Good News Week 59. Good News In The Prayer Garden
Notes
Transcript
Holy Love
Holy Love
What an incredible Easter and Holy Week at New City Church.
In our current sermon series, we have reached the final hours of Jesus life.
We are at week 59 of our journey thru Luke’s Gospel of Jesus.
And I didn’t want to rush thru these final few days hours of Jesus life and final few chapters of Luke.
So last week week took some time to worship on Holy Wednesday and to pray thru the Stations of the Cross of Good Friday.
And then Sunday we focused on the Good News of Holy Love on full display on Easter Sunday.
Jesus is the gift of Holy Love.
Jesus is the revelation of Holy Love.
Jesus is the proof of Holy Love.
And Love Lives because Jesus is risen!
We are going to take some time over the next few weeks to look at these last few days and hours of Jesus life, death, and resurrection.
We often try to cram all the events of these busy days and hours into one or two sermons during Easter, but there is too much happening to rush through.
This morning we are going to look at Good News in the Prayer Garden.
So, if you have your Bible, turn to Luke 22.
If you don’t have your Bible, the passage will be on the screen.
There’s also a Bible in your church app.
But, I strongly encourage you to bring your physical Bible. Underline scripture. Jot down notes and ideas.
So let’s jump in.
35 He also said to them, “When I sent you out without money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Not a thing,” they said.
36 Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a money-bag should take it, and also a traveling bag. And whoever doesn’t have a sword should sell his robe and buy one. 37 For I tell you, what is written must be fulfilled in me: And he was counted among the lawless. Yes, what is written about me is coming to its fulfillment.”
38 “Lord,” they said, “look, here are two swords.”
“That is enough!” he told them.
39 He went out and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 When he reached the place, he told them, “Pray that you may not fall into temptation.” 41 Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. 44 Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.E 45 When he got up from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them sleeping, exhausted from their grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you won’t fall into temptation.”
47 While he was still speaking, suddenly a mob came, and one of the Twelve named Judas was leading them. He came near Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When those around him saw what was going to happen, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” 50 Then one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus responded, “No more of this!” And touching his ear, he healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal? 53 Every day while I was with you in the temple, you never laid a hand on me. But this is your hour—and the dominion of darkness.”
The Good Fight
The Good Fight
Jesus did not come to fight the darkness with weapons of darkness.
Jesus did not tell the disciples to gather weapons because He wanted them to fight like the world.
He told them to gather weapons because He wanted Rome to see them as criminals.
See He knew the hour of his betrayal was quickly approaching.
He knew there was a plan and a plot underfoot to arrest him and to have him crucified.
He knew that Rome needed to see them as criminals and rebels and revolutionaries.
“Here are two swords” “That is enough!”
I can almost hear some excitement in the disciples statement.
Finally, some action.
Finally, we are going to take back what is rightfully ours.
Finally, we are going to fight fire with fire.
Let’s Go!
Here’s two right here.
“That’s enough!”
Do you see the exclamation mark?
I hear in Jesus words a rebuke to the excitement of violence being displayed by the disciples.
Two swords wasn’t enough to incite a rebellion.
Two swords wasn’t enough to overthrow Rome.
Two swords wasn’t enough to defend Jesus against his captors.
Two swords wasn’t enough to overthrow the kingdom of darkness because the kingdom of darkness cannot be overthrown by resorting to weapons of darkness.
Two swords wasn’t enough to bring deliverance unless the two swords weren’t meant to be used as weapons against the darkness but as a symbol of identifying with the captives.
And when Peter uses one of the swords to cut of the ear of one of the soldiers arresting Jesus, Jesus rebukes Peter and heals the soldier.
This passage is not a justification for violence but a rebuking of the systems of violence that permeate culture and a rebuking of those who would use the methods of darkness to try to advance the light.
Our Savior is a Savior who rebuked violence.
Our Savior is a Savior who rebuked taking up weapons in His name.
Now, this is a big idea.
I’m not talking about just war theory or self-defense.
Those are conversations worth having, but I am talking about our cultures fascination with violence and i am talking about the Church’s proclivity and tendency to fight against the darkness with darkness.
To fight hate with hate.
To fight unrighteousness with unrighteousness.
To fight untruths with dishonest arguments.
To fight evil with evil.
Jesus says’ “That Is Enough!”
The battle we are fighting isn’t against flesh and blood.
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. 20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.
We are fighting Spiritual Powers and Carnal Systems and Structures in the heavens that have permeated this World.
And we cannot defeat the powers of darkness with the weapons of darkness.
That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcomeB it.
It’s only when the Lights shines that Darkness is defeated.
It’s only when we take up the weapons of Light that we are victorious over the darkness.
We have grown tried of fighting the good fight with goodness.
Jesus says in verse 51, “No more of this.”
Instead of seeking to own of enemies seek to heal them.
Instead of seeking to destroy our enemies seek to free them.
Instead of seeking to humiliate our enemies seek to humbly point the to the Way, the Truth, and the Life that is embodied in Jesus.
I’m not saying don’t fight against the darkness, I’m saying that when we fight darkness with darkness darkness always wins.
Is this easy?
No.
That’s why Paul when teaching us about these weapons of Light tells us to Pray.
Prayer keeps us from falling into the trap of unrighteous warring.
When your co-worker lies about you, pray for them.
When your friend mocks your faith, pray for them.
When your family member rebels against the truth, pray for them.
When the culture promotes wickedness, pray for it, speak truth, live righteously, demonstrate a peaceable spirit, walk by faith.
We cannot advance against darkness with the swords of criminals but with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and Prayer.
When he got up from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them sleeping, exhausted from their grief. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you won’t fall into temptation.”
Get Up And Pray
Get Up And Pray
Jesus knows the hour of testing is coming.
Jesus knows he is about to be handed over to be tried and crucified.
Jesus knows the time of betrayal and darkness is at hand.
And He tells his disciples to get up and pray.
Listen, we are in a time of testing.
We are in a time of darkness.
We are in a time trial.
The answer for us to be ready for what is happening and what is at hand is to pray.
Get up and Pray.
There’s a mob coming - get up and pray.
There’s betrayers of the faith coming - get up and pray.
There’s trial ahead - get up and pray.
There’s testing ahead - get up and pray.
There’s uncertainty ahead - get up and pray.
There’s chaos all around - get up and pray.
There’s a serpent in the garden - get up and pray.
There’s the sound of wicked rulers - get up and pray.
There’s the kiss of traitors - get up and pray.
There’s the religious hypocrites - get up and pray.
There’s the unrighteous systems - get up and pray.
There’s the darkness staring us in the face - get up and pray.
Get up and Pray!
The temptation to run is real.
The temptation to fight like the world is real.
The temptation to keep sleeping in the face darkness is real.
The temptation to ignore what is happening is real.
The temptation to abandon your faith is real.
The temptation to let fear and worry control your response is real.
The temptation is real.
Get up and pray.
The is the hour and the dominion of darkness.
This is the hour of testing.
This is the hour of trial.
This is the hour of temptation.
Get up and pray!
Jesus knows the only defense against the darkness is light.
Jesus knows the only weapon against the temptation to give up is communion with the Father.
Jesus knows that the hour is at hand, so he prays.
Jesus Goes Up And Prays
Jesus Goes Up And Prays
Jesus fully understands his mission.
And the man Christ Jesus prays because this mission requires the ultimate sacrifice.
Jesus would later say that no one takes His life but that Jesus willingly lays it down.
We are going to get into some deep theological concepts for a minute.
First is the truth of what theologians call the Hypo-static Union.
The two natures of Jesus refers to the doctrine that the one person Jesus Christhad/has two natures, divine and human. In theology this is called the doctrine of thehypostatic union, from the Greek word hypostasis (which came to mean substantive reality). Early church figures such as Athanasius used the term "hypostatic union" to describe the teaching that these two distinct natures (divine and human) co-existed substantively and in reality in the single person of Jesus Christ. The aim was to defend the doctrine that Jesus was simultaneously truly God and truly man.
One of the clearest passages in Scripture concerning the two natures of Jesus comes from John 1 (see on John 1). The Word (i.e. Jesus) "was with God, and the Word was God." Moreover, the Word took on human flesh (John 1:14). Luke's gospel also says that Jesus "increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52).
"Christ's humanity was not a mere fleshly shell that God rented and used for a temporary amount of time. God did not just come to live in flesh as a man, but the 'Word became flesh' (John 1:14). God incorporated human nature into His eternal being. In the incarnation humanity has been permanently incorporated into the Godhead. God is now a man in addition to being God. At the virgin conception God acquired an identity He would retain for the rest of eternity. His human existence is both authentic and permanent. Jesus' humanity is not something that can be discarded or dissolved back into the Godhead, but He will always and forever exist in heaven as a glorified man, albeit God at the same time."^[6]^ Upon his ascension, Jesus was not deified, but rather was glorified. (Theopedia.com)
So what Scripture teaches is that God became Flesh in the Person of Jesus.
That the Second Person of the God-head took on humanity.
In Jesus the fullness of God and the fullness of humanity collided.
Jesus was fully God and full man.
And so in the Garden the humanity of Jesus cries out to his Heavenly Father.
In the Garden the humanity of Jesus understands what the plan of salvation from eternity past is.
In the Garden Jesus agonizes over the cross he is going to bear.
in the Garden Jesus submits to the plan of salvation.
In the Garden Jesus asks if there is another way.
In the Garden Jesus says not my fleshly will but Your will be done.
Paul speaks to this dual nature in Philippians 2 when He tells us that Jesus emptied himself of his divine rights and because a servant unto death.
This is the theological term Kenosis.
God willingly became human in Jesus.
But these leads us to another deep theological truth.
Hear me.
In Jesus death, Jesus was not a helpless victim of the Father’s wrath.
Remember, Jesus is fully God.
And to pit the Father against the Son pits Divinity against Divinity.
Jesus in His humanity submitted to the Father and Jesus is His divinity was equal with the Father.
This was not an act of Cosmic Child Abuse as if God the Son and God the Father had differing wills.
The is the Humanity of Jesus submitting to the cross.
This was not an unwilling sacrifice.
This was not Isaac unwittingly carrying the wood of his own potential sacrifice, this was a fully consented Christ carrying the wood of sacrificial love.
I mentioned atonement theories last week.
And there are good truths in each atonement theory.
But hear me, Jesus was not a victim of the Father, Jesus was a participant with the Father.
“Not my will but yours be done.” Jesus prayed in the Garden.
Jesus embraced his role in atonement.
Jesus brought victory.
Jesus paid our debt.
Jesus died in our place.
Jesus exemplified love.
Jesus did it.
Is was not my sin that held him there is was his love that held him there while he took on my sin.
Sin had no power over him.
Herod had no power over him.
Pilate had no power over him.
The Sanhedrin had no power over him.
Judas had no power over him.
Roman guards had no power over him.
The Devil had no power over him.
Darkness had no power over him.
The grave had no power over him.
Hell had no power over him.
The stone rolled in front of the tomb had no power over him.
Jesus was always empowered and authoritatively in control even unto death.
Jesus fought the good fight not with weapons of war but with sacrificial love.
Have You Come Out With Swords and Clubs
Have You Come Out With Swords and Clubs
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal? 53 Every day while I was with you in the temple, you never laid a hand on me. But this is your hour—and the dominion of darkness.”
This morning you may be trying to fight sin with swords and clubs.
You may be trying and failing to defeat darkness with darkness.
You may be falling into temptation.
You may sleeping.
You may be cutting off the ears of your enemies.
You will not defeat the dominion of darkness until you, like Jesus, say not my will but yours oh God.
You will not defeat the dominion of darkness until you, like Jesus, surrender to the will of God.
You will not defeat the dominion of darkness until you, like Jesus, stay awake and pray in the Garden.
You will not defeat the dominion of darkness until you, lie Jesus, take up your cross and follow Jesus.
What does it mean to take up your cross?
It means to surrender to God’s good and perfect will for your life.
To trust and obey.
To follow the way the truth and the life.
And then, after you have suffered a little while 1 Peter 5:10
10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.
Yes, carrying your cross will be heavy at times.
Carrying your cross will be hard at times.
But there is joy at the end of the journey.
There is resurrection at the end of the journey.
There is strength in the journey.
There is Spirit empowered joy in the journey.
There is eternal life at the end of the journey.
Don’t lose heart.
Don’t give up.
Don’t trade the cross for clubs and swords.
Carry your cross through the dominion of darkness and watch the darkness lose ground in the name of Jesus.
The enemy will kiss your cheek but don’t give up.
Not my will but your will be done!
This morNing I invite you to the table of suffering to be strengthened for the journey ahead of you.
Put away your clubs and swords and come to the table of the cross.