In The Garden
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
Why was the whale sad? It lost its porpoise.
What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh
What a beautiful morning! Thank you all for coming out to the lake for a little change of scenery. It may be a little chilly but I like it.
Remember tonight it the Mullins annual meeting in Terral, Ok. Dinner is at 5:30 and the meeting will start at 6:00. Allen Quigley is the guest speaker, he is the Ok Baptist Executive Director Church Resources. I’m looking forward to being there.
Also, November 10th and 11th is the Ok Baptist Annual Meeting at Southern Hills Baptist Church in OKC.2 days of great business stuff!
Also, I am really excited about our Saints Singing event this Friday night at 6:30. We will be sharing finger foods, fellowship and our worship of God! It will be a great time to focus on God and praise Him.
This week we are going to be in Mark 14:32-42.
Last week we looked at Jesus singing even though He is talking about His death and how one of His disciples is going to betray Him and hand him over to the scribes to be crucified. Even when we are troubled, we still need to praise God, He is still good no matter what we are going through. He is always worthy of praise, no matter how we feel. A lot of times if we will begin to praise God when we are down, He will begin to lift us and we will begin to feel better. We also saw that they left Jerusalem and headed to the Mt. of Olives. While they were traveling, Jesus tells them that they are about to be scattered. When God strikes the Shepherd, the sheep are going to flee and scatter. He is not telling them that they will fall away and are not true believers. He is just saying that in this intense time, when Jesus is crucified, they are going to flee the area for their safety. They all begin to deny it and say that they will never leave Jesus. We all know how that ends up. Peter is so adamantly saying he won’t, that Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows twice. Peter is a very passionate person. He seems to not be able to take negative criticism about himself. This is not the first time that he has done this with Jesus. In Mark 8:33 Jesus tells Peter, “get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Peter can’t see the whole picture like Jesus can, and even though he knows that Jesus is the Messiah, Peter still can’t accept that he is going to do something that at that moment seems impossible for him to do. Again, Jesus knows what is going to happen, and He has told the disciples multiple times about things that are about to happen and they happen just like Jesus said they would, yet Peter is still to proud to accept these things about himself. When the Holy Spirit comes on Pentecost, we will see a dramatic change in all the disciples.
Today we are going to see section of Scripture that is familiar to a lot of us. Jesus and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is going to show us His humanity, He is beginning to feel the weight of what is about to happen. We will see just how much He is feeling what is about to happen. We get to see a side of Jesus that we normally don’t get to see. We got to see Jesus weep when Lazarus died and now we will see Jesus very sorrowful. We have to remember that although He is God, He is also human. We are also going to see the disciples at least three of them fail again, and they do it 3 times in a row! They loved Jesus very much, but they still were human also. We are not much different than they are. We love Jesus and yet we still fail Him from time to time. We can praise God that He has mercy and His mercy is new every morning.
Please stand as we prepare our minds for the reading of God’s Word.
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. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Pray
We are told that they went to Gethsemane. In John’s gospel, in chapter 18, he tells us that it is a garden. In Luke’s gospel, in chapter 22, he tells us that is was Jesus’ custom to go to this place. So they were very familiar with this garden and had been there multiple times. The word Gethsemane means oil press. This garden had a large number of olive trees that they grew to make olive oil. Olive oil was a very important oil for the Jewish people. They used it a lot. It was not uncommon for a garden to have it own oil press in it. It was easier to build a press in your garden than to transport all the olives to a press somewhere else. It is not a coincidence that Jesus who was beginning to feel the pressure of the up coming cross, goes to a garden named oil press. He is going to be pressed out and His blood is going to be spilled for us. It amazes me all the small details that are in the Bible if we just dig a little and pay attention to what is going on.
He tells 8 of the disciples to sit and pray at the entrance of the garden. He took Peter, James, and John farther into the garden with Him. It was not unusual for Jesus to take these three with Him on special trips or for Him to let them see more than the others. Jesus knew that these three were the leaders of the disciples and He wanted to show them something and have them experience this so that they could teach it to the others. Jesus often taught them things that the others didn’t get to learn until they taught them.
As they get farther into the garden, Jesus tells them to remain here and watch. In Luke’s account, Jesus tells them to pray that they may not enter into temptation. They are to be watching Jesus and praying themselves. They are to pray because we are battling spiritual beings. We are not battling flesh and blood, but spirits and principalities. Ephesians 6:12
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
If we are not praying, then we are not fighting the true enemies. We must be putting on the whole armor of God, every day! We must be praying for each other and ourselves. I promise you the enemy is not taking a day off! Neither should we. Ephesians 6:13-18
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Prayer is the greatest gift God has given us. We get to talk to the Creator and God of everything! Not only do we get to, He wants to talk to us!! The more we talk to God, the stronger our faith will be and the better prepared we will be for the attacks of the enemy.
Jesus tells them that His soul is very sorrowful, even to death! I can’t even imagine what that would feel like. In Luke’s account we are told that Jesus goes on ahead about a stones throw from where He told the three to stay and watch. He goes away, but not far enough to where they can’t see Him and possibly hear Him. They are to be watching. Jesus wanted them to see Him in anguish and taking that to the Father. We can see that Jesus is taking His burden to the Father. He says, “ Abba Father.” This is one of the most intimate terms for Father. It is like a child saying Daddy in English. Jesus is God’s Son and we can see that intimate relationship here. He is appealing to Daddy, one He knows cares about Him just as much as He does. This is a phrase used when you come to your father and are in deep pain and anguish. This is a text that when I read it, it feels a little uncomfortable. Like I shouldn’t be hearing this Son pouring out His anguish and struggle to His Father. It feels like this should have been a private conversation. Jesus wanted the three to hear Him pouring out His concerns to the Father, that way we would have an example of how we are to come to the Father when we are in anguish and struggling. He prays that if this cup can be removed, please remove it. Jesus is asking God if there is a plan B, let’s us it! There was never a plan B. This is the plan and the only plan. What cup is Jesus talking about? He is talking about the cup of wrath that He will drink while on the cross. Only Jesus knows what the wrath of God is like, because He is God. We can not imagine what that was like taking on the whole wrath of God on that cross!
If we look back into Genesis 22:16-18
16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
The seed that God is talking about here is Jesus Christ. We get reference to this in Galatians 3:16
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
It was God’s plan all along for Jesus to be the one. God had one plan and only one plan.
We can dig deeper into this seed analogy. For a seed to produce life, it must first die, then through it’s death a new life is given and produced. John 12:24
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.
When Abrahams seed died on that cross, life was given to all who believe in that one seed! Jesus is the seed, the life giver! Through His death we are all given access to life. All we have to do is repent of our sins and believe in Jesus.
Because of Abrahams faith, Jesus came from his line and was his seed that God told him about, that blessed all the nations of the earth. It wasn’t because of something that Abraham did, it was because of something he believed! He believed in God.
I was really amazed in this seed analogy. I am amazed at how the Old Testament and the New Testament are so tied together!
The last half of verse 36 is so crucial! Jesus wants this to pass from Him, but He ultimately says, not My will be done, but what You will! Jesus is obedient to what His father wants. His flesh is calling out for another way, but He puts aside what He wants and says Abba, Father, what You will! What You want! Jesus’ humility and submission to the will of the Father is so important for us to see as believers. Jesus’ life is a model, example of how we are supposed to live our lives. We can see several of the Saints of old who died horrible deaths for their faith. We can even see in Paul’s life that in Acts 9, God tells Ananias to go and pray for Paul, that He is going to show him how much he must suffer for God! For some believers it is God’s will that there be suffering. It is not our job to argue with God, it is our job to be like Jesus, we can ask for it not to be, but ultimately we must be obedient even in suffering and death. God’s will is always best. We may thing we know better, but I promise you, we do not! We don’t see the whole picture, God sees all! His way is always best. Obedience is the only true response to God’s will! Just like Jesus in the Garden.
Jesus was so destressed while He was praying, in Luke’s account, we are told that He was sweating blood!! This is an actual medical condition. Hematohidrosis is a rare medical condition characterized by the secretion of blood along with sweat from the sweat glands. This unusual phenomenon occurs when the tiny blood vessels surrounding the sweat glands rupture, causing blood to mix with sweat and be excreted through the skin. Jesus was so stressed out that He was bursting the blood vessels around His sweat glands and sweating blood. I only thought I was stressed out.
After an hour of praying, Jesus comes back to the three disciples and they were there alert, watching and praying for Jesus! Wrong!!! They were asleep! Jesus reprimands Peter, because Peter is the leader of them all. One hour Peter, one hour you couldn’t stay awake. Before we are too hard on them, they had had a long day! They had been told one of them was going to betray Jesus and they still at this time don’t know who it is. They were told that they are going to be scattered and leave Jesus. This things stressed them out. They were concerned about who was going to betray Jesus and they were very adamant that they would not leave Jesus! On top of all that, they had just eaten a big Passover meal. They were stress out and had full bellies, I would have fallen asleep also! Three times this happened. Three times Jesus went and prayed for an hour and all three times when He came back, they were asleep. Were told in verse 39 that there eyes were very heavy. It was late at night and they were sleepy. Jesus gave them a specific thing to do and they fell asleep. We have all done that if we have been a follower for any length of time. We all have been told to do something that we know God told us to do and we didn’t do it. We were asleep.
After the third time, Jesus tells them that it is enough, the hour has come! What hour is Jesus talking about? The hour of His betrayal. Jesus tells them that the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of the sinners. Jesus told them lets go, my betrayer is at hand. Even though He didn’t want to drink this cup, He was obedient and drank.
I want our main focus outside of the obedience we can see from Jesus here, is that we are all given things to do. We are to do what is right regardless of how we feel. We can not only do what is right when we feel like it, if we do that, we will not do very much. We are all called to go and tell people about Jesus and what He has done for you and the change He has made in your life. He has given each of us other things to do also. Specific to us as individuals! We are not all called to do the exact same thing the exact same way. We are to be obedient to what we individually and as a church to do. We have to be on watch and be in prayer so that we will be ready and not fall asleep. We accomplish nothing when we are sleeping and we could miss out on the opportunity to do that specific command from God. We are not called to just sit aside and wait for Jesus to return. We all have jobs to do, some we share in common, like going and telling. We also have individual assignments from God. We have to be awake if we are to be active for God. When we sleep, our work does not get done. Even the smallest of assignments need us to be awake to get them done. There is a time to sleep, but not when we have a job to do! There is a time to rest, we just have to make sure that we get back up and get to work after we have rested. God has called us to action, being a believer is not a passive thing, it is an active role that we are called to have. God chose us to make Him know throughout the world! What an amazing assignment we have been given, the creator of everything, has given us the job of making Him know!! Let’s not sleep on the job!
Prayer is not about getting from God what we want. Prayer is about conforming our wills to the will of our Father. That is why prayer is so important. Through fervent prayer, our will is changed and brought in line with God’s will. We will never consistently do the will of God if we don’t submit our will to His. Christianity is not about getting what we want from God, it is God getting from us what He commands. The more we pray, truly pray with an attitude of humility and submission, the more our will is changed to match that of the Father. For us to be an effective people for God, we must be a praying people.
Let’s pray
