The Garden Matthew 26:36-46
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning Rivertree. It is a joy to be with you this morning. If you at cove or watching online I want to say goodmorning to you also.
If you have your Bibles go ahead and open up to Matthew 26 and in a moment we will start in verse 36
We’ve been walking through Matthews gospel for the last year last week we saw Jesus share the passover meal with his disicples and watched as one of his closet friends left to betray him
WE also got insight that Peter would deny Jesus three times.
and here we find Jesus alone, in a garden crying out to the father for help
and the best we can this morning I want us to go to the garden with him. To see our saviour in his full huminatiy. Wrestling with sorrow, even sorrow to the point of death.
Listen to his words, let the living and active word of God speak to the deepest regions of your soul
let’s read Matthew 26:36-46
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
What a moment. In verse thirty we are told they sang a hymn together. Then from there Jesus looks at them after this sweat moment of worship and says you are all going to fail.
and as they pledge their commit to Jesus they began to move towards the cross. On the way to the cross
they stop in Gethsemane and we are told they stop their so Jesus can pray.
They are with him. He is keeping them close to himself and as they go to pray he brings with him Peter and the 2 sons of Zebedee- James and John.
We aren’t told why but we have seen these three discples with Jesus at very important moments in his life
They were there at the transfigurtion where his full deity was on discple and now in the garden he brings them with him and they will witness his full humanity.
It’s a picture of Jesus we are not use to seeing. Here in the Gethsamne this oil press he becomes sorrowful and troubled.
and it would be wise to stop here and ask the question why? Why is Jesus sorrowful why is he troubled.
and then Jesus gives us insight he says he soul is very sorroful even to death.
Matthew has bearly made any reference to the emotions of Jesus up to this present moment and I think he does this intentionl he does not want the reader to miss what’s happeneing here
The gopsel writers don’t paint Jesus as some mythical superhero.
They are clear. Jesus is fully God
and Jesus is fully human. It’s why Jesus faces these emotions. They aren’t sinful. We know that becasue Jesus never sinned. No in fact what these emotions are, are human. Jesus is showing what it looks like to be a full human. Fully aware of what’s happening inside of him
Jesus is facing the dreadful reality of what is happen. He is staring it right in the face.
B.B warfield said what Jesus is facing was z”a crushing, overwhelming, devastating sense of horror, a mental and spiritual anguish and agony that made him feel like he was dying.”
and it’s curious right? It’s the qeustion again. Why does Jesus feel this way.
We know it’s not new information. Jesus knew he was going to die. He has been teaching about it over and over throughout his ministry
And he new his death wouldn’t be just a death of natural causes.
If you read the gospels you know that Jesus states over and over in a very detailed way that he knew why he was going to die
He knew he had come into the world to die and suffer for sins. He had told his disciples about this.
so it wasn’t new knowledge or information that he was going to die that causes him to be sorroful to the point of Death.
another intresting thing to contrast this sorrow with is all the other people who have died for what they believe in and had peace in those moments facing death.
We traveld to Oxfod England this past year and it is filled with church history. on the main street of england there is a momument of a feel people who were burned at the stake for their fatih
and part of the reason they are famous is because of their last words.
Latimer said to the person next to him
Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day, by God’s grace, light such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out.
They arean’t in angusih. They aren’t falling to the ground like we will Jesus in a moment praying for God to come up with another way.
THey aren’t crushed.
and in reality hundreds if not thousands of followers of Jesus Christ seem to handle this moment facing death better then him.
And the reason why isn’t becasue they aren’t facing what he is facing.
Jesus tells us why he feels this way three times in his prayer to the father
He asked the three to watch with him. He wanted the presence of friends to be with him as he went to pray
and when he went just a little futher he fell on his face and prayed.
We probably all can relate to what Jesus is doing here.
Where the news is so bad, where you are in such shock, where the suffering and pain is real that all you know to do is fall on your face and pray
Even here as the night gets darker for Jesus he is idenitfying with us in our suffering.
and it’s here he prayers to the Father. He has done this before He has withdrewn and prayed
We are told by the writer of HEbrews Jesus did exactly this
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
but it’s here Jesus prayers
and his prayer is simple. He says “my father’ showing the personal relationship he had with the father. If it’s possible let this cup pass from me.
what is the cup? It’s sperpartion from God his Father. It’s the full wieght of Gods wrath.
In Isaih 51 “the cup” represents the cup of Gods wrath.
In Jermiah 25 the cup is the wine of wrath.
in the prophets writngs the evil nations drink the cup due to their sin
but here sinless Jesus is going to drink the cup for the nations
I read a little book by
CJ maheny wrote in his book christ our meditor
As Jesus lies prostrate on the ground, we overhear Him making this plea His words tell us why: "Let this cup pass from Me."
What is this cup? It is clearly a reference to the wrath of God for your sins and mine. Isaiah 51:17 shows us this cup in God's extended hand—it's "the cup of His fury," and for those who drink from it, it's "the cup of trembling." This cup contains the full vehemence and fierceness of God's holy wrath poured out against all sin, and we discover in Scripture that it's your cup … and mine.
What Jesus recoils from here is not an anticipation of the physical pain associated with crucifixion. Rather it's a pain infinitely greater—the utter distress of soul as He confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from His Father on the cross.
Jonathan Edwards put it like this. He essentially said, “Christ was going to be cast into a dreadful furnace of wrath, and it was not proper that he should plunge himself into it blindfolded, as not knowing how dreadful the furnace was. Therefore, God brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace, that he might look in and stand and view its fierce and raging flames, might see where he was going, and might voluntarily enter into it and bear it for
He continues, “If Christ had not fully known before he took it and drank it, it would not have properly been his own action as a human being,” and get this, “but when he took that cup then, knowing what was in it, so was his love to us infinitely the more wonderful and so was his obedience to God infinitely the more perfect.”
and as he prayers. Nothing silence. This teaches us something else. Here is a man. Unstained by sin. Perfectly obeident to God who goes to God in prayer and there is not a response.
If we aren’t careful we will think if I live the right way I can avoid suffering complelty. Friends that is anti gospel and a lie.
We can’t avoid suffering. It’s inevetiable for every single person. But God doesn’t waste our suffering.
He doens’t waste our pain.
He doens’t look down from heaven and say if you had more faith, or if you just prayed more, or if you are more obdient then you wouldn’t suffer.
No this moment in the life of Jesus validates our suffering. And we can realize though Jesus was abandoned in the garden we won’t be.
when we come to our own gethsamane moments in life we can be confont that jesus stands beside us.
If we aren’t careful when we face suffering we might think “ok i’m a christian. I need to just grin and bear it” I just need to have faith. I just need to say things like
God is sovering- True
It’s all good
it’s no big deal
we know God will work this for his glory
and why some of those statements are true they are incomplete.
Jesus expierencing emotinos that seem overhelming give us permission to do the same.
Jesus sorrow and dread, his questioning did not mean he wasn’t faithful.
No it was in the midst of dread and sorrow that he falls to his knees and says God please let there be another way.
and as he prayers we see his increadible commitment to the Fathers will.
He says not my will but yours be done. It’s how he taught the disicples to pray
He said this is how you prayer
Our father, In heaven, Holy is your name. Thy kindgom come, thy will be done.
and here he is praying that kind of pray. He isn’t praying like the pagans who have long prayers
He is praying from his heart. But in his heart he desires Gods will above all
and then we see another contrast. Jesus is praying and verse 40 says he went to his discples and found them sleeping.
How intresting. Jesus finds it that way also he asked Peter specifically “could you not watch with me one hour.”
that would be hard to hear. Luke tells us they were sleeping because of sorrow
maybe you’ve had a sorrow like that. Where you were so exhausted from sorrow you just slept when you could.
I know I have been there a few times in my life. I remeber when we had a first miscarriage we felt deep sorrow. We wept that night. I can still hear the tears at times
and then over the next few days we would just fall alseep because we were exhausted from sorrow.
this was what the disciples beging to expierence. and proably being a little unaware of what was going on they woke up and what Jesus does here is increadibly compassinote
He doesn’t cast them out. He doesn’t say I’m tired of you. He doesn’t even shame them. Insetad he says
watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
this word watch is to remain fully alive. To be in constant readiness, and be on alert
He knows they have an enemy who wants to destroy them
and he knows temptation is coming there way. He tells them to pray like he taught
led us not into temptaiton.
he knows personally temptation would come. He had faced it and not sinned in the wildnerness and know he tells his disciples it’s going to get harder. Pray
and then he goes away a second time. He prays to the Fteher agian.
and the words are different. He says if this can’t happen without me drinking this cup. Your will be done.
Resloved to do the fathers will no matter what.
and he goes back and finds them asleep again. Their eyes are heavy so he leaves them again and prayed again saying the same thing.
He doesn’t over compllicate the situaition. He is fully resoloved
Here in the garden Jesus says I’ll do this.
Every other time in scriputre we see a situation like this we see God say Obey me and you will live.
Obey me and I will welcome you.
Obey me and you’ll become like me
obey me and you will be rewarded
that’s what God is saying. He said that to Adam in Eden God said to Adam “obey me about the tree and you will live”
but at this point in history God says to Jesus who was fully human. Obey me and I will crush you
obey me and you die
sin began in a garden but salvtion is coming in this garden
sin began when Adam disobyed God
Salvaiton comes when Jesus who paul referes to as the second adam when Jesus obeys God about the cross
In Jesus obedience if he drinks the cup he will be nailed to the cross and the wrath of God on him completly for our sins
it’s here in gethsamne Jesus is loving God with all his heart,mind, strenght and soul.
and it’s here in the garden Jesus is living the life we should have lived
sometimes we think all Jesus did for us when he died was take our punishment and our sins upon himself. So for those who bleive he would seperate our sins as far as the east is from the west
and while that’s true. It’s not all he did.
Jesus obeyed perfectly so that when you and I put our faith in him not only are your sins paid for, His rightouness is credited to you!
(COMPLETED)
That is awesome. And it’s this kind of righoutness this kind of obdience
Paul puts it this way in
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Friends this is increadible. When God looks at us he sees the perfect obdience of his son.
and it’s that perfect obdience when non one is looking which is a great encoruament to me
it reminds me probably the most signficant moments of obdeince the moments that have a real chance to shape my life are those moments when no one is watching.
It’s the oppurtunity to live like Jesus did
to obey in the light and the dark. a good question to ask ourselves would be is there anything I do in the dark when no one is watching that I wouldn’t want my friends to see in the light? and if there is today is a chance to turn from those things and allow the obeidence of Christ to shape your life.
And when we understand this. That we are completly forgiven and the rightouness of Jesus has been put on us we can live the abudent and full life he promises.
You don’t have to worry about whose rejecting you becasue of Gods love you are accepted in Christ.
it’s here in the garden he was beginning to recive from God what we desrve, wrath and we were getting from God what Jesus deserves
He has modeled prayer in the garden. He has modeled integrity
he’s emotionally honest
and pour himself out to do the fathers will
and even at the end he goes back and his dsicples are alseep again.
Jesus says to them sleep later. I am about to be betryared into the hands of sinners
I want you to see how he loves them. He says stay with me.
Luke tells gives us another perspective of his love
and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
in other words we worship a God who comes to his 11 and says let’s do this again.
they had let him down and he gives them another chance.
So different then myself. I think there are people who have let me down in my moments of great need
even fallen asleep when you needed them?
It’s easy to write those people off. It’s easy to just pull back
but Jesus does the opoiste. He leans in, he loves, he leads,
and while he is a great model. He is more then that. He is our subsitute and his the saviour
and that’s someone worth giving everything to. So why do we have trouble laying it all out for him. Why do we struggle with complete surrender
it’s a trust issue
If we are completly honest there may be times we wonder if God has our best intrest in minds. If what he asked us to do will really work out
but it’s probably also the fact we don’t trust oursleves
one of the reasons we don’t give ourselves wholly to Jesus is becasue we are afraid of failure
If you are anything like me. You might think.
If I really put my trust in God
I’ll let him down
I’ll wear out his patience
It’s not even possible.
In the garden we see Love came down for you
and the wrath of God came down on him and it didn’t break his love for you
and if the wrtah of God came down on Jesus in the garden and that didn’t stop his love for us we can agree with Paul nothing will ever break his love for us
So give yourselve to Christ completly. Because as Ross said last week you will fail, but don’t be so proud to think that yoru failure is going to wear out Gods love for you
Because if what Jesus expierenced in the Garden and on the cross didn’t cause him to say that’s it i’m done with people nothing will
Failure is never final or fatal Jesus gave them another chance
Becasue we serve a God of second, third, fourth and 500th chance
we serve a God who brings new tomorrows and new oppurtunites
