The Hour Has Come
Notes
Transcript
Ok let’s play a little catch up today. We have been the past few weeks at where we call the last supper.
Jesus has washed His disciples feet and they washed each others. We discussed how Jesus even washed Judas’ feet.
We discussed that those who truly follow Christ will be hated and persecuted.
We discussed the mission that Christ gave to his disciples and how that mission has not died but continues for his church.
We discussed the prayers Christ prayed and how he saw that we needed unity and harmony, which is in short supply.
But now, I want to bring you back to something we talked about all they way back in the 6th week of this sermon series.
“What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”
My hour has not yet come. I said back then we would revisit this statement.
Because the hour has come.
I said that about a year before this time, we see a ramp up in what John is writing and the things Christ says.
Because the hour has come.
We saw in scripture, a push in Christ’s teaching to his disciples for them to understand
Because the hour has come.
So now we come to the Garden that is across the Kidron valley
Because the Hour Has Come
After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
“I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Let’s Pray!
Now for this whole series, I have stayed just in the Gospel of John, but here I want to expand what we are looking at. So today, I will be pulling from the other gospels to get a fuller picture of this particular time.
The reason is because the richness in story in the garden is something that the majority of you may know, but I want us to get what the scriptures say, not what we have seen in movies or on TV.
This is where Christ’s humanity and divine nature are on full display.
We will look at 5 parts that are significant in the Garden of Gethsemane
Garden of Gethsemane
Arrival in the Garden
Jesus’ Agony and Prayer
The Betrayal
The Arrest
Jesus is Taken Away
1. Arrival in the Garden
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Jesus and His disciples, after the Last Supper, walk to the Mount of Olives and enter the Garden of Gethsemane across the Kidron Valley.
Jesus leaves most of His disciples and takes Peter, James, and John with Him deeper into the garden.
Jesus was not going to the garden to hide, this was something he did often when He was in the area.
Insert picture
He left some of the disciples on the outskirts, but He brought the three He confided in the most.
But then He left them and went alone to be with His Father. There is a lesson here. You can bring friends upon friends with you. You can bring the ones you love, but unless you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, all you have is people. And people will let you down.
It doesn’t matter how religious they are, they will sooner or later let you down in some way.
They are not there when it is the still of the night and all you have is Christ. It is at these times you must realize He is enough. The hour has come!
2. Jesus' Agony and Prayer
He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Again, a second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And he came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open.
After leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
Jesus is overcome with sorrow and prays, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done".
Here we see the fulfillment of Christ’s humanity and His divine nature.
Jesus' desire for the "cup" to pass refers to His impending suffering and death, the terrible ordeal of bearing the sins of humanity.
Acknowledging His upcoming suffering, He submits to God’s plan. The plan of salvation.
The intense emotional and physical agony that Jesus shows here highlights his humanity along with his divinity.
Luke the physician describes it like this
Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
I looked up this part in google: The medical explanation is known as hematidrosis or hematodhirosis, it is a rare condition where severe stress or anguish causes the small capillaries surrounding the sweat glands to rupture, allowing blood and sweat to mix at the surface of the skin.
Something few people know. Gethsemane means “oil press”. This symbolic location is where Jesus in His humanity felt the crushing weight of humanities sin. His bloody sweat just underscores the horror he felt at having to become sin for us.
And even though, he had his disciples just a few feet away, he was alone.
He wakes His disciples multiple times, but they are asleep and cannot stay awake to pray with Him. They were asleep and yet the hour has come!
3. The Betrayal
Judas arrives with a large crowd of soldiers and religious leaders to arrest Jesus, having arranged the betrayal. John calls the crowd a company of soldiers.
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large mob with swords and clubs was with him from the chief priests and elders of the people.
When we watch movies and TV shows about this part of the story, they show that it was about 10-20 people. But the word used here in the Greek is speria meaning a group of soldiers that range from 250- 500 men.
So when John say this:
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
250 - 500 men fell to the ground because of the very name of God! I Am! foreshadowing what will happen at the second coming.
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Yet still some will resist, because the world has such a hold on them
Judas identifies Jesus by kissing Him, the signal for the arrest. Why? Because the hour has come!
4. The Arrest
The soldiers and leaders arrest Jesus, but He does not resist.
But we have hot head Peter
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”
There is something the church can learn from what Peter learned that night.
No matter the persecution, we can not strike out in anger.
Peter didn’t see how ridiculous his actions were. How was one man going to fight against a cohort of men?
Jesus just showed Peter how they world will be conquered, it is through the name of God.
As the disciples see the arrest taking place, they abandon Him and flee. Why? the hour has come!
5. Jesus is Taken Away
Jesus is bound and taken from the garden to the High Priest's house where he meets with Ananias Caiaphas father in law.
This marks the end of the events in Gethsemane and the beginning of the night and morning of His trials.
Little did any of them know, Christ was controlling all the events. We do not have a maytried prophet, we have a Sovereign Savior that is in control of it all.
