Untitled Sermon

Good evening. As Pastor Sam my name is Skip Tyler. I would like to wish Happy Father’s to all the Fathers. I would like to start with story about being a Father, and it does have something to with what I am speaking about this evening.

I was in Pastor Sam’s Care Group for many years, I remember him teaching on Proverbs 27:5, which is “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” And then he commented that there is nothing harder than to get a child to accept rebuke. When he said this it resonated with me, because it he reinforced something that I had already experienced.

My late wife and I had three daughters, Jennifer, Stephanie and Kimberly. And as some of you fathers who have only daughters, you know what a challenge that can be. When my oldest daughter Jennifer was about seven, we were having a hard time keeping from being out in the middle of the street. We lived at George AFB, in Victorville CA. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on our street, but we wanted to teach her good habits. I remember coming home from work and her mother telling me, no matter what I tell her, I can’t keep her out of the street. Jennifer wasn’t receiving her mother’s word of instruction. Later that evening after dinner, we were outside taking a walk and we noticed this dead bird in the street. It was a small bird and it didn’t look like it hadn’t been out of the nest very long. It had bugs on it and the bird was truly dead. And Jennifer looked up at me clearly affected by looking at this dead baby bird in the middle street, and said, Dad what happened. And I replied, this little bird didn’t listen to her Mommy when she said “stay out of the street!” and it got hit by car. All of her sudden a little light went off her in her head that maybe being out in the street was not a good thing and we never problem with her in the middle of the street again. For my daughter, she need an illustration of the consequences of what was being told her, just the verbal word of her mother wasn’t enough.

So this evening we continue our study in the Gospel of Mark. Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 14:27. I don’t have any slides for this. We will be looking at the importance of receiving God’s word. At our last study (which was two weeks ago). Pastor Sam had taken us through the Last Supper. The last part of the text that he taught was After the Lord’s Suppers they sang a hymn and went to the Mount Olives. So the setting of our text is Thursday evening of the Passion Week. Jesus and his disciples are at the Mount of Olives. I will be reading Mark 14:27-42.

Mark 14:27 And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." 29 Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." 30 And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." 31 But he said emphatically, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same. 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

Our focus tonight is going to be looking at receiving God’s word. Specifically, how the Peter and the disciples received it and responded, and how Jesus himself received it and responded to it. To do that we are going go through the text, and then look at three points of application. To get the context and the scene of what is happening, Jesus and the disciples had just come from the Last Supper. At the Lords Supper Jesus revealed there was a betrayer among them. Slide In Mark 14:18-20 it reads:

And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?" 20 He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

But the betrayer was only one of twelve, now at the Mount of Olives, Jesus reveals in v27 that added to the betrayer that all of them are going to fall away. That Jesus was going to die should not have been a surprise to the disciples. The Gospel of Mark records three instances where Jesus explains this to them. We are going to look at each one briefly, but in each one, notice how the intensity of persecution each passage increases. And notice the disciple’s response to what Jesus says.

Slide Mark 8:31-32 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly(straight forward). And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Slide Mark 9:31-34 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

Slide Mark 10:33-37 saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise." 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." 36 And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" 37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."

So besides, the intensity increasing, we see the response of the disciples. In the first instance, Peter rebukes Jesus (this is the Get thee behind me Satan passage). In the second, the disciples are discussing who is the greatest, and in the third, James and John are requesting that they sit on the right and left of Jesus. It seems their focus is on themselves, not on Jesus. In other words, they don’t really understand what is happening here. They don’t understand the meaning of Jesus’ words.

Getting back to our text, Jesus tells them in Mark 14:27, besides a betrayer being at hand they will all fall way. “And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'” Now in telling them this, Jesus is quoting Scripture, Zechariah 13:7 to be exact, that they are going to be scattered (that is fall away). This falling away doesn’t mean that the disciples will lose their faith in Jesus, but that their courage will fail and they will forsake him. The Greek word for “fall away” (skandalizō) means “to cause to stumble” or “to fall.” The word in this passage is in the passive voice so it carries a passive sense, that is, it does not mean that the disciples will willfully defect but that external factors will act upon them and cause them to do so. It is, in other words, there are experiencing a lapse rather than an egregious rebellion. Another important thing to point is the quotation from Zechariah 13:7 clearly indicates that the death of Jesus is the result of the action of God and that it results in the scattering of the sheep. And we know this scripture was fulfilled because the disciples were fearful to be identified with Jesus in his trial and death and that caused them to forsake him. This was especially true of Peter, whose actions are often representative of the rest of the disciples.

Now look at Peter’s response to Jesus’s declaration in verse 29, “that you will all fall away” is “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” So Peter throws the disciples under the bus so to speak, as he expects that the other disciples will fall away, but he will not. Then Jesus replies. “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” The word used here for “truly” in Greek is “amen”. So a more literal translation would be Amen, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Jesus uses this expression as a mark of its truthfulness and authenticity. With Jesus using this “amen” expression, you might expect Peter to change the behavior, but he doesn’t. He actually “double downs” and says “emphatically” “if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same. When Jesus tells them, “they will all fall away”, he is warning them to guard against the kind of sinfulness which is to falter in the midst of difficulty. We do not plan on sinning, but neither do we hold the fort when we should.

The satanic influence that is going on here in this scene is seen more clearly in a parallel passage Slide Luke 22:31-32. Jesus says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Previously in Luke 22:3, the scripture says, Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve” In the verse 31, because of the seriousness of the situation, Jesus is trying to get Peter’s attention by saying his name twice Simon, Simon. The apostle Peter is the object of satanic attack. the phrase “Satan demanded to have you” the you is in the plural, which means Satan wants all the disciples, just not Peter, but clearly Peter seems to be the primary target. Satan’s strategy is perhaps, if Peter, falls away, the rest will. This picture of sifting is a picture of grain in a sieve, where the grain is taken apart. Our English idiom of “picking someone to pieces” or “taking someone apart” has similar force “sift like wheat.” Satan would like to bring Peter to ruin and leave him in pieces, exposing his lack of faithfulness. Jesus knows this and his warning should make Peter more alert.

The scene now shifts to the Gethsemane.

Slide 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.”

Jesus leaves the main body of his disciples, takes inner circle, Peter, James, and John with him. In verse 33, the text reads the Jesus began to be greatly distressed and troubled, and Jesus tells his inner circle that his soul is very sorrowful. Even though these are strong emotional words to describe what is happening here, it is still hard to get a grasp of what exactly Jesus is facing. Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase of the Bible, The Message, says of this text, Jesus “plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony” and told his disciples “I feel bad enough right now to die”. In verse 35, Jesus falls to the ground and asks if possible this hour might pass from him. I don’t think it is too strong of statement to say nothing in all the Bible compares to Jesus’ agony and anguish in Gethsemane. The question we need to ponder is why does Jesus, who has foreseen his death and went purposely to Jerusalem to meet it, now seem to pray against it? The answer must be that Jesus is aware of facing something more than simply his own death. His purpose is in Mark 10:45 is “to give his life as a ransom for many”. That is the objective description of his purpose “to give his life as a ransom for many”, but now we hear the subjective experience of it. In Gethsemane Jesus must make the first payment of that ransom, which is to will to become the sin-bearer for humanity. For all of us, it will be fearful enough to answer for our own sins before a holy and almighty God. But who can imagine what it would be like to stand before God to answer for every sin and crime and act of malice and injury and cowardice and evil in the world? The Father’s will for the Lord Jesus is captured in the second half of Isaiah 53:12 “he bore the sins of many and makes intercession for the transgressors”. It is necessary for Jesus to experience an abandonment and darkness of cosmic proportions. Now the worst prospect of becoming the sin-bearer for humanity is that it means complete alienation from God, an alienation that Jesus cries out, “ ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ”. Not Jesus’ own death is the concern, but the specter of identifying with sinners so fully as to become the object of God’s wrath against sin. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 the Apostle Paul writes “He (God the Father) made Him (God the Son) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. It is the “to be sin on our behalf) that overwhelms Jesus’ soul “ ‘to the point of death’ ” .

In verse 36, Jesus prays to the Father, using a more intimate, Abba. Abba was a word the Jews did not use to address God because they thought it was disrespectful. Since Jesus was the Son of God and on the most intimate terms with him, it was natural for him to use it. Jesus believed that with God anything was possible and therefore prayed for the cup to be removed from him. This cup is the cup of the God’s wrath. In the OT, the term cup is usually used as a metaphor of punishment and judgment. Here it obviously refers to Jesus’ death. Jesus’ desire was for the removal of the cup, in the words of Zechariah 13:7, he was praying for God not to strike the Shepherd.

I want to linger here a little bit to unpack what is going on here.

Slide In Hebrew 5:8-9 reads, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”. When we see these words, “learned obedience” and “being made perfect” our brains may ask the question does this mean Jesus wasn’t obedient or perfect before this? For emphasis, I am going to say this again, does this mean Jesus wasn’t obedient or perfect before this? And the answer is surely not. What we have before Gethsemane and the cross is untested obedience and untested perfection. Jesus was obedient and perfect but it was not tested to the degree it is going to be tested now. Jesus’ demonstrates his obedience and his perfection through the suffering.

Hebrews 2:10 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Again, In saying that Jesus was made perfect, the author of Hebrewsis not suggesting that Jesus was sinful but that as he lived his life, his maturity and experience deepened, yet always with full obedience to the Father. As a human being, he needed to live his life and obey God (which he did perfectly) to become the perfect sacrifice for sins. Jesus willingly placed his will in submission to his Father’s will.

Back to verse 37, Jesus returns from the first time from prayer, he finds the disciples sleeping. This emotional abandonment foreshadows their literal abandonment that will soon take place. Jesus says to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping, which is a rebuke, since Jesus knows Peter was sleeping. Then rebukes him again, by asking Peter, were you not able to watch one hour. the “Watch” meaning watching in the sense of sharing Jesus’s agony and turmoil.

And then in verse 38, Jesus then commands them to watch and pray, which is the need to watch and pray for themselves. The temptation for the disciples was to fall away and not be true to Jesus. They did not remain alert and make earnest work of prayer. Therefore they succumbed to temptation.

This cycle of Jesus praying and finding the disciples happens two more times. And on the third time, Jesus rebukes again saying, “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.

Slide Biblical commentator, James Edwards writes, “The prayer in Gethsemane is Jesus’ final moment of freedom, for with the arrival of Judas and the soldiers Jesus is swept up into the events he has previously predicted. Certain early witnesses attempt to mitigate the catastrophe at hand by reporting that an angel comforted him in prayer (Luke 22:43; Gospel of the Nazarenes 32). But Mark—and the majority tradition—is silent about angelic aid. If Jesus is to fulfill his destiny as God’s Son, the only answer to his prayer will resound in the venomous accusations and the hammer blows of Calvary, against which drugged wine will be dull comfort. What profound irony Gethsemane conceals, for when Jesus feels most excluded from God’s presence, he is in fact closest to God’s will! Gethsemane is the prelude to Calvary, for in a valley beneath the city Jesus allows his soul to be crucified; on a hill above the city he relinquishes his body.”

Next, I want to look application of this passage, but this is a difficult part of the passion to leave unfinished from the rest of the story. Though it seems dreadful, it is really good news . Jesus submitted to God’s will. He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we (those who have received Christ and believe in His name) might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I want to look three brief points of application from this study.

1. As believers of the Lord Jesus we need to receive God’s word and obey it. In what we studied this evening we see the difference of receiving God’s and obeying it, as opposed to just listening to it and not paying it a whole lot of mind. We don’t have time to discuss the pre-Pentecost (before outpouring of the Holy Spirit) state of the disciples of what they were able to do and not do. But the Lord commanded them to watch and pray and they fell asleep instead. One of my favorite NT professors speak, Rob Plummer spoke on the three most common mistakes people make when studying the Bible. I guess I thought he would have some profound thought that I hadn’t thought about, but he said the biggest mistake people make when they read and study the Bible, is they don’t what it says. We read the Bible but fail to integrate biblical principles into their lives. We become like the person James describes, a hearer of the word only, and not a doer of the word. The question we have to ask ourselves, when we read the Bible or listen to a sermon, do we let God speaks to us. Do we examine ourselves to see what sin do we mortify. Do I pray and apply Scripture to my life in cooperation with the Holy Spirit to kill the sin that is killing me. Or do I read or hear it, and forget what I read or heard. When read and hear the word of God we need to be intentional on how we apply it to our lives.

2. Be prepared for suffering. None of us want to suffer. We want everything to go wonderful in our lives. We want the perfect spouse, the perfect kids, the perfect job, perfect health, etc. etc. The bad part about having the perfect life (if you could attain it, which you can’t, but if you could, you wouldn’t grow very much in your Christian life. One of my favorite suffering verses is in Slide Acts 14:19-22. It happens in Lystra, where Paul is stoned. It reads, But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, (here is my favorite part)22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. The Greek word here translated “must” a little three word which is “dei”. delta epilison, iota. It is usually translated “it is necessary”. A lot of times in the NT it is associated with a divine plan, I think it is here. In this passage, it was in the plan for Paul to suffer, and likewise it is God’s plan for us to suffer too. God allows the difficult things in our life to test us and sanctify us. And even though these difficult things are not necessarily good in themselves, God uses them for our good.

3. Keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14-16 since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

When receive Christ into our lives a lot of salvific (things to pertain to salvation) happen to us. One of them is we united to Christ. If you listen to Pastor Sean at the end of the service, he says we go nowhere by accident and we take Christ with us wherever we go. When he says this, he is not saying this in abstract way. No, he says it we take Christ wherever we go because we are united to him.

Christ is always with us. He is high priest who can sympathize with our weakness. No matter what difficulty we face or peril we find ourselves in, he will not leave us or forsake us. Christ will not abandon us. And we know as we draw near to the throne of grace, we will receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That is why we should be looking toward Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.

Please pray with me.