Mark 14 32-42
Gethsemane: A Place of Temptation
Text: Mark 14:32-42
Dear Christian Friends,
“Do you know what happens to little boys who lie?” asked Billy’s mother with pointed finger. “Sure,” said Billy without a second thought, “they get into the zoo for half price.” Many times, like Billy, we become little concerned about temptation and treat sin too lightly. We are then tempted to appreciate our Savior Jesus with less faith, love, and devotion than we ought. But the events in the Garden of Gethsemane teach us otherwise.
Today/This evening we continue our Lenten series, “Places of the Passion,” and make our moonlit march from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus and the 11 disciples. Gethsemane literally means “oil press,” and it was the name of a garden, or grove, of olive trees whose olives were pressed to make valuable oil. Here Jesus is pressed between heaven and hell with temptation. Here Jesus presses the cup of God’s wrath for the world’s sins to his lips and begins drinking its bitter sorrows in our place. Here the weak flesh of the disciples presses hard against their willing spirit. Here, in the midst of this garden Jesus triumphs over the pressure of temptation—not just to show us that with his help we can do the same, but to save us from the times we haven’t.
1. He kept an active watch
“The spirit is willing, but the [flesh] is weak” (vs. 38). How precisely that phrase describes each of us in our pursuit of pleasing God, yet it also describes our Savior. He was also troubled with temptation, just like us, but he triumphed over it by keeping an active watch. First, he kept an active watch by taking refuge in a familiar place. This grove of olive trees became a “refuge of prayer” for Jesus during his days in Jerusalem. He knew he wouldn’t be bothered there; perhaps he had a favorite tree where he’d pray and a favorite knoll on which he'd sit to watch the stars. This is where we find him fleeing in anticipation of extreme temptation to give in to the devil and in anticipation of his overwhelming suffering. Jesus also kept an active watch by seeking companionship. Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to, “Stay here and keep watch [with me].” These three had witnessed his glory in His transfiguration, now they were called to witness His humility. As the Son of God, Jesus offered what these men needed forgiveness of sins, but as the Son of Man, he needed what they could offer—companionship. Finally, Jesus kept an active watch by acknowledging his human limitations. He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (vs. 34), Jesus admitted the very real pressure of facing death on the cross and the weight of man’s sins that was to be bourn on His shoulders. Remember, Jesus is almighty God, but he was also a real human susceptible to real human weakness and emotions; he didn’t try to proudly convince himself otherwise. He needed help from his Father and asked for it. By keeping an active watch, Jesus triumphed over temptation.
How did the disciples do in keeping an active watch? They were about as successful as an early morning alarm is at waking up someone who punches the snooze button three times. Three times Jesus returned to these men who said they were ready to die with him, and three times he found them sleeping on the job. What a help they were! But did you notice what Jesus did with these men? When they became a hindrance to him instead of a help, he woke them up, told them what needed to be done, and brought them along with him. Jesus never gives up on those he loves.
We’re just like the disciples, aren’t we? Lord, I know you ask me to keep watch, but you don’t always find me aware of my weaknesses; you find me sleeping. Lord, I know you ask me to be alert to danger, but you don’t always find me awake; you find me sleeping. Lord, I know you ask me to be active in serving you and others with my talents, but you don’t always find me helping unselfishly; you find me sleeping. We’re sincere in our intentions but unsuccessful in carrying them out. Jesus Christ deals with his disciples today just as he dealt with those in the garden. He wakes us up from spiritual sleepiness, not with barking anger but with gentle love (of course, that may mean shaking us a little bit). Then he reminds us of his will when we hear or remember his Word, and he always takes us with him. He never leaves us alone.
According to the Greek myth, Achilles, the great hero of the Trojan War, was dipped as a child in the waters of the River Styx by his mother to make him invulnerable. Later in life, however, the poisoned arrow of Paris found the spot in Achilles’ heel where his mother had held him, a spot untouched by the magic water. Even the strongest Christian is in danger of falling if that Christian doesn’t acknowledge his or her weak spots as Jesus did. Acknowledge your weaknesses; then go to your heavenly Father in the refuge of prayer. Speak to him in prayer. Listen to God speak to you in his Word. Ponder what he says and how to apply it to your life. Jesus triumphed over temptation by keeping an active watch, and now he helps his disciples triumph over temptation by keeping an active watch over us.
2. He submitted to his Father’s will
Jesus submitted to His Father’s will and triumphed over temptation. Jesus, through prayer, submitted to the Father’s will. Jesus prayed to his Father: “Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (vs. 36). Jesus didn’t stop short of making his own feelings and concerns known, even his own personal desires in this situation—but he only did that conditionally. He knew that his Father had established from eternity that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would save sinners from eternal condemnation. Jesus didn’t question that. As he approached the final battle with the forces of hell and a date with the sins of the whole world, Jesus faced the severest temptation of all, to draw back from the cross. Here, in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see the humanity of Jesus in it’s fullest. We see Jesus victorious as He surrenders to His Fathers will.
As a child I remember thinking it sure would be nice if there were another way to get over being sick than by drinking that awful tasting medicine, but that was the best way. How true it is—the best way is most often the difficult way. It was true for Jesus, and it’s true every day in our Christian lives. The best way to raise a teenager, the best way to keep a job, the best way to attain financial security, the best way to be a good friend, the best way to save a marriage, the best way to improve a Christian life, the best way to stay healthy, the best way to avoid temptation is usually the most difficult way. The most difficult way is good because it requires the greatest faith, which allows God to be more involved in his great work. The most difficult way is good because it requires the greatest perseverance, which produces great character and commitment in God’s children.
The best way for Jesus to save us was the most difficult way. When the Father put the bitter cup of suffering, pain, ridicule, and death to his Son’s lips, he didn’t pull away. There’s the key to understanding Jesus’ prayer—he sought his own will conditionally, but he sought his Father’s will unconditionally. It was the Father’s will for Jesus to drink from this cup, the cup of wrath that was intended for you and me. Jesus drank the most vile and disgusting drink the world has ever known, poisoned with our immoral thoughts, our ugly anger, our potent words, and our grimy guilt, so that we wouldn’t have to take even a taste. If that’s what it had to take, then that’s what Jesus would do. Strengthened, reassured, and confident in what the Father asked him to do, Jesus then left the safety of Gethsemane to face his enemy and begin the final battle to the death, His death on the cross. Then He rose again in victory.
The darkness in the Garden of Gethsemane that night was like no other darkness in any garden of the world. The oil pressed that night was like no other oil would ever be, because it was pressed as sweat and blood through the pores of the God-man Jesus, who was suffering for us. The triumph over temptation was like none the world has ever known, because the Savior’s triumph is our victory over sin. Temptation is waiting for us. It is waiting for us to sleep like the disciples in the garden. Our Lord calls on us to be vigilant and stay awake with Him. Sometimes we will succeed and sometimes we will fail. Either way, we are safe in the arms of our Lord who is always vigilant and keeping watch over us. Through faith in his victory for us, we will triumph over temptation. Amen.