Surrender Under Pressure

Secular -

Today’s scripture reminds me of a story about a pastor who noticed a man fast asleep in the front pew every single Sunday. Finally, the pastor got fed up. Mid-sermon, he looked right at the man’s wife sitting next to him and whispered loudly, 'Ma'am, would you please wake up your husband?'

The wife looked right back at the pastor, completely unbothered, and said, 'Preacher, you put him to sleep. You wake him up!'"

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 26:30–46 NKJV

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - A life built on Christ is a life sustained by prayer.

Life Point- A life built on Jesus requires stepping off your own throne.

Exegetical -

Matthew 26:30–35 BSB

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus declared, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” And all the other disciples said the same thing.

Homiletical -

So The Last Supper is winding down and they dismiss with a song. Traditionally they would have sung the Hallel which is Psalm 113-118. If this is the case then He would have sung

Psalm 118:22 NKJV

The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

This is foreshadowing what is about to happen. We see it, because we know what is about to happen. Jesus is the stone that the Jews are about to reject. But after all is said and done he becomes the most important of all stones. The chief cornerstone.

This stone had to be set perfectly because if it wasn’t the whole house or structure wouldn’t come out right, down the line.

We know Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. If you get Jesus right then everything else in your life will eventually fall into place.

Up until you become a Christian your cornerstone is yourself, you are selfish and self-centered. Because we are born in sin and we are sinners, using ourselves and preferences as the cornerstone for our lives is a huge mistake. Everything will be out of whack.

When we have Jesus, we have to destroy the mess we have built. Set Him as our focus and start building anew.

This means you are going to lose friends. You are going to shock people by the radical change that has happened in your life. You are going to look different because you are going to want to be different.

Remember we aren’t talking about rules and regulations here, we are talking about a true relationship with Jesus Our Savior. How is your relationship today with Jesus?

Now Jesus gives them a prophecy from scripture and tells them they will all fall away because of what is about to happen to Him.

Remember Jesus fulfills a ton of scriptural prophecies concerning the Messiah throughout His life. The odds of that happening is next to zero %. But yet, He fulfills them.

Now take yourself out of your foresight for a moment and put yourself in this scene. How would you respond if Jesus said this and you were amongst them? You would respond the same way they did. “No Lord not me! I will never turn from you!” and then, you would.

Now Peter being Peter and being the loud mouth we have come to respect and love is the first to say, “even if everyone else turns against you, I won’t”

He is being pretty brash with that statement. Pretty not humble. Not open to what God just said to Him. He has his own way and he will follow his own way.

Maybe God has told you to do something. Like, you need to go feed the poor, or teach, or change careers, or volunteer; but yet you have your own way that you will follow. Not His will, but yours.

In that case it is time to become humble and surrender to God’s will for your life.

Also notice that the other disciples agreed with Peter. They didn’t want to believe what God said more than 400 years earlier. They wanted to believe what they wanted to believe about themselves.

What does that mean?

It means they have taken themselves out of reality and put themselves in a kingdom of their own minds. Folks don’t live in a kingdom of your own mind, but look at what God has revealed in His word and live in the reality of His Word.

Notice how Jesus responds to this. He says not only will you all deny me, but Peter you will deny me 3 times before the rooster crows in the morning.

Peter still wanting to live in his own reality says, “no way, even if I die with you I won’t deny you.”

He doubles down in his ridiculousness. The other disciples agree with him.

Ever notice that people hate to admit when they’re wrong? Or hate to admit that they are in sin? This part reminds me of that. We all want to live in a kingdom of our own minds. What we have to do is not look into the mirror of life and forget what we saw.

James 1:22–25 BSB

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

Ever heard the term couch potato? How about the term Pew Potato.

There are those that will come week in and week out, read the scripture, hear it taught and will never change a thing. But doers change things in their lives based on the Word of God!

Which will you be?

Illustration -

In ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs built magnificent pyramids meant to last forever. However, those that were built on shaky ground often crumbled. Christ is the solid rock we can build our lives on, ensuring we stand strong against the storms of life, much like the still-standing, grand pyramids that took careful planning and a firm foundation.

Life Point - We pray to trade our will for His power.

Exegetical -

Matthew 26:36–41 BSB

At that time Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch 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 Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Homiletical -

The name Gethsemane literally translates from Aramaic to "oil press." It sits at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

The name is perfect for what is about to happen. Jesus is going to experience pressure like never before. We are told in another Gospel that His sweat will become blood. Now that is pressure.

Notice that Jesus leaves the disciples, takes the same 3 that were with Him on the MT. of Transfiguration and then leaves them to be alone.

If you know about the Temple, there was an outer court, inner court, and the Holy of Holies. As you moved through the various courts there was differing requirements.

For example the Holy of Holies required that you be the High Priest, completely cleansed and only once a year. For the presence of God was supposed to dwell there.

The scripture tells us he became deeply distressed. We all know that there was a physical component to Jesus’ distress as He is about to become the sacrifice for many.

1 John 2:1–2 BSB

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus is about to experience the worst torturous death anyone has ever experienced. Not because He did anything wrong, but because God’s wrath had to be satisfied so that we could experience forgiveness of our sins.

This is what is called substitutionary atonement. Meaning He was the substitute in our place on that cross and satisfied the wrath of God.

We see the beauty of Jesus’ human nature here and His divine nature in one event. His soul was troubled to the point of death. He leaves the three Peter, James & John. Falls on His knees and asks the father to take this task away from Him. The cup in scripture represents death and like any human being He doesn’t want to die.

But not for selfish reasons, for I am sure there would have been much more good He could have accomplished on this earth had He not experienced this event. However the Big Picture would not have been accomplished.

But how does He end it? Not my Will, but your be done?

If we could get ahold of that in our daily lives we would be better for it. We would be doing the will of God at all times, not just sometimes.

So Jesus goes back to the disciples and he finds them asleep. He says “Hey couldn’t you just watch and pray?” But they didn’t. Then He tells them why they should pray. So that they won’t succumb to temptation.

When we actually spend time in prayer it helps us when temptation comes. It fortifies us to spend time with God

Life Point - Perseverance isn’t found in our stamina; it’s fueled by our prayers.

Exegetical -

Matthew 26:42–46 BSB

A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping—for their eyes were heavy. So He left them and went away once more and prayed a third time, saying the same thing. Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! See, My betrayer is approaching!”

Homiletical -

Now Jesus comes a second time from showing His submission to the Will of the Father.

Now what does He find? He finds them sleeping and we are told that it is due to exhaustion because “their eyes were heavy.”

So He just leaves them and goes a third time saying the same thing.

Do you notice how persistent Jesus is being with prayer. He is practicing what I call the PUSH method of prayer, “Pray Until Something Happens.”

Jesus comes back and He is like, get up I am about to be betrayed.

One thing to note here is that he didn’t say he was being betrayed into the hands of the Romans, or the priests, or anything like that. He calls them all sinners.

Now that would have stung the Jews and especially the religious leaders. They wouldn’t have like that, had they heard it because they had this way about them that they were the Chosen ones of God, how dare you call them sinners.

But was He wrong? Absolutely Not! These people coming for Him were indeed sinners.

The unsaved have a way of taking the Holy and profaning it. Treating it lightly, not giving respect to God.

Let us make sure that if we are to suffer criticism it is because we treat the Holiness of God the right way, not in a way that would give a sinner a sincere reason to criticize us.

As a side note, ever wonder why Judas chose this time to betray Jesus? 1) He had been found out and therefore needed an opportunity to quickly do what he was going to do 2) It really was an opportune time. It was just Jesus and His closest disciples, not a crowd around Him. He was praying in a small group. If you were to betray Jesus this would be an opportune time.

Let me ask you a question. Are you living a life that is honoring to God, or are you giving reason for criticism? Make sure you are persecuted for righteousness sake, not self-righteousness.

Matthew 10:22 BSB

You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

Life Principle– A life built on Christ is a life sustained by prayer.

Call to Action – altar call….