“Christ’s Passion: Gethsemane” Mark 14:32-42 May 11, 2008

SI: This morning we begin that portion of the Gospels which the church

has called the Passion of Christ. The Passion begins in the Garden of Gethsemane

and end when Jesus cries from the cross, “It is finished. Father, into your hands

I commit my spirit.”

We use the word “passion” today to mean any strong emotion or feeling—

even a strong feeling of romantic or sexual love.

But the old meaning of the word is “suffering.”

It comes from the Latin word “passio”, suffering.

So for centuries, the church has used the term “the passion”

to refer to the suffering of Jesus Christ.

There is a sense in which Jesus’ whole life was his passion.

His whole life was one of humiliation and suffering—

but his passion proper started in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Remember at the Last Supper he said to his disciples that he had eagerly desired

to eat the Passover “before I suffer.”

Indicating that he knew suffering about to face was so great,

that all had suffered to that point would be small in comparison.

Then, when he came to Gethsemane, Mark tells us that he

“began to be deeply distressed and troubled.”

In this story, see Jesus Christ suffering agony of soul.

This was the beginning of his passion that culminated on the cross.

Listen to God’s Word.

INTRO: The way that a person responds to sudden anguish

tells a lot about who he really is.

In times of anguish, masks are ripped away and true character is revealed.

I have lost two cousins—one was killed in an accident when he was 20.

The other died suddenly of an undiagnosed medical condition at age 32.

The response of their parents was telling.

I will never forget watching my aunt and uncle respond to the accidental death

of their son. They were in anguish.

But as people heard the news and came to their house to give sympathy—

this grieving mother and father reached out in blessing to every person.

Their openness and kind words were so heartfelt that everyone who visited

to give them comfort, went away themselves encouraged and hopeful.

On the other hand I will never forget the bitterness of another aunt of mine

at the funeral of her son, this other cousin of mine.

I saw her lash out at his grieving young widow, her own daughter-in-law,

and drive her away.

I’m sure many of you could come up with stories good and bad about how people

responded to the sudden anguish that came from the loss of a loved one,

or the loss of a job, or the news of a bad diagnosis, or the revelation of a betrayal.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went to pray with his disciples

after the Last Supper—he was subjected to onslaught of sudden anguish.

Jesus certainly knew all along that he was going to the cross to die.

But when he was in Gethsemane the fullness of what that death would mean,

and the terrible extent of his suffering suddenly became more clear to him.

He understood it fully and looked into the depths of it and it threw him

into deep anxiety—“my soul overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

The anguish of soul was so severe it almost killed him.

And as we look at Jesus in Gethsemane—two qualities of his character emerge—

His obedience and His sympathy.

May seem to be a strange combination—but they are exactly what are required

for him to be Your Savior. Jesus’ obedience and his sympathy save you.

And they give you reason to trust him. God wants you to trust his Son.

And having trusted, and having received all the benefits of his suffering,

He wants you to imitate him, and grow in his character.

Obedience and sympathy are precisely the Christ-like qualities that you need in you

so that you can face times of anguish and suffering the right way.

Let’s look at each.

His obedience and then His sympathy.

MP#1 Jesus’ obedience

Two questions comes to mind when you read this story:

First this: Why was Jesus so overwhelmed emotionally in Gethsemane?

He told his disciples overwhelmed with sorrow to point of death.

His body failed him, he fell to the ground in prayer.

Luke—sweat like drops of blood.

Clearly he was suffering from extreme anxiety.

This was so out of character for Jesus.

Think of time in boat during storm, or when faced demon possessed people,

or those many public, hostile conflicts with religious leaders.

He was always calm and confident and never rattled.

But in Gethsemane Jesus was suddenly overwhelmed and troubled.

How do you explain this?

Second question: Did Jesus really think it was possible for the salvation

of God’s people to happen without going to the cross?

Sounds like that when prayed, that if possible the hour might pass from him.

“Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.”

The hour he was referring to was the approaching hour of his crucifixion,

The cup he was referring to was the cup of God’s wrath for sin.

This was also out of character of Jesus.

Think of all the times he told his disciples that the Son of Man must die.

He clearly understood from the first that salvation required death of substitute.

There could be no other way. Yet Jesus asked if there was another way.

The answer to both of those questions is that something happened to Jesus

in Gethsemane—what happened was that God the Father revealed to Jesus

just how terribly he would suffer by bearing the guilt of sin and suffering

the wrath of God for that sin.

And the human nature of Christ recoiled from this terrible guilt and wrath.

That’s the only satisfying answer.

Only other possible answer is that Jesus suddenly became frightened of death.

But there have been thousands of people have faced agonizing deaths

without this kind of anxiety—look at stories of martyrs—even little children.

If it was just that Jesus was afraid of death, then he was weaker than many people.

It was not death itself that gave Jesus these anxieties.

The real weight that pressed him and troubled him to the point of death

was the burden of our guilt that God had laid on him.

It was the weight of our sin that caused Jesus to be overwhelmed with sorrow.

The heart of the Christian faith is that love requires substitutionary sacrifice.

And Jesus is our substitute.

As our substitute he took the weight of our guilt on himself.

Is. 53 “The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

2 Cor. 5 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.”

It was Jesus’ full comprehension of this awful guilt laid on him

that caused him to be overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

But that was not all—as the substitute, bearing our guilt, Jesus knew he

had to suffer in his person the full wrath of God for sin.

The Bible plainly teaches the wrath of God for sin.

God has a personal, holy, revulsion against it.

He is absolutely uncompromising in punishing it.

God’s justice does not allow sin to be forgotten until it is punished fully.

God in his love provided a way for his wrath to be appeased—death of Christ.

In receiving our guilt, Jesus knew he would experience God’s wrath.

In Gethsemane Jesus began to more fully understand how horrible this would be.

That’s what made him feel overwhelmed.

That’s what caused him to pray for cup of wrath to be taken away.

But Jesus did not ultimately crumble under the anguish of Gethsemane.

Instead he submitted himself obediently to God’s will.

Notice the progression of his prayers:

Mark says first he prayed that the hour might pass, and cup taken from him.

Then he prayed, Yet not what I will, but what you will.

John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus ended with this prayer:

“Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

From that point on went with determination to cross.

It was his obedience that earned your salvation.

Jesus’ obedience in the anguish of Gethsemane is not only something you should

thank him for, it is something that you should seek to imitate.

One of the chief goals of your life should be

to learn to live in submission to God’s will in times of suffering and anguish.

To keep obeying him and to be content with the life he has given you.

How do you face the little setbacks of life?

How do you respond when your plans get messed up?

How do you respond when things don’t work out as you expected

when don’t get your way?

How do you respond when people disappoint you?

Is your heart thrown into turmoil? Do you lash out?

Or do you turn to Jesus for help—learn to say—this is the Lord’s will.

Jesus was obedient for me in his anguish in Gethsemane.

Through Him, I’m going to learn to obey and be content.

If you learn obedient submission in these little things,

then if, in God’s plan, you face a time of great anguish,

you will not crumble and turn away. You will continue to obey God

Christian man I know, routine surgery on eye—went blind.

Completely unexpected, sudden and disappointing.

But a man whose life characterized by obedient submission—faith held firm.

He did not sin. He did not lash out at God and other people.

He obeyed, he submitted to it with grace.

Maybe for you the anguish will be relational—a troubled marriage, wayward child.

Or maybe it will be situational—long illness or struggling business.

The world preaches that suffering gives you an excuse to sin and lash out at

God and people.

The world says that your psychological well being of ultimate importance.

Aren’t you glad that Jesus put your good and obedience to his Father

ahead of his psychological well being? Aren’t you glad that he didn’t say:

This just isn’t worth it any more: This anguish, this falling on the ground,

this sweating drops of blood. I can’t handle this. I’ve got to think of myself.

Aren’t you glad!

And isn’t it amazing that the greatness of his character can be reproduced in you.

It can. You can be obedient in great suffering by leaning on the One who

was obedient for you in Gethsemane.
MP#2 Jesus’ sympathy

The other quality of Jesus Christ that is revealed in Gethsemane is his sympathy.

Certainly this is not surprising—so many examples of sympathy in Gospels.

His heart was always open to people.

Remember time in Mark 6—

So busy, so many people always crowding around him—no time to eat.

Said to disciples—have to get away to a quiet place, get some rest.

Got in boat to go to a solitary place on Sea of Galilee.

But people recognized them, ran ahead, when Jesus landed—huge crowd.

When saw had compassion, like sheep without shepherd, taught.

Led to the feeding of the 5,000.

Have no doubt about Jesus’ sympathy and compassion.

But what is remarkable is that under the extreme anguish of Gethsemane

his sympathy did not fail.

This place, Gethsemane means oil press—John calls it a garden.

Apparently a quiet grove of olive trees, Jesus must have known owner.

Was a place he went at times with disciples for retreat and quiet prayer.

They knew the place—Judas knew too—brought soldiers right to it.

So for Jesus, this was a place came to find comfort before final trial.

Left 8 disciples near entrance, asked Peter, James, John to come with him.

These three the inner circle—two other occasion Jesus took them alone.

Asked them to come with him and to watch—stay awake and be there for him.

Knew that this was going to be a terrible struggle,

their fellowship was going to be a help to him.

But Peter, James, and John completely failed Jesus.

They went to sleep. Was late, had been through a lot, emotionally exhausted.

But still, Jesus asked this one thing of them—keep watch with me—failed.

This was the beginning of Jesus increased isolation, part of his suffering.

Look at Jesus’ response.

He did not hide his disappointment when he first found sleeping.

“Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour.”

But that was so mild compared to what he could have said to them.

Jesus directed his comment to Peter—few hours earlier—would die for Christ.

Then Jesus said to these three.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Jesus knew that the temptation all about to face, to deny him.

Concerned enough to tell them what they had to do to keep strong—watch and pray.

Even in his anguish—concerned for their spiritual well-being.

Then he said:

“The spirit is willing but the body (flesh) is weak.”

Truly one of the greatest statements of Jesus’ sympathy for us.

He looked at these men, who were failing him in greatest time of need

by going to sleep, who he knew would continue to sleep,

would not pray, would not be prepared spiritually when enemies come,

and who would all desert him—

Had sympathy on the weakness of their flesh—

looked with kindness on the intentions of their hearts.

But Jesus’ words still did not keep them awake.

Two more times Jesus came back to them after praying—

looking for their fellowship and both times they were sleeping.

Even then his sympathy for them did not fail.

Verse 41 has perplexed translators: NIV translates it as a question.

Jesus sees them sleeping third time and asks: Are you still sleeping and resting?

But it is actually a statement or a command, Old King James captures it best.

Jesus saw them sleeping and said: “Sleep now and take your rest.”

Then some think there was a period of time, where Jesus sat and watched over

his sleeping disciples. He watched over the ones he had asked to watch with him.

Then, as he saw lights coming through the trees he said to wake them:

“Enough. The hour has come. Rise. Let us go.”

Hebrews says that Jesus Christ is our great high priest who is able to sympathize

with our weaknesses. This is not an excuse to be lazy in Christian life.

Can’t say, “Spirit willing, flesh weak” as an excuse, that dishonors Jesus.

Should be an incentive to pray—reminder that without prayer, certainly fail.

But at the same time, these sympathetic words of Christ do comfort when fail.

How often have you slept or done other things when should have been praying?

How often has your neglect of prayer resulted in spiritual weakness

at times of crisis so that you have come apart, not responded in faith?

Often, too often. And you have suffered from it.

But how amazing it is to know that Jesus Christ sympathizes with your weakness.

Jesus’ sympathy to disciples in Gethsemane is not only something you should thank

him for, it is something that you should seek to imitate.

One of the chief goals of your life should be to learn the sympathy and

compassion of Jesus Christ.

Main way that you do that is to show sympathy and compassion to people

who are part of your daily life—especially your wife or husband, and children,

especially when those people close to you are then ones causing your anguish.

When they fail you, hurt you, disappoint you, go to sleep on you—

do you recognize in their failure the very same weakness of flesh that you have?

And does the knowledge of Jesus’ sympathy for you, fill you with sympathy for them?

When you are hurting, do you have concern for their spiritual well-being?

Or are you too preoccupied with your own anguish.

As Paul says—love hopes all things and believes all things.

When don’t want to be sympathetic, when you are suffering and want to focus

all of your emotional energy on yourself and your pain—

remember Jesus in Gethsemane.

Ask him to work in you the sympathy he had for his disciples.

When in God’s plan you do face a time of great and sudden anguish,

will find most amazing thing, sympathy will not disappear,

but will flourish in ways that bring glory to Christ.

I mentioned my aunt and uncle earlier. I remember the day their son died,

that some of the people who came to their house were very awkward—

embarrassed by the grief, embarrassed by the death—

didn’t know what to say, saying the wrong things.

I watched in amazement as their own sympathy covered up all the awkwardness

of these ineffective visitors.

It was an amazing picture of the born again life.

You can be one of those incredible people who extends sympathy to other people

when you yourself are the one hurting the most. You can do it, by trusting in

the One who did the same for you in Gethsemane.

CONC: I’ve been speaking to believers this morning—but I can’t end this sermon

without speaking to those of you who have not put your faith in Jesus.

Look at this story. Look at Jesus agony in Gethsemane.

Gethsemane is call for you to repent of your sins and turn to Jesus in faith.

If the mere thought of God’s wrath almost crushed Jesus.

If it drove this perfect, sinless man to the ground and made his sweat blood—

What will happen to you when you die and face God without Jesus?

It will be a terrible day, because you will die in your sins and face God all alone,

without the wonderful sympathy of Jesus to support you.

Now is the day to turn to him, cry out to him.

Do it. As we come to the Table pray—

Lord Jesus, forgive my sins and cover them with your obedience and sympathy.

And he will.

And for all of you who do know Jesus,

but have failed this very week to imitate him. You’ve suffered, and in your

suffering you’ve disobeyed God and refused to extend sympathy—

come to the Table, receive grace and help.