Following The Father in Severe Times
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Scripture
Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.
32 Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.” 35 He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” 37 Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? 38 Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation., The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”
43 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.” 45 So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 They took hold of him and arrested him. 47 One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
48 Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture me? 49 Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
50 Then they all deserted him and ran away. 51 Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.
Context
We continue today further into our text in this ever present marching forward of Jesus to His death on the cross, which at this point is not very far away at all. A truth that He knew and very well understood, and despite warning His disciples several times, they did not. Remember that just before where we are today, Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the Passover meal, which was and extremely important religious festivity in the Jewish faith. Now they have finished the meal, and have retired to a sort of favorite spot of theirs (Gethsamane, a beautiful garden at the foot of the mount of olives) where they could remain and pray for a time. It was very common for the group to go there, but this would be their last time together.
As we look at today’s text, I want to bring to your attention and remind you that in our Christian Walks, the primary example of Who we are to follow/emulate/ or copy cat is Jesus Himself. We are to look at Jesus and do as He does, think like He thinks, and act as He has instructed us. Thus comes that saying that was very popular in the 90’s and early 2000, WWJD or What Would Jesus Do in this situation. In Today’s text, we see perhaps the most if not the most emotionally and spiritually taxing and difficult time that Jesus would endure in His life, at least up into His absolute last moments where God the Father would turn away from Him because the Sin of the World was put on Him. In today’s text, Jesus, much like we experience, was having His most difficult time ever. So, from
this and with the knowledge that we are to follow Jesus as our example, Followers of Christ are to see what Jesus did in His most severe and difficult time and do the same during theirs. So, let’s jump in and From the text, I want you to observe these situations Jesus was in as He was Following the Father in His most Severe time.
Message
The first situation to observe is that: Jesus Continues (32-42)
32 Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.” 35 He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” 37 Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? 38 Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation., The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”
Jesus and the disciples head out to Gethsemane, and he instructed most of them to sit and remain in a spot while He went and prayed. He took the 3 closest to Him, Peter, James, and John with Him a little way further. He told them about His grief and anguish, which was so trying that He was to the point of death (and remember, Jesus does not over exadurate as we are prone to do, this was a very serious comment from Him). In fact, it was so great that in Luke’s account it is recorded that an angel from Heaven was dispatched to minister to Him in this troubling time. He charged the three, stay here and stay awake. He went a little further Himself (clearly not to far, as at least the three had to hear His words to be able to record them), and He asked the Father that this painful and trying situation about to happen to Him would not happen. He did just as any flesh and blood person would, asked for it not to be. Yet Jesus, who wanted what God the Father wanted more than what His own body wanted, in His prayer said, “Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” Meaning, Father I don’t want this to happen, but if You do, then it is what I want as well. Here we see Jesus continuing on His road to fulfill the Father’s will. He then goes back to His closest three disciples, you may even say His closest three friends on the earth and found them 3 times unable to stay awake with Him, they were very tired. An interesting thing to read between the lines here, is to notice how Jesus addressed Peter, He did not address Peter as He had named Him, Peter, the rock on who’s faith the church will be built upon. No, He addressed Him as Simon, His birth name, meaning Peter, you aren’t acting like the rock right now……. On the third time Jesus caught them resting, it was now the time. Jesus tells them get up, I am being betrayed, my betrayer is here.
There is no greater story and example of continuing and perseverance than the one we are seeing unfold before our very eyes in this scripture. In fact, in today’s time and culture we love a good story/example/illustration of someone perseverating through a difficult time. When thinking on and reading stories of perseverance for this week’s sermon, I could not find a single one that was an appropriate comparison or example of what The Lord Jesus was going through now. Here we see the sinless one, the person who has done no wrong literally ever, experiencing the difficulty of having all the wrong and anger in the world put on Him to the point that would He experience death, yet He would go through with it because it was His Father’s will. Nothing can compare to this, so no wonder it’s hard to think of a worthy example.
None-the-less, we as believers are to aspire and go after and do this level of commitment to God. In fact, all people are supposed to do this, but only followers of Jesus Christ (that is Christians) have both the knowledge and the equipping agent (the Holy Spirit) to understand and do this level of commitment to God. To do this, means that we have to realize what our natural self wants and what we believe to be true on first thought, is probably wrong and not what God intended if it is not first met with time with Father and asking Him to show what His will is here. This is what Jesus is doing here, His flesh didn’t want this (his approaching death), but He wanted what God the Father wanted more than what His flesh wanted, so He went forward with it; much to our, to your benefit. Believer, you to will go through very difficult times in life that will leave you speechless and not knowing how to go forward. Rest assured, that the right way to go, is the way that God is beckoning you. He is beckoning you forward to go in the direction that brings Him Honor and Glory no matter how difficult the situation or how damaging it seems to yourself, just look here at Jesus, and see what He did during His most severe and difficult time, He did The Father’s will. This is what you are supposed to do, just like Jesus did, Jesus continued Following the Father in severe times.
The next is situation to observe is: Jesus betrayed (43-47)
43 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.” 45 So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 They took hold of him and arrested him. 47 One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
Judas Iscariot, appears with a mob. A well armed mob, complete with swords and clubs led by the Jewish religious leaders. To fulfill the sign that he told the mob he would do to show them which one they were to grab, Judas approaches Jesus, addresses Him as rabbi and kisses Him, a kiss of betrayal, a kiss that would bring much woe to Judas in the very near future. When the crowd saw this, when they saw the sign of the kiss, they grabbed Jesus and arrested him. In retaliation one of the disciples, John’s gospel shares with us that it was Peter, took out His sword and struck the high priest’s servants ear; which Luke’s account shares that Jesus actually performed a miracle in front of them by touching him and restoring his ear. Even in the face of this miracle, still the crowd in front Him (a crowd that should have committed to Him as the priests, scribes, and elders) chose to betray their God; chose to betray Jesus.
So, what then is betrayal? It is turning your back on someone. It is doing wrong by them. In this case, it was handing them over to be arrested, even though you knew that their was no reason to do it. Judas did this cheaply, without any real significant gain here, but huge loss. That is to say, it’s not like Judas went away empty handed, being given 30 pieces of silver for his betrayal of Jesus. However, not long before this happened, it was recorded that Judas was angry because of what he saw a as a waisted opportunity to make money was done through a simple perfume bottle; which they estimated to be worth 300 pieces of silver. So, Judas handed over Jesus for 1/10th than a bottle of perfume. It’s clear here, that Satan had great control of Judas, and used his sin vice of love of money to betray to Holy one, Jesus. If you need some kind of modern comparison, this amount of silver at it’s most conservative estimate would be less than $100 and the most generous estimate would be less than $450. Could you imagine that? Handing over your teacher, who you knew to be God for less than $500. Clearly, Satan inside of Judas had no care for the worth of money, as the act of Judas betrayal was worth a whole heck of a lot, Satan was trying (but he didn’t know he wouldn’t succeed) to get his great victory over God.
We must see here, Jesus despite knowing what would happen, went into this time and event of betrayal because it was the Father’s will. We too, must face times of betrayal and heart ache with the same goal. That no matter how hard it gets, how much our heart hearts, how great the sin against us and God, we are also going forward with the mindset that our goal is not vengeance or getting back, but moving/acting/thinking/and doing in a way that seeks to bring God the honor and glory that He is due. See what Jesus did here during His most difficult time, and do the same as you follow the Father in your severe times.
Another situation to observe is: Jesus abandoned (48-52)
48 Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture me? 49 Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
50 Then they all deserted him and ran away. 51 Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.
Jesus comments on the religious leaders absurdity here. That they would come out with a whole crowd armed to the teeth, as if he was some sort of dangerous criminal or rebellion leader; which He was not. Jesus points out, I have been a peaceful leader, a rabbi who has been in front of you teaching in your temple, never was I dangerous there. But now, here in this private and secluded place, you come after me. Jesus also points out, this must be done; because the scripture must be (and are being) fulfilled about how He would soon be God’s sacrificial lamb for our sin. In a panic, Jesus’ follower scatter, they desert Him, they abandon Him, and they took any length to do it. Even look at what happened to one of them, one of them; whom tradition holds to be John Mark but we aren’t certain of this; was caught hold of and had his dressing gown ripped off. This left him shamefully naked and running away. Jesus was abandoned, even to the point of great shame coming upon them. Jesus was left alone with the crowd, even to the point that the man would not return for his clothes. Jesus was abandoned.
There is of course, great shame in deserting or abandoning your friends during a time of great need. Such a great shame is it, as I’m sure many of your military families will understand, that doing so is punishable by death such as in critical moments when you were needed. And as any kid will learn on the playground, that betraying a friend often means they will no longer be your friend anymore.
For some of us in this room, and I myself am one of them, our greatest fear in life can be being betrayed and abandoned by the people that matter most to you like your best friends and family. Jesus was experiencing this kind of betrayal in the worst degree here, even though they all knew that He (as God) had the power, ability, and will, to protect His people, they left Him high and dry in this moment. Believer, as you navigate your life on earth, because of the sinful and selfish and self preserving nature of mankind, you will also experience some kind of great and unfair abandoning. It is and will be painful and hurtful. None the less, we have to not esteem ourselves or others so much, and instead consider what God wants as more important than our own pride or needs or wants for security. When you are in that trying time, look at Jesus and what He did here during his difficult time of abandonment here and do the same, you are to Follow the Father’s will in your severe times.
Conclusion
Beloved, don’t let the examples of Jesus go unnoticed this easter season. Don’t the familiarness of the stories and events leading up the cross make you not realize the seriousness of these situations and that they have a timeless message for us to hear, see, and apply to our lives. Notice what Jesus does, even in the face of betrayal and abandonment, what does He do? He continues, He continues Following the Father in the severe time. Jesus as our are example, shows us that we are to do the same, to continue to persevere through the difficult situations and trials remember that what God wants for us is greater than we have imagined. So, as His child we are to follow Him during even the most severe and difficult times. Are you going through this right now? Do you suspect you are about to? Did you just come out of one? Keep your head up beloved, know that God loves you and is with you, and follow Him, no matter the difficulty level.
With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.
With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.
