Prayer: The God who says no.

Intro

Good morning, I’d like to invite you to open your Bibles with me to Matthew 26:36-46.

We are continuing our series on prayer in which we are looking at several stories of faithful prayer in God’s word,

and then drawing from them instruction and encouragement for prayer in our own lives.

So far in this series we looked first at the prayer of God’s servant Hannah.

From Her prayer in 1 Samuel 1, we learned to cry out to the Lord; and to cry out to him honestly and with faith.

Last week when we examined the story of Esther, we saw that God is a God who acts.

He is sovereign over his creation, over history and over situations. He determines all that comes to pass.

For this reason we can pray in confidence that he has acted, he is acting, and he will act to bring about his great and good plan.

But I want to ask you a question as we begin our time in the word together this week.

We established in our first session in this series that God sometimes says yes to our requests of him,

and sometimes he says later, as he had said to Hannah for so many years in 1 Samuel.

But what if God says no?

How ought we to pray when an answer of “no” may seem like a sure thing?

Why pray at all, if God determines all things in his sovereignty and can just as easily say no to our requests as he can say yes?

These questions take us to our passage in Matthew 26:36-46 where we encounter Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Context

Just to give you some context to where we are in the story of Jesus.

Jesus is in the final hours of his earthly ministry before he is to be crucified.

Jesus has just finished teaching and eating with his 12 disciples in the upper room, in what is often called the last supper.

Judas has already left in order to betray Jesus, to have him arrested and then killed.

Then in our passage, Matthew 26:36-46, we read this.

Matthew 26:36-46

Matthew 26:36–46 ESV

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.”

Exposition

Setting (vv.36-38)

Oil Press (v. 36)

In the first two verses of our text this morning we are given the setting to probably the most intimate and agonizing time of prayer in history.

It says here in Matthew 26:36

Matthew 26:36 (ESV)

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane,

Gethsemane was likely a walled garden,

a place where Jesus and his disciples frequently went in order to rest and to pray when they were in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

The name of the garden: “Gethsemane”, means “oil press”.

As the garden was on the mount of olives, this was a place where olives were pressed for oil.

But the name of the garden also gives us a clue to what our Lord would undergo in this last night before his crucifixion.

Watch with Me (vv. 37-38)

Our passage goes on to say in vv. 37-38.

Matthew 26:37–38 ESV

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.”

Jesus leaves the larger group of the 12 and brings with him Peter, James and John.

These were the three disciples closest in relationship to Jesus.

These three were present at Jesus transfiguration where he became as bright as sunlight, and stood with the prophets Moses and Elijah.

In that moment described for us in Matthew 17, these three disciples were witness to Jesus’s majesty.

But now they would be witness to another side of Jesus:

This was a side of the saviour that was described by the prophet Isaiah 600 years before, in Isaiah 53:3, where the prophet says this of him:

Isaiah 53:3 (ESV)

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

Jesus discloses the condition of his soul to these three disciples, telling them that he is sorrowful even to the point of death.

Now this does not mean that Jesus was wishing death due to his sorrow,

but that he is experiencing a sorrow so deep it could nearly kill.

And he asks the these three disciples to remain and watch with him.

In saying this he is asking his disciples to pray as they wait for what will soon take place.

Jesus’ Prayer (v. 39)

Posture (v. 39a)

In v. 39 we read:

Matthew 26:39 (ESV)

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed.

Luke’s account of this event tells us that Jesus walked about a stone’s throw away from Peter, James and John.

And then Jesus fell on his face and prayed.

Jesus takes this posture when he cries out to the Father.

Now I don’t believe Jesus put that much thought into his posture when he began praying,

when you’re sorrowful to the point of death you tend not to think too much about how you present yourself.

But posture in prayer does mean something.

In the scriptures we see different postures demonstrated and encouraged during prayer.

In an article entitled What Posture Should I Use When I Pray, Kevin Struyk writes that “[King] David sits before the Lord in prayer (2 Sam. 7:18), [King] Solomon stands and extends his hands in prayer (1 Kings 8:22), and Paul exhorts Timothy and others to pray, lifting holy hands (1 Tim. 2:8).”

In the scriptures we also see God’s servants kneeling like when the prophet Daniel prayed three times a day in Daniel 6.

And of course we see examples of people lying down, with their faces to the ground like our Lord does in our passage this morning.

Now we are blessed in that we can pray at all times and in any sort of posture.

One of the things I heard often from my Sunday school teachers as a child was that “you can pray anywhere, at any time.”

Then for some reason they often tagged on the line, “you can pray silently in your mind even when you’re standing talking to a police officer.”

When I was a little kid, I always thought it was a bit weird that they told us that.

Then when I was a teenager, I found myself putting it into practice a couple of times.

I’m glad they told me that, it stuck.

Obviously we are blessed to be heard by God no matter what posture we take, and no matter when we pray.

The greatest importance in prayer is the posture of our heart toward God.

But it is also a good thing when the posture of your body, reflects the posture of your heart when you pray.

Involving your whole being in the act of praying.

I would even say that it is helpful.

Personally, I have found kneeling in prayer or standing to be very helpful in keeping me focused on what I am doing,

and they allow me to express the posture of my heart in my body as I approach the throne of God by the Spirit.

In our passage, Jesus is lying prostrate, throwing himself down before the Father.

And this posture he takes, reflects the sorrow in his soul.

With his tear streamed face against the soil, our Lord prays these words in v. 39.

Honesty In His Request (v. 39b)

Matthew 26:39 (ESV)

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Just like when we looked at the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 a couple of weeks ago, Jesus is honest with his desire and his request.

He asks the father, that if it is at all possible, that the cup he is about to drink would pass from him.

When Jesus speaks about the cup here, he is using a term that we find him using throughout his ministry,

and one that we find throughout the scriptures.

The Cup

Wine was made through a violent process of crushing grapes underfoot until the juice flowed.

Remember that word crush because it will come up again later.

This process, and because wine looked like blood in appearance, made wine a natural symbol of wrath of God.

In the old and new testaments, the image of wine representing the wrath of God was a recurring motif.

The winepress (and the cup) of God’s wrath is mentioned in Psalm 75, Isaiah 51 and 63, and in several other places,

you especially see it in the book of Revelation.

Jesus also uses the image of the cup to indicate suffering when he asks James and John this question in Matthew 20:22; “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”

This is why Christians all over the world regularly drink a cup - in remembrance of Christ’s shed blood on the cross.

The Plan

Jesus knew what was meant to happen to him during this particular stay in Jerusalem.

In the days leading up to this point, Jesus had disclosed to the disciples three times the plan that God had prepared beforehand.

In Matthew 20:17-19 we read,

Matthew 20:17–19 ESV

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

That Jesus would die on a cross to pay for the sins of the world was God’s plan from the beginning.

In the Apostle Peter’s sermon to the crowds at pentecost, Peter makes it clear that it was God’s plan that the Lord Jesus be handed over to be crucified.

He says in Acts 2:22-23

Acts 2:22–23 (ESV)

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up (listen to this) according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

That Jesus would be crucified, that he would be crushed, that he would drink this cup of suffering, this cup of wrath - this was always the plan.

When you and I justly deserved the cup of God’s wrath for sinners, Jesus took it and drank it for us.

The Request

But here in our passage in v. 39 Jesus asks the Father that, “if it be possible, [that he would] let this cup pass from [him].”

This was not a selfish request, this was an honest request.

The word “excruciating” literally means “from the cross.

And what Jesus was about to undergo in his body would be excruciating.

This is besides the spiritual agonies that might come from having the sins of the world placed upon his shoulders,

the likes of which you and I could never imagine.

So Jesus here, humbly and honestly asks the Father if there is another way that salvation could be accomplished.

Another way that the redemption of mankind could be secured.

And he asks this three separate times.

The Disciples Sleep (vv. 40-41)

But as many times as Jesus prays this prayer he goes and finds his disciples asleep.

We read in Matthew 26:40-41,

Matthew 26:40–41 ESV

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.”

Now we can be tempted to be hard on the disciples here.

I mean the Lord is in anguish crying out to God only a stones throw away, and here they are sleeping.

But Luke’s account of this event tells us in Luke 22:45, that the disciples were sleeping for sorrow.

Sorrow can be exhausting, if you’ve stayed up with a loved one as they are nearing death you know this intimately.

Jesus had warned them of what was coming.

And it was because his betrayal, arrest, and then death were imminent that Jesus urged them to pray.

All of them had expressed their sincere desire to follow Jesus even to death.

In the very verse before our passage this morning it says, in Matthew 26:35, that

Matthew 26:35 ESV

Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Their spirit was willing, but Jesus knew that their flesh was weak.

In a little while they would all scatter, and Peter himself would deny even knowing Jesus three times.

Praying Against Temptation

In this instance we see the disciples failing to pray that they would not fall into temptation,

then we see them promptly fall into temptation.

I’ll tell you this hit me hard, because this is a prayer I have neglected in my own life.

Though I regularly pray the lords prayer, I tend to put the weight of my heart behind the portion that says, “forgive us our sins”,

instead of the part that says, “and lead us not into temptation.”

I wonder, if I spent more time preemptively praying for strength, and faithfulness, and deliverance from temptation,

that I might be granted those things.

Perhaps I wouldn’t have to spend so much of my prayer time asking for forgiveness.

Not My Will (39, 44)

Honesty in Emotion (v.42, Luke 22:43-44)

After finding the disciples asleep and urging them to pray, we read in v. 42 we read,

Matthew 26:42 ESV

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Luke 22 gives us more detail about this second instance of Jesus praying this prayer.

We read in Luke 22:43-44:

Luke 22:43–44 ESV

And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Though an angel appears and strengthens him, Jesus this second time prays more earnestly and in greater agony.

When this passage describes Jesus’ sweat as becoming like great drops of blood, Luke is describing a real medical condition called Hematohidrosis.

The condition is rare and can develop for a number of reasons, but it can also occur when someone goes through extreme stress.

Historically cases had been reported in soldiers before they went into battle.

Just like when we looked at the prayer of Hannah, we see Jesus, not just being honest with his request,

but he is also honest in his emotions.

The Son of God, in crying out to the father, demonstrates:

in his posture,

in his manner,

in his body,

his deep anguish as he is about to face the cross for the sins of the world.

And he asks if there is another way for salvation to be won without drinking the cup of God’s wrath.

But do you see how he asks?

His first prayer in v. 39.

Matthew 26:39 (ESV)

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

and his second prayer in v. 42

Matthew 26:42 (ESV)

“My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

“not as I will, but as you will.”

“your will be done.”

Though Jesus makes a request, that the cup of suffering might pass from him,

his greater desire was that the Father’s will would be done.

We saw earlier that the Prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus the messiah as a man of sorrows,

but only a few verses later Isaiah prophesies this about the one who would take away the sin of the world.

The prophet says in Isaiah 53:4-6:

Isaiah 53:4–6 (ESV)

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

And in v. 10 of that passage the prophet says,

Isaiah 53:10 (ESV)

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

Jesus knew this when he prayed those words,

“not as I will, but as you will.” “your will be done.”

Praying In The Will of God

See this is the difference between the God that exists, and the god that so many of us want.

So many people, even many who call themselves Christians,

think of God as one who exists to make them feel good and happy.

This belief has been called “moralistic therapeutic deism” by theologians.

And it is maybe the most common belief among church going people in the west.

But even though it is common, it’s very far from the Biblical Christian faith, it’s actually a heresy.

And it is why so many people treat God as if he is a vending machine, or Santa clause when they pray.

It is also a faith that is easy to walk away from, because if God does not deliver what I ask for, then he must not exist.

But God exists, and by his very nature, because he is God, he does not exist for you.

As his creature, you exist for him.

Colossians 1:16 tells us that “all things were created through him and for him.”

If all things were not created through him and for him, then he would not be God.

And because God is a real, genuine, living being, and not just a made up character to make us feel good, God has a will of his own.

Last week when we looked at the story of Esther we saw that God acts.

He acts in his creation,

He acts in history,

and He acts in situations,

but we must always remember that always acts according to his will.

But I want to make something clear.

So often when we talk about these deep truths about about God we can forget about God’s goodness.

God always acts according to his will, but his will is entirely and perfectly good.

His actions in creation, in history, and in situations are all according to his great and good plan.

When we trust in God, in his goodness, and in the goodness of his plan,

our greatest desire should be that his will would be done.

Just as Jesus asks, that the Father’s will be done.

Because if we belong to God, then his great and good plan, is good for us.

As Romans 8:28 tells us,

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

When we pray to God and request something, whatever his answer; whether it is yes, whether it is later, or whether it is no.

Because God answers prayer according to his sovereign will, his answer is always good.

So when we pray, we ought to pray in the knowledge that whatever we ask, God’s answer will be according to his perfectly good will.

If God is Sovereign Why Pray?

Now, you might ask the question, “If God is sovereign, and he works all things according to his will anyway, why pray?”

Well first I would ask the opposite, “If God is not sovereign, and he doesn’t work all things according to his will, why would you pray?”

Why would you even ask, if God is not sovereign over his creation?

God is sovereign, that is why we ask.

But God also works in and through the prayers of those who love him.

R.C. Sproul says this, that God, “In his sovereignty has so designed his plan of salvation to work through the prayers of his people.”

When we pray, God is involving our prayers in accomplishing his will on earth.

Another way to think of it, is that when we pray we don’t change God’s mind, but when we pray, God uses our prayers to change things.

But God always does so according to his perfect, sovereign will.

So we see in our passage that Jesus prays: that the Father’s will be done.

The Hour Is At Hand (vv. 45-46)

Jesus does not wait long for the answer to his prayer to be made manifest. We read in vv. 45-46 of our passage:

Matthew 26:45–46 ESV

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.”

Application

When God Says No

Jesus, in his prayer in Gethsemane asks the father for two things.

1. That the cup of suffering might pass from him.

2. And that the Father’s will would be done.

The father said no to one of those requests.

He said no, according to his perfect and good will.

When we cry out to the Lord and make a request of him honestly and with faith,

we need to be ready for “no” to be a possible answer.

But we also need to trust, that God says no because he is working according to a perfect and good plan,

this is even true when an answer of “no” means that for a time we will go through difficulty or suffering.

Jesus knows what this is like.

Though he did have to drink from the cup, and he suffered, and died on the cross.

Through that great act of suffering God accomplished the greatest good ever achieved in all of history,

the salvation of the world.

This he did according to his perfect and good plan.

God in his sovereignty uses even the reality of suffering in this world to accomplish his plan for the salvation of the world.

Conclusion

As recipients of this salvation through Jesus Christ.

As people who love God and trust in his good and perfect will,

lets commit to pray.

Let’s bring our request to God.

Let’s cry out to him honestly and with faith.

Let’s cry out to him knowing that he is using our prayers to accomplish his perfect will in the world.

But let’s also cry out with the knowledge that even when he says “no”, he is answering that way because he is “working all things together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

This may mean difficulty, hardship, and suffering right now,

but at the end of time we will be able to see how he has worked all things together, to accomplish something greater than we could ever imagine.