision to say Jesus Christ, I
• 41:33
  receive what you've done on the cross for me.
• 41:39
  If not believe, turn to him, receive him, repent.
• 41:49
  He will receive you, He will forgive you, He will make you
• 41:53
  new. Do not wait, do not delay, do
• 41:58
  not harden your hearts. So I invite you, if you're not a
• 42:01
  Christian here, if there's any response to this messages.
• 42:05
  Did you get a did you get a taste of what this Jesus of
• 42:08
  Nazareth went through for you? Has it moved you?
• 42:16
  Has it convicted you? I pray to God that it does do
• 42:22
  something to you. But for the believer, see what
• 42:26
  pain, see what sorrow, see what difficulty Christ endured so
• 42:37
  that you can rest. Are you moved by that, or has
• 42:44
  the good news become old news to you?
• 42:47
  Yeah, that happens a lot. I hope the name of Jesus has not
• 42:53
  become tasteless to you. I pray that you savor it.
• 43:02
  And Christ, knowing our forgetfulness, has instituted
• 43:06
  something to help us remember, something that we can even taste
• 43:12
  so that we can connect it to the goodness that is found in the
• 43:14
  Savior. Let's prepare our hearts to
• 43:17
  partake in the celebration, shall we?
• 43:38
  Father, what we read, we believe actually happened, and we are
• 43:43
  grateful that it happened. Thank you for the practical
• 43:49
  truths. But Lord, we are more grateful
• 43:53
  for the positional promise that these truths have won for us.
• 44:02
  Lord, we today gladly admit that we can't be saved apart from
• 44:08
  you. Every vile, filthy, despicable
• 44:13
  thing has been plunged beneath the blood.
• 44:17
  Move our hearts to worship You. For that we honor you, and today
• 44:25
  we give you glory as we remember you.
• 44:29
  In Jesus name, Amen.