The Gift of Gethsemane

Introduction:

All my life I have been a pretty emotionally-driven person. I get super excited about things. I have a tendency to be passionate, maybe more passionate than most, about almost anything. I don’t like to think that emotion drives me, but it definitely controls the gas and brake pedals sometimes. I was born with overactive tear ducts, especially for a guy, and I have spent the better part of my walk with Jesus truly enjoying the emotional aspects of singing, especially Christian music and worship songs. In fact, I have always wondered at those who don’t get emotional about things. I mean, what is worship like? How does faith work in a person who is generally of a consistent, even, middle emotional range? I never really understood that.

That is, until these last few weeks. For the last few weeks, I have found myself having protracted periods of time, especially during the darkest moments, where all the feelings and emotions I had went from either bad, to absent. I have had times where I felt nothing, and then felt everything negative, but almost never felt anything positive. Depression, I think, works like that for many of us. I have wondered my whole Christian life what it would be like to go to a worship service and not feel anything; now I know. And it has been an incredibly challenging time for me.

So often, in our fight against the darkness, in our sufferings and sorrow, we long for three things: peace, hope, and joy. Peace - the inner state of a soul that is satisfied. Hope - the assurance that things will be glorious one day. Joy - the steady positive response to the things of God even in the midst of unspeakable pain and sorrow. Any person who has wrestled through depression can tell you that these three things are almost always at the top of the list of things that you long for when you are in the darkness. In fact, feeling just one of these, even for a brief moment, feels like a shot of cool air on a stifling hot day.

Today’s passage is the deepest sorrow felt by Jesus, the man of sorrows. I want us to study Jesus in the garden together so that we can see why it was so critical for Jesus Himself to be a man of Sorrows. Jesus, the man of sorrows, experiences deep sorrow in the garden for a particular reason: His sorrow was the pathway for our joy. As we examine this, I want us to see Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane as a gift to us, to lead us to greener pastures, beside still waters. There are three gifts that Gethsemane gives the Christian as we study it - principles, perspective, and peace.

I. Gethsemane gives us principles

No passage shows us the humanity of the Lord quite like Gethsemane. Mere moments after the disciples finished telling Jesus “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you,” Jesus takes his disciples out to the garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane means “A place for pressing oils;” it was in an olive tree orchard. When olive oil was made, the olives were first crushed, then they dropped huge stones down and pressed the crushed pieces. The oil would come out in drops between the stones What a poignant picture of what is getting ready to happen: at Gethsemane, Jesus would feel the strain of the world’s sin pressing on Him, and would literally sweat drops of blood under the strain. What man could bear up under this weight?

And yet, Jesus Christ, the one who was fully man and fully God, is bearing under the strain of great sorrow. Even to the point that he tells his friends “my soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Very sorrowful doesn’t quite do justice to what Jesus is feeling here. Afflicted beyond measure. In such agony that his emotional state is bringing about physical pain. Tested already to the very limits of human capacity. Luke tells us in his parallel account that he sweat drops of blood.

Our first reaction is normally to look at this passage and feel as though our sufferings are very small in comparison. Now, that may very well be true, but we miss some important principles that the humanity of Christ teaches us about dealing with sorrow if we simply do that. Though no suffering we experience will ever compare with the sufferings of Christ, we can glean some principles for dealing with our own depression and sorrow, some of which we have already made reference to, when we take a look at this scene from the life of the man of sorrows.

A. Jesus brought people - though he had to bear the weight of the cross alone, Jesus didn’t want to be alone in the garden. He takes the 11 with Him; remember, Judas has already gone to betray Jesus, and Jesus knows this. And he takes 8 of them and tells them to sit at the edge of the garden. Then, he takes Peter, James and John with Him.

This is such a striking picture. At what was perhaps the highest point of Jesus’ earthly ministry, when Jesus ascended the Mount of Transfiguration, you know who was with Him? Peter, James and John. And now, as Jesus is in the pit of sorrow, the same three are with Him.

While there is much that the secular world of psychology and the world of biblical counseling don’t agree on when it comes to the right ways to address depression, you know what one area that nearly everyone agrees on? That those who wrestle through dark nights of the soul need people around them. The Lord Himself said it first though: “it is not good for man to be alone.” Christopher Ash wrote a book that has been a good friend to me the last few weeks called Zeal Without Burnout. In that book, when speaking of the necessity of friendships in ministry, he says “If we neglect friendships, we are implicitly claiming an affinity with God that mortals cannot claim.” We were created for friendships.

Now, I’m going to be honest here: I don’t know very many people who are very good at building healthy friendships. And I know even fewer men. In fact, I cannot actually tell you how many conversations I have had with men who say something to the effect of “I don’t have any real friendships.” We say and live this reality out to our peril.

If our Lord Himself sought out relationships with other men in both the highest and lowest moments of his life, and surrounded himself every waking day with other men and women who were with Him, to follow Him, then it follows that we also need relationships with others. This is especially true in the dregs of sorrow, when we generally do all we can to be left alone. And yet, alone is literally the worst thing.

We as a church should be on the lookout for those we haven’t seen lately. When someone moves from community to isolation, there is almost always a reason for it. In some cases, it is as close as you will get to a cry for help. Is there someone in your life who has withdrawn? Is there someone who just won’t jump into any community anywhere? Do you love this person? If the answer to all three of these questions is yes, then I would encourage you to pursue them, and gently, patiently, and persistently encourage them to move towards community. Even if it’s a baby step. It isn’t easy; trust me, I know. But we can see, by principle, that Jesus utilized His closest relationships in His moments of deepest sorrow. And so should we.

B. Jesus utilized prayer - again, this is a common thread that we have pulled on for many weeks now, but in order to properly fight against the black dog of depression, we must be a people committed to prayer. Jesus knew He was about to be forsaken. He knew the Father was going to turn His face away. And yet, in this moment of deep need, He prays to the Father who would forsake Him.

Note how our Lord prays. Honest prayers: “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Jesus knew what awaited Him. We misunderstand the cross if we think He was most afraid of the physical agony. It was the spiritual agony, of bearing the wait of the sins of men in order to see a people purchased for God. He knew there was no other way, and yet, in total honesty, he expresses fear, and asks the Father if there may be some other way.

And again, He prays: if this cannot pass unless I drink it. The cup of God’s wrath was an absolutely terrifying prospect for Jesus. Psalm 75:8 describes it for us:

“For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.” This is what Jesus knew awaited Him. To drink the cup of God’s wrath on behalf of the wicked. The one who would never sin would bear the weight of our sins. The one who had always had perfect communion beyond description with His Father would now be forsaken by the Father. The one who could speak with the Father at any time would cry out to God in a few hours, and the only response He would get would be the mocking of those who scorned Him.

And knowing all this, in His time of great sorrow, Jesus prays. Over and over, three times. The same sorts of prayers. And so should we. Persistence in prayer must mark the person who is fighting against spiritual depression. We must have a sanctified stubbornness to fight against the darkness. And here is where these principles from our Lord come hand in hand. Do you know one of the greatest ways for us to have this holy stubborness? Community. To be around others who can encourage us to press on. Jesus’ conclusions to His prayers give us the last principle for us from the humanity of Jesus: Jesus’ priority.

C. Jesus demonstrated priority - though He faced absolute agony, Jesus desired God’s will to be done. Though He knew what awaited Him, and He asked the Father for some other way, He desired God’s Will be done. Though His sorrow was so great that it brought Him near death, He desired God’s will to be done.

Again, this is familiar to us, right? We have, almost each week in this series, pointed back to God’s providence. Last week, as we explored Ps. 77 was talked about God’s sovereignty in using suffering for our sanctification.

The biggest need in any of our lives is submission. Many of us resent this word in any form, at any time, and in any station of our lives. Submission is incredibly difficult when there are situations and sufferings in our life that we don’t want. Gethsemane gives us this great principle of submission in living color, as Jesus Himself, full of sorrow, makes a clear appeal for the cup of God’s wrath to pass, but then three times ends that same prayer with “your will be done.” I’ve been thinking through the song we sing “Your Will be Done.” That line “the fearful weight of true obedience, it was held by Him alone.” How could Jesus, knowing exactly what was going to happen, submit Himself to the will of the Father? And yet, He did.

We have said often, our hope must be deeper, richer, and more lasting than a simple end to our suffering here, or for better days or better moods. Our hope must be in the utter goodness and providence of God, who uses all things for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. This doesn’t mean that the things we experience are all “good;” it means that the ends that God is working us towards are all good. That is the key to submission. The goodness of God. I must trust in His good hand, even when I can’t see it.

These principles are helpful for us as well, because they provide for us a sort of action plan on how to work against the darkness. Get around people. Get on your face, and humble yourself. Tell God the desires of your heart, and then submit those desires to His will, so that He can do what He wishes with them. But we are missing the most substantial part of this account if we only stop with these principles. The depth of sorrow that Jesus experiences also gives us perspective.

II. Gethsemane gives us perspective

Now, we can begin to think through Gethsemane in ways in which we are all familiar. Nothing gives you perspective on your own suffering quite like being around others who are suffering worse, right?

When we first began doing ministry in this community, we were a site for many mission teams. Some came from Greenville, some came from other places. It was incredibly common for these teams to consist mostly of teenagers. I cannot tell you how many times I would talk to a parent about why they wanted to bring a team on mission to Slater and hear something like “I want them to see how much they have, and how blessed they have been.” In other words, they wanted them to have perspective. Now, I want to be clear: that isn’t the worst reason to go on a mission trip, but it’s pretty close.

Likewise, if we come to this passage and conclude that we just need to suck it up and deal with it, because Jesus had it so much worse than we have it, we miss the point of the passage here. For sure, this passage gives us perspective, but that perspective should produce gratefulness, not guilt. Look with me at the perspective Gethsemane gives.

A. We will never suffer like He did - no matter how painful our lives may be, they are not more painful than the life of the Man of Sorrows. This idea is supposed to be hope-giving, not guilt-inducing. Jesus went through the absolute worst, most unspeakable suffering anyone had ever endured, period. But do you know why He did that? So that we would be comforted in any affliction. Jesus could not be comforted, was not comforted by anyone here on earth. Even if His sleepy disciples could have stayed awake, and they could not, how could they have possible been able to offer any hope or comfort to Jesus? They couldn’t even conceive what was going on! They didn’t even agree with Jesus when He warned them that they all would be scattered just a few hours ago! They were convinced they would stay with Jesus no matter what! They couldn’t possibly grasp what Jesus was enduring!

The fact that we don’t have categories to even begin to understand Jesus’ suffering means for us that Jesus absolutely has categories to understand and sympathize with both our sufferings and our weaknesses. This is the good news that the author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

That’s perspective. He suffered as you suffer, in greater degrees than you suffer, so that He can, will, and does sympathize with your weaknesses. He was tempted sorely in the garden as He prayed. And yet, He was without sin. He was deep in sorrow, and fighting the darkness of depression. And yet, He was without sin. This means that we have a Christ who forgives sin! It doesn’t mean that we need to just imitate Christ; it means that when we fall short of it, Christ has fulfilled His work perfectly, and holds and sustains us! It means that even in our darkest times, and during our darkest emotions, and with our darkest thoughts. Christ holds us. We will never suffer like He did, when we are His children, because we don’t have to! The work is finished!

B. Our suffering here is the worst we will ever experience - because Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath, even if our suffering is chastisement, it is not wrath. Sometimes, in our darkest times, we may be prone to think that our suffering and sorrow will last forever. It doesn’t always help in the moment, but it is important to meditate on the fact that whatever suffering we experience here will be the worst suffering we will experience for all eternity. Life may get worse; the darkness may get deeper. The pain may become more acute. Loss may increase here. But there is an end, and it is fixed in God’s providence. Because Christ has bore the wrath of God, this suffering we experience is the worst it can get.

This is important for us, because I have heard from others and thought any number of times when I was suffering one question that is acutely painful as we navigate depression: is God punishing me? This is an important question to ask when suffering in any way, because it can reveal a few things for us. First, if by “is God punishing me” we mean “is God executing wrath on me for some sinful behavior I have committed” then the answer must simply be a resounding no. Do you truly believe, friend, that you are simply capable of bearing the wrath of God? Look at the agony of Jesus at Gethsemane, and he had not yet bore the wrath of God, but he knew what was coming. Do you think that you are capable of bearing such wrath in your own body? In addition, we must think lightly of grace if we think that God would apply the penalty for our sin first on Jesus, and then again on us. What is grace for?

Now, does God sometimes allow suffering into our lives in order to conform us to the image of Christ? Absolutely. But it is not punishment. Does God sometimes, often times, allow us to reap what we have sown in terms of sinful behaviors? Absolutely. At least part of my own fight with depression was a result of a frantic fear of man that sent me from one place to another in a desperate attempt to live in ways that were satisfying to others first, and not to God. A good bit of the reason that I am in the pit is from refusing to accept my own, God-given limitations and to work and minister within those boundaries. There are other things at play in my own life, in my own heart as well that all contributed to my own depression. But God allowing me to crash because of these things was grace, not punishment. And I can know this because Gethsemane gives me perspective on the crushing weight of the judgment of God. I cannot bear that weight, and I will never have to.

C. Because Christ bore His suffering alone, we will never suffer alone - His work ushered in the presence of The Comforter!

Jesus HAD to suffer alone. No one else could do, or had done, what He did. But this is where the whole counsel of Scripture was so critical. We studied 2 Cor. 1 just a few weeks ago, and in it saw that this was so that in our affliction, we would never be alone. In our times of suffering, no matter how big, or how small, we would not suffer alone, because Jesus suffered alone!

We often feel alone when suffering from sorrow, or grief, or loss, or any form of suffering. Divide and conquer is the enemy’s strategy, and it is incredibly effective. And yet, Gethsemane shows us that Jesus suffered alone, so that we would never suffer alone. We could not bear what He did. We could not handle the weight of the cup of God’s wrath. Even though He brought his closest friends, they could not truly carry the burden for Him. But because of this, He now stays closer to us than our next breath, and holds us, sustains us, and carries us through all the times of life, both light and dark.

There are limits to what our friendships, our relationships, and our love can do, and it is important that we both accept this and embrace it. When we love someone, especially when it is a close friend or family member, who is suffering, we want to do everything we can to help them. But as much as we can, and ought to do that, we must also recognize that we cannot do the work of fighting against depression FOR them. We may desperately want to see them change, and have hope and joy, but the reality is that until they struggle, and fight, and work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, little real, positive and lasting change will take place. Enabling behaviors can cripple someone’s capacity for change. As long as you act as a Messiah in someone’s life, they will not run to The Messiah. And that is what must happen in the life of the person suffering - they must see Jesus. Because Christ is sufficient to bring change, to offer hope, to move them towards joy, and to provide the last thing we see here that Christ gives at Gethsemane - peace.

III. Gethsemane gives us peace

Next week, as we study Psalm 23 together, we will see more about how the peace of Christ enables us to fight the long battle against darkness. But for today, Jesus fought the sorrow, the darkness, the temptation and won so that we would have peace. And that is the real source of peace for us - Jesus became a curse for us, so that we might be His forever, and He would be ours. And that is our source of true peace.

A. Because, my friends, Peace is not a feeling; it is a person. As Ephesians 2:14 says

Ephesians 2:14 ESV

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Gethsemane paved the way for us to have peace, because the Gospel is the means by which we have Christ!

B. Likewise, Hope is not a feeling; it is a person. Again, Paul, in 1 Timothy 1:1 writes

1 Timothy 1:1 ESV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

Jesus doesn’t point us to hope; Jesus is hope! Jesus shows us not just the way to hope, but that He is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus Christ alone is hope in this world. This is how Christians can never lose hope; because Christians can never lose Christ. Losing the emotional feelings of hope, and losing hope itself, are two different things. If we are in Christ, hope is ours, even when, and I would even say especially when, we cannot feel it!

C. So, what about joy? It is the same, my friend. Joy is not a feeling; it is a person; so we can hope in God, for we will again praise Him in joy. One day - true, unfettered, unencumbered joy in the presence of the Father and the Son. CS Lewis wrote that the trick about joy is that the moment we cease looking at the object of our joy, and we start to look at joy itself, joy evaporates. The feeling, the emotion of joy is only as good as the object of our joy. But Jesus Christ, who is peace, and who is hope, is also our joy! What an interesting christological truth here: we read in the story of Gethsemane of Jesus in emotional agony to the point of death, and in unspeakable sorrow. And yet, the Christ hymn, sung by early Christians and recorded by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 12:2 tells us Jesus is

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

How could Jesus have both agony and joy? Because the Gospel was His joy, and it was not simply an emotion, or a feeling. It was not just an experience. Jesus’ joy was rooted in obedience to the Father. It was grounded in God’s glory, and in the redemption of His people. So, Jesus the God-man could have both sorrow and joy; depression and joy; agony and joy. I think this is what we most often mean when we work to separate happiness from joy. Joy is Christ!

Action plan:

So, then our action plan for today is one point for each of us.

For the sufferer - read and study Jesus, not as a solution to your problem, but simply to learn more about Him and His ways. Pick up a Gospel and read it, looking to learn more about the Jesus that has saved you. Study His ways, His words, His care for His creatures. Let yourself meditate on His goodness, His kindness, and His mercy. Be still before Jesus, and let the Master show you who He truly is. Be patient, be still, be quiet. And learn from Jesus. This may not result in a better emotional state, but God is after bigger, and better things for you and I than that. He is after our holiness. So study Jesus, and then let the Spirit work.

For the one who loves a sufferer - Be particular. Know the Gospel well enough that Gospel language naturally flows from your mouth. Be a person who can speak peace, even if it isn’t recieved. Study Jesus. Take notice of how careful he was, even with disciples who failed Him, even with sinners who rejected Him, and work to imitate those things as you seek to care for loved ones who are suffering.

Friends, you can love Jesus, and not feel Jesus. You can fight for joy, and not feel it. You can seek Christ through the stubborn fog. His promise is true: if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Even if we cannot feel it.

Benediction: Ps. 40:1-3

Psalm 40:1–3 ESV

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.