The Man of Sorrows
Christ's Sufferings Through the Eyes of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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Please take your Bible and turn to , as we consider The Man of Sorrows.
Some songs have really good, accurate theology. Some songs have really poor, and inaccurate theology. And some songs have a mix of accurate and inaccurate theology. The song I just sang is an example of both good and poor theology. The sad truth is that most folks don’t recognize when a song is inaccurate — especially if it is a sentimental favorite, as the text of that song is.
The second verse that I sang is the verse with poor and inaccurate theology. The songwriter wrote:
For me it was in the garden He prayed,“Not My will but Thine.” He had no tears for His own griefs, But sweat drops of blood for mine.
Though it is true that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed “Not My will but Thine,” it is false that “He had no tears for His own griefs.”
One thing we need to learn is that we must be careful not to take our theology from songs. For the most part songs are written by people who have never studied theology. But because songs are so memorable, many folks have taken their entire theology and biblical understanding from them. Martin Luther understood well the power of conveying a message through song. And so he determined to write songs based on the Apostles Creed to make sure that the theology being conveyed was true.
As we go through our passage this morning we will look at the prayerful obedience of Christ, in contrast to the drowsy oblivion of the apostles. Let’s read our passage together.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?
Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
Then He came to the 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.
Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
Let’s look first at:
The Prayerful Obedience of The Man of Sorrows
The Prayerful Obedience of The Man of Sorrows
Note that:
Jesus was determined to accomplish the Father’s will
As we look at the prayerful obedience of Christ we will look at the setting, the depression, the invitation, the prayer, and the submission.
Let’s look first at
The Setting
The Setting
Verses 30 and 36 describe the setting.
After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
The shocking announcement on the Mount of Olives
The disciples boastful pride
The location of Gethsemane
The meaning of Gethsemane
The separation of the inner circle:
[He] said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee...
Presumably the eight were left to guard the entrance of the Garden so that Jesus could pray uninterrupted
Let’s look next at
The Depression
The Depression
Notice that Jesus
Began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death…
We should note that:
Depression and distress are not sin, in and off themselves
The word translated “grieved” describes the confused, restless, half-distracted state, which is produced by physical derangement, or by mental distress, as grief, shame, disappointment, etc.” (Lightfoot via Pillar Commentary)
Writing of the Suffering Servant, Isaiah said:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Isaiah went on to say:
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
Why was Jesus so grieved and distressed — or as some might put it, depressed?
First and foremost it was the terrible weight of being our sin bearer
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Christ is the Holy Creator of the Universe
Being the Holy God, He cannot endure sin
Second, Jesus was distressed because He knew He would be forsaken
Forsaken by enemies
Forsaken by His closest friends
Forsaken by His Father
Third, I wonder if part of His grief was in regard to those to whom He was entrusting His ministry to
Let’s look next at
The Invitation
The Invitation
Jesus invited Peter, James, and John to:
Remain here and keep watch with Me.
This was an invitation to support Christ in prayer during His greatest times of temptation. “Invitation” might be too light of a term since the term is an imperative — meaning a command.
This begs the question of how often we truly support others in prayer during their time of need?
Let’s look next at
The Prayer
The Prayer
There is probably no other place in all of Scripture in which the humanity of Christ collides with the deity of Christ, as it does in this passage.
In Greek mythology there is a person who is part god, and part man — Hercules. But it would be heresy to say that Jesus was part man and part God. Rather, He is fully God, and yet fully man. How this can be is one of the secret things which belong to God.
The three prayers perhaps are set in contrast to the three denials of Peter
The position of prayer (vs. 39)
The One to whom prayer is directed (“My Father”)
The content of the prayer (“If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”)
Let’s look next at
The Submission
The Submission
Notice how Jesus resolved to submit Himself to the Father’s will:
“Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
One modern song writer has written:
I know you're good
But this don't feel good right now
And I know you think
Of things I could never think about
It's hard to count it all joy
Distracted by the noise
Just trying to make sense
Of all your promises
Sometimes I gotta stop
Remember that you're God
And I am not
So
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will
Throughout all of this we’ve seen that Jesus, though troubled in spirit, was prayerfully obedient to His Father’s expressed will.
Throughout all of this we’ve seen that Jesus, though troubled in spirit, was prayerfully obedient to His Father’s expressed will. Let’s turn our attention now to
Let’s turn our attention not to
The Drowsy Oblivion of the Apostles Toward The Man of Sorrows
The Drowsy Oblivion of the Apostles Toward The Man of Sorrows
In last week’s passage we noted that all eleven of the faithful apostles had stated that they would neither abandon, nor deny their Lord. Rather, they would be willing to die for Him if necessary. In Luke’s account of that passage (something I should have brought out last week) we read that Jesus said this to Peter:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus faithfully prayed for Peter. But did Peter pray, either for Jesus or for himself?
One of the saddest truths about this Gethsemane experience is that Jesus was abandoned even before the disciples scattered
After Jesus asked His closest associates to uphold Him in prayer, He went off and prayed for a time, and then returned. What He found was that the apostles, rather than praying, were sleeping!
Having warned the disciples multiple times about His coming sufferings you would think they would have wanted to support Him in prayer
Having warned them that they were going to scatter like sheep without a shepherd, you’d think they would have prayed for strength to stand
Having warned Peter about his coming denials, you’d think that he would have prayed for that to not happen
It seems that these proud men felt like they could withstand any temptation that was to come their way. After all, they had been with Jesus for three years. They knew everything there was to know, right?
I can’t help but to see the apostles’ lack of perseverance in prayer as reflective of the church’s lack of perseverance in prayer. I’m not signalling out our church. Churches across this land struggle to have people gather together for corporate prayer. They struggle to have people pray for more than health issues — to pray about spiritual issues. They struggle to have people pray for the lost to be found by Christ.
Writing to the Ephesians Paul said:
For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Notice how Jesus dealt with the disciples who had fallen asleep:
And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?
Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
First, Jesus rebuked them for falling asleep instead of keeping watch with Him, as He had previously commanded them. Then He reiterates the command to watch, and then adds to pray, clarifying the command for the drowsy apostles.
Finally He states: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Leon Morris wrote:
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 1. Jesus in Gethsemane, 26:31–46
Jesus recognizes that the disciples wanted to do as he had asked, but that they were not strong enough. Their physical bodies let them down. It has well been remarked that just at the time when Jesus was showing the victory of spirit over flesh, the disciples were manifesting the victory of flesh over spirit.
Morris went on to summarize that since the human nature is so frail, there is a constant need for prayer. It’s not enough to have a willing spirit; the willing spirit needs to be supplemented by prevailing prayer.
Rinse and repeat — “Their eyes were heavy”
Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
Three time’s the charm
Then He came to the 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.
Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
Due to their physical drowsiness the disciples were oblivious to what was actually happening. Life as they had known it for the last three years was now coming to an end. The tranquility of this peaceful garden was about to be abruptly ended. Jesus is about to be arrested, and they were about to scatter like sheep without a shepherd.
What can we take home from all of this?
Sometimes anxiety and stress are very real
Sometimes anxiety and stress are very real
We should not minimize the importance of it when our brothers and sisters in Christ are struggling with such things.
Sometimes we proudly think that we can handle anything that comes our way
And therefore, we don’t follow the directive to “Put on the gospel amour, each piece put on with prayer.”
Sometimes the church is prone to drowsy oblivion
We need to wake up from our slumber and be about our Father’s business. And perhaps the most important thing we can do is to keep watch in prayer.
We need to wake up from our slumber and be about our Father’s business. And perhaps the most important thing we can do is to keep watch in prayer.
Years ago the Bill Gaither Trio recorded a song about the Garden of Gethsemane. They personalized the song by asking:
“Have you had a Gethsemane? Have you prayed in despair? In the dark of the dreary hour, did the Lord meet you there? Have you had a Gethsemane? Have you prayed the night through? Have you shed tears of agony when no hope was in view? Have you prayed “If it be Thy will may this cup pass from me? But if it’s Thy will, dear Lord, I will bear it for Thee?”
This morning we’ve been looking at The Man of Sorrows. We’ve seen that His greatest sorrow was the heavy burden of becoming our sin bearer. Only Jesus could be the sin bearer. That is why the Eternal Son of God became man, so that He could bear our sins on the old rugged cross. The lingering question is whether or not you’ve asked Jesus to be your sin bearer? He has offered to exchange your sins for His righteousness. That’s a good exchange for us. If you’ve not done so, won’t you ask Him to save you today?
Let’s pray.
Closing Song: #311
Hallelujah, What a Savior!