GOLGOTHA TO GLORY - Part 1

Text: Mark 14: 32-52; 15:6-32

INTRODUCTION

There are several parts of the year that Christians can easily reflect on. That wonderful song it’s the most wonderful time of the year can apply multiple times.

For some of us in this room that soundtrack may be playing when all the family is seated at the table together for a wonderful meal. For some in this room Thanksgiving, is that season others summer vacation… That was certainly mine when I was a kid in school. End of semester for those working on degrees.

I think several decades ago we recognized that the Easter holiday drew the local community to church.

While the date suggests that that has shifted to the Christmas holiday, as even a secular society longs for a traditional expression of Christmas; these days are incredibly meaningful for the people of God.

We observe the Lord’s resurrection every week in a manner of speaking because we gather on Sundays, the first day of the week, for worship.

But in a real sense, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday, this season represents some high marks in orthodox Christianity.

Some churches with a higher liturgy than ours or a more formal expression, observe, lent, and all manner of services that feed into these holy days.

There’s so many different ways to capture our attention as a church family so that we might focus on the right things during the season.

I don’t mean things that get in the way of a clear view of Christ on the cross or Christ resurrected, but I mean different ways that the preacher can hold up these markers of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, the Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We are Mission Bible Church. We always want you to leave with a great appreciation for the word of God. We want you to hear God speak and that’s why we read the scripture.

It’s really difficult to do justice to all of those elements in one sermon on Resurrection Sunday… And so…Today I would like to do an extended reading from Mark’s gospel account of the crucifixion and next week we will look at John’s account of the resurrection.

TRANSITION

Although we “start” Passion Week with Palm Sunday, the story of the cross really began in eternity past. God saw all of this and knew because he’s God that he would have to send his only begotten son a very real part of a very real Trinity to this earth to take on the form of man to pay the price for the sins of humanity.

We don’t have time to start with creation, but the creation order speaks to the goodness of God and man’s need of God for good!

Chapter 14 begins us two days before Passover and the feast of unleavened bread.

The chief priests and the Pharisees and scribes were in Ernest, trying to plot how to kill Jesus.

Jesus spent some time at Bethany before heading to Jerusalem for Passover.

While at Bethany Judas had his meeting with the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them.

In verse 12, they get to the upper room that has already been sovereignly ordained and carefully arranged beforehand for this particular passover celebration with Jesus and His disciples.

THE PASSOVER MEAL / JESUS’ LAST SUPPER

Let’s pick up in Verse 22, since we’ll be observing the Lord’s Supper again today.

Mark 14:22–26 ESV

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The temptation when we read this text is to ONLY think of this account as the institution of the Lord supper, in a way it is… But in a very real sense, it would serve us to look with different eyes.

The point of this paragraph is that this is Jesus’s last supper before he dies – in particular it is his last passover meal. During this last meal with his friends, he re-interprets the Passover meal so that it points toward his own death.

Remember, that the Passover Seder had been celebrated for hundreds and hundreds of years...but not like the way Jesus did it.

No father would've broken the bread and shared the cup in the way Jesus did.

He is pointing to His impending death…but He is also showing a new and living way!

PETER’S DENIAL FORETOLD

The next few verses are spectacular as they point to Peter…and the fact that they will all fall away.

Mark 14:27–31 ESV

27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Even though there is great conviction there, great passion there, great words are there…we know that actions speak louder than expressed convictions, passion, and words.

I’m not beating up on Peter, just showing how all of us are more like him than we probably care to admit. We’re all pretty bold when the our theology costs us very little.

But to quote Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

We are about to see Peter unable to obey a simple instruction of the Lord before his denial ever comes.

With a time left, we’re going to spend most of it in two places. Gethsemane and Golgatha.

1. GETHSEMANE’S AGONY

Mark 14:32–41 ESV

32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on 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. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Gethsemane is at the base of The Mount of Olives. It’s so appropriate that we get this scene from the Scriptures taking place here. Gethsemane means - Oil Press

We have so many oil options available to us today…but they didn’t back then. It was mostly Olive Oil

Lord willing, one day, I’d love for our Mission Bible Church will go to Israel and see this site for ourselves. It’s a beautiful walled off space now. But you can see the ancient “presses” still there.

In ancient times, extracting oil from olives was REALLY HARD WORK - A labor-intensive process that required immense pressure.

A heavy stone was used to press the olives - to crush them until they until they yielded their precious oil.

How appropriate that Jesus is there.

Gethsemane is a place of:

- DISTRESS & TROUBLE (33)

Mark 14:33 ESV

33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

notice this seem to come on AFTER He went to pray.

He knows what’s ahead…He knows this will be His last extended time in prayer with the LORD like this, He knows His disciples will scatter, He knows…and He is DISTRESSED & TROUBLED!

- SORROW (34)

Mark 14:34 ESV

34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

“My soul is very sorrowful” - deeply grieved / with an intensity that

It’s the same word / type of sorrow used for the rich young ruler who thought he wanted to follow Jesus until He realized Jesus knew that money had a grip on him.

Jesus told him to turn loose of his money, the Bible records the man went away sorrowful.

- FRUSTRATION (37)

The disciples let him down.

“Stay here and watch.” look at verse 37

Mark 14:37 ESV

37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

- WEAKNESS (38)

profound weakness

He is praying. Spending precious time with the Father…before the cross - where He knows the Father will bruise Him.

Isaiah 53:10 ESV

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

Jesus’ humanity was never in conflict with his Father’s will, but we catch a glimpse of the truly human body of Christ here in the garden.

He is submitting His flesh to God’s divine will again, as He prays, “not my will, but yours be done.”

Gethsemane - a place of distress and trouble….sorrow & frustration…a place of such weakness.

Why is this in here?

Because it’s true! Yes!

Because it clearly illustrates the truly divine and truly human natures of Jesus while He was on this earth? Yes.

Because it draws such a clear line between him as the true high priest and the greedy, murderous chief priests of the day? Yes!

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 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.

Here is the glorious truth from the agony of Gethsemane.

God not only sees you. God not only knows you.

But Jesus knows intimately what it means to be distressed, troubled, sorrowful, frustrated with people around you, and so weak that your body can hardly function properly.

And Jesus is leading you today, in the midst of all of that very real hurt – to fully submit to the father, and trust his plan even when life seems to be squeezing you.

There’s an evangelist and a pastor in Asheville, North Carolina, whose wife contracted a very rare disease while they were in the Mediterranean region of the world years and years ago.

As a result, he had to get some training from the doctor and the pharmacist on how to prepare her medicines that she had to receive throughout the day and even late into the night.

Days became weeks, weeks became months. The struggle was real…and it was costly.

And one night after midnight, it was time to give her one of those special medicines.

He went to the fridge and pulled it out - with his little light on as possible, so he could try to stay somewhat sleepy, but alert enough to make sure you did it correctly…

Every parent knows what I’m talking about and changing a late night diaper or tending to a little one in the wee hours of the morning…

He was looking at the bottle to make sure he had the right medicine. He did…and the instructions were there in bold “shake well before using.”

As I heard him share this account with a listening church, he said it was as if the Holy Spirit ran by his mind and lit up those words bolder than they were… Shake well before using.

The preacher said I felt like that’s what God was doing with me.

He was shaking me…

Shaking some things loose in my life that I was holding too tightly to.

Shaking my prayer life away from convenience and toward just spending time with him.

I was weak, I was tired, I was mad… I was being shaken.

We’re not looking at a medicine bottle here in this passage, but we are in the place where the olives must be crushed for the olive oil to be produced.

Remember when the pressures and trials feel overwhelming in your life, God may be using those very things to bring forth the richness of his grace and blessing…

The oil of gladness being pressed out through very real pain.

CAN WE MOVE ON FROM HERE?

Mark 14:41–43 ESV

41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” 43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

The rest of chapter 14 gives us the details of the betrayal, the boldness of our Savior to just hold the line and speak the truth.

We see prophecy fulfilled in Peter’s denying of the Lord, (it’s a painful thing to witness).

By the way if you ever make that trip to Israel, hopefully one of your stops will be the church of the rooster… It’s the place where Peter was restored by the seashore.

In chapter 15 Saint Mark has us walk with Jesus as he is delivered to Pilate.

Pilate examines him and confronts the people with what he believes to be a poor choice…

But at the end of the day, Pilate is a politician who needs to hang on to his power and so he orders the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, we come carefully to…

2. GOLGOTHA’S SACRIFICE

I would like to read from verse 16 through verse 41, essentially to finish the message this morning. But I’d like to preface it with this:

You probably heard it said in one way or another that if you would’ve been the only person alive, Jesus would’ve still died for you on the cross.

He still would’ve shed his blood so that you were sins could be atoned for and forgiven.

Don’t over analyze that statement… Or overthink it, on its surface it rings true on multiple levels.

Level 1: He loves you that much.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

How can anyone reject this kind of love?

Level 2: He hates sin that much.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Your sin made the death of Jesus Christ necessary, if you were ever to be forgiven, cleansed, and welcomed into that Holy City of God.

Level 3: It was God’s will that Jesus should die…so that He may receive the reward of His suffering.

Isaiah 53:10 ESV

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

There is glory in the agony of Gethsemane.

As you feel the weight of the text we’re about to read, remember, God is glorified - even in Christ’s suffering, bleeding, and dying on the cross - so that sinners like you and me might be made RIGHT with Him!

Let’s read:

Mark 15:16–39 ESV

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

In ancient Rome, crucifixion was one of the most painful and humiliating forms of execution. Yet, it was on the cross that Jesus demonstrated the depth of His love and the glory of God's redemptive plan.

As His blood flowed, it marked the beginning of a new covenant, where death became a doorway to life.

This paradox illustrates that through suffering, glory can emerge, just as a seed must break to yield a fruitful plant.

John 12:24 ESV

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

TRANSITION TO COMMUNION

COMMUNION

In light of such a salvation, the apostle Paul warns us, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (v. 27).

Before we partake of the Supper, let us examine ourselves today, recognizing both the gravity of our sin and the weight of Christ’s glorious sacrifice.

When the elements are distributed, please wait...we'll all partake together.

1. This is not for everyone...the fact that this is a family meal reinforces the distinction between Christ’s church and those who are not a part of His church.

This is for those who have a living relationship with Jesus Christ. - If that's not you, or if you have hesitation, just let the elements pass by. - Let the body of Christ proclaim the death of Christ to you this morning.

2. This is an act of worship for the saints. This is a part of our proclaiming.

As We take the lords supper, remember:

You were an enemy of God, but now you’ve been adopted into his family

You stood condemned in your sin, but now you are counted righteous

You are a slave to sin, but now you’ve been set free to serve God

You were dead in your sin, but now you’ve been made alive

You were headed for hell, but now you are citizen of God’s heavenly kingdom

And all this is because of Jesus!

As we come to the Lord’s Supper we need to remember:

this is NOT ABOUT YOU!

This isn’t a private, extra-special worship moment with Jesus…IT IS A SPECIAL MOMENT WITH THE FAMILY THAT HE BROUGHT YOU INTO.

Thank God for His grace in the lives around you as much as in yours.

We are celebrating the fact that he’s made us all one family!

Our Communion is with JESUS AND OUR CHURCH FAMILY!

BREAD

​1 Corinthians 11:23b–24 ESV

...that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

PRAYER FOR BREAD

Lord, as WE taste the bread this morning, TOGETHER, HELP US TO REALIZE that as real as that bread is in our mouths, so real is the fact that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ became a man and gave up His body for us so that we might have eternal life.

Take, eat!

CUP

1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

PRAYER FOR THE CUP

Lord, as we taste the fruit of the vine this morning, TOGETHER, Help us to remember the sweetness of having OUR sins COMPLETELY forgiven because You so loved us that while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ poured out His blood for us!

Take, drink.

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

This causes us to look forward, with a LIVING HOPE, to that GREAT DAY when we shall feast with Jesus!

Revelation 19:6–9 ESV

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Lord, we long to be in your presence, free from sin, for all eternity. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Remember what Jesus told them BEFORE PALM SUNDAY…

Mark 10:32–34 ESV

32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”