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The Garden: A Place of Prayer
Matthew 26:36-56
I’d like to welcome you to this Maundy Thursday service.
Some of you may be wondering just exactly what that means.
I know that the first time that I heard someone mention Maundy Thursday, I thought that they said a Monday – Thursday service.
My first thought was that no one would ever go to church for that long – It’s hard enough for an hour!
Maundy Thursday is a time to commemorate the Thursday before Easter when Jesus spent time with his disciples in an upper room.
It was during this time that Jesus set the ultimate example of what it means to be a servant when he washed his disciple’s feet.
Maundy comes from the word mandate and this is where we get the name.
Jesus gave his disciples a new mandate on that Thursday – a new command in John 13:
And in John 15 he defines what that means:
He also took the Passover meal that night and gave it a new meaning.
So, this evening we are going to observe the Lord’s Supper and spend our time together in praise, in reflection and consider Jesus’s last night before his crucifixion.
So, why don’t we stand and sing together.
And on that Thursday night, they celebrated the Passover together.
Jesus was giving new meaning to a meal that the Jewish people had observed going all the way back to the exodus from Egypt.
And he took some of the most common items of the meal and gave them new meaning.
He took a simple piece of unleavened bread and told them that this is my body that would be given for them.
He took a cup of wine and said that this is my blood of the new covenant which would be poured out for them.
Jesus was telling them that their Passover lamb was about to sacrificed so that they could be free.
Matthew chapter 26 tells us:
We are going to do this a little differently this evening.
Instead of us bringing the elements to you, I would like to ask that you come to the table, receive the bread and the cup and then go back to your pew.
Hold on to each so that after everyone is served we can take them together.
Would you bless the bread?
Would you bless the cup?
This is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is given for us.
Let us eat together
This is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through which we have the forgiveness of sins.
Let us drink together.
If you would, let’s stand and we’ll sing together.
If you have your Bible (and I hope that you do), open it to Matthew 26.
After the bonding experience of the Upper Room where He celebrated the Passover meal and instituted the ordinance of the Lords Supper, Jesus led His disciples to a place of prayer.
Let’s look at why Jesus was drawn to this garden.
A Place of Support
We see in verse 36 that Jesus wanted his disciples to be with Him so He took them to an Olive Garden called Gethsemane, which means, “oil-press.”
It was a place where they would crush olives to get the oil out of them.
Luke 22:39 shows us He spent a lot of time here:
John 18:2 tells us that when Judas came looking for Jesus; he knew the place, because Christ had often met there with his disciples.
It’s interesting how the suffering of our Savior begins; He wants to be with his friends.
We don’t think much about this, do we?
Jesus had a need for fellowship.
Eight of the disciples are told to sit down while Jesus takes three others deeper into the grove.
Peter, James and John had also been given the privilege of seeing the glory of Jesus when He was transfigured and were witnesses of His power when He raised a little girl from the dead (Matthew 17:1-2; Mark 5:37).
And now they were about to see something they had never seen before: the sorrow of the Savior.
A Place of Sorrow
Verse 37 tells us that Jesus was sorrowful and troubled.
His heart was heavy.
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death…
Have you ever had so much sorrow that you felt no one else could enter it with you?
His sorrow was so intense that He could hardly think of anything else.
In verse 38, Jesus put words to what was happening:
“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death”
This is sorrow in the highest degree.
Grief had so gripped Him that He felt like He was dying.
In the midst of this sorrow, Jesus wanted support as He asked the three to stay here and keep watch with me.
A Place of Solitude
Here’s the picture.
The eight disciples are somewhere near the entrance to the garden, the three are allowed to go deeper, but then Jesus leaves them and verse 39 says:
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed”
Luke adds that it was a stone’s throw away.
Jesus is now alone as Hethe King of Kings falls on His face in reverence and awe before His heavenly Father.
Spurgeon writes:
Be much in solitary prayer.
As private prayer is the key to open heaven, so is it the key to shut the gates of hell.
The Bible mentions a number of different postures for prayer, so there is no right way to do it.
However, whenever someone was really serious about seeking God they often dropped to the ground in prayer.
Numbers 16:22 shows how intense Moses and Aaron were when they prayed on behalf of their people:
W.A. Criswell tells of the first time he met Billy Graham.
Billy said, “I feel Gods call on me to be an evangelist.”
Dr. Criswell encouraged him and said, “Lets pray about his matter.”
After he led in prayer, Dr. Criswell said, “When I opened my eyes, there was Billy Graham flat on the floor, with his face on the carpet in prayer.
And Criswell said, I knew right then that God was going to use that young man in a special way.”
A Place of Struggle
The second half of verse 39 reveals His struggle:
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;”
In the midst of all that Jesus is going through, I love how He addresses God in prayer, My Father.
That reminds me of how Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father.
We can call out to Him as Father in times of struggle.
In Mark 14:36, we read that Jesus actually prayed, “Abba, Father.”
He’s literally saying something very affectionate, “Daddy, Father.”
Jesus then asked that the cup might be taken from Him.
The word cup in the Bible was figurative for Gods blessings (Psalm 23:5) and was also used to describe His wrath (Psalm 75:8).
As Jesus looked into this cup, what did He see?
Why did He want it taken away?
Someone has suggested that there were at least five things that He saw in the cup.
Sin
As Jesus is moving toward the cross, He realizes that the punishment for all the sins of the world is about to be poured out on Him.
This was something we can’t even imagine.
Isaiah 53:6:
…and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says that the sinless and spotless Lamb of God actually became sin for us:
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The greatest Christians have always had the most profound sensitivity to sin.
The closer you come to Jesus, the more clearly you see your own sin.
Suffering
Jesus certainly knew that He was about to suffer, but in the Garden it suddenly became very real.
He had already told the disciples what would happen to Him in Luke 9:22:
Even though He knew what was coming, the anticipation of the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain was almost unbearable.
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