PALMS IN THE GARDEN- MATTHEW 26:36-56

Introduction

Today begins Holy Week. Today is what is traditionally been called Palm Sunday. It is the day commemorating Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem, during which the gathered multitude spread palm branches in front of Jesus as He came into the city.

Palm Sunday is bittersweet because even as we hear the shouts of “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest” we can hear already in the distance, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Sandwiched between the streets of Jerusalem and Mount Calvary, there is Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday is the day we look back to the agony of the garden. The name of this garden was Gethsemane which means “oil press.” It was in this garden where the people would harvest the olives from the trees to press and crush them to remove the oil. This is significant in that Jesus, in just a few short hours, Himself would be crushed and pressed so that the oil of salvation could flow freely to the world.

This morning we move from the streets of Jerusalem to that little garden outside of Jerusalem to which Jesus went many times. As we enter this garden, let us do so with the greatest reverence. You see, as we enter this garden we are indeed treading on holy ground. This morning we will take notice of three different palms along the paths of the agony of the garden.

Palm #1: The Palms of Sorrow (26:36-38)

Jesus had just shared the last Passover meal with His disciples which He just initiated as the Lord’s Supper. Following this, they sang a hymn together and went out to the Mount of Olives. It was there that Jesus predicts Peter’s denial of Him. He then led the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. He told them to wait why He went a little further into the garden to pray (36). He takes the inner circle with Him-Peter, James and John (37). In this verse we get the first hint of the Palm of Sorrow as the scripture states, “and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” The phrase “deeply distressed” comes from one Greek word meaning “to be surrounded by sorrow.” Jesus is in a whirlpool of sorrow. He is completely engulfed by sorrow.

Why did Jesus experience this sorrow in the garden. There are three biblical reasons for His sorrow:

There was the emotional suffering that Jesus was about to endure. Jesus was subjected to every negative emotional attack imaginable. The Lukan version of the account says in Luke 22:44, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

There is a medical term for what Jesus experienced. It is called Hematidrosis, or blood sweat. It is an extremely rare condition in which one sweats blood. Under extreme duress (deeply distressed) the blood vessels actually burst. Perhaps as He was kneeling there, Jesus placed His palms over His face as He sweat great drops of blood! Add to this the unbelief of people calling Him a liar and a blasphemer (having your integrity questioned and your sincerity doubted). There was also the rejection of His own people (He came unto His own and His own received Him not. He was hated by the religious leaders of the day. He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, a man who had walked with Him for three years. Judas was a man who prayed with Jesus. He was the secretary-treasurer for Jesus. He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Jesus would soon be deserted by His own disciples. He would be denied by Peter three times. He would soon experience great injustice in an illegal trial held by a kangaroo court which broke every law of jurisprudence of that day. He would be convicted of crimes of which He was not guilty. Beyond that, He would face further ridicule including being spit upon and the greatest indignity of being stripped naked and put to public shame. Salvation may be free, but salvation is not cheap! With palms of sorrow upon His face, He endured great emotional suffering!

2. There was also the physical suffering Jesus had to endure.

Jesus knew what awaited Him- the pain and suffering of an old rugged cross. It has been said that to be crucified is to die a thousand deaths. Verse 38 makes it clear that Jesus’ emotional suffering led to His immediate physical suffering. His suffering was to the very point of death. His physical body recoiled at the very thought. No, Jesus was not afraid to die, because He faced death with courage and perfect peace. Yet no one in their right mind looks forward to dying. If the doctor gives you a choice between living and dying, you will take living every time.

God has built within each of us a defense mechanism to resist pain and death. Do you see the palms of sorrow, as Jesus looks down at His hands, knowing in advance the spikes which will be driven through them? However the worst part of Jesus’ suffering was not the emotional and it was not the physical. It was...

3. The worst suffering was Jesus’ spiritual suffering (39).

Jesus picks up the cup with His palms. In this cup is much more than physical and emotional suffering. In that cup was the sin of all humanity, the accumulated sins of all the ages which was about to be laid upon the sinless and perfect Son of God. We cannot begin to imagine the repugnance He must have felt at the thought of bearing all our sin. Jesus would soon utter the cry from the cross, “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?”

We have seen His palms of sorrow, now we notice a second set of palms.

Palm #2: The Palms of Surrender (26:39-42)

As Jesus goes a little farther into the garden He begins to pray (39). Jesus had previously asked Peter, James and John to watch. Yet, when He came back to check on them He found them asleep (40). He then warns them to watch and pray lest they fall prey to temptation (41). Jesus goes back to the place where He had previously prayed and begins to pray the same prayer again. There is a slight intensity in the prayer this time (42).

It is interesting to note the ending of verse 42: “Your will be done.” In His humanity, Jesus may have buried His face in palms of sorrow. Yet, thank God, in His divinity, Jesus looked up with palms of surrender!

The Bible speaks of two important gardens in Scripture. The first garden we are confronted with is the Garden of Eden. It was in this garden that the first Adam exerted his own will and brought ruin and damnation to the human race. However, in this second garden, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, did not exert His own will, but deserted His own will! By doing so He brought about the redemption of the human race. The first Adam said, “My will be done!” The result of this exertion of human will was death. The second Adam said, “Your will be done!” The result of this desertion of the will was salvation. Praise God for the palms of surrender that brought about the divine will.

When I think about Jesus surrendering Himself to the Father’s will on my behalf, I wonder how I could ever exert my will in disobedience to Christ. Every day we make a choice. We choose “my will” or we choose “Your will. Thank about it. We choose whether or not we will tithe, to serve, to witness to that lost person. We make a choice when we refuse to be faithful in our walk, in our attendance and support of His church, and even how we will respond to the invitation at the end of this message. Jesus surrendered all for us. Are we willing to surrender all our will to His in appreciation

God deserves more than some of our surrender and obedience. He deserves all. With complete and total palms of surrender, He willingly gave all! Shouldn’t we?

We have observed Christ’s palms of sorrow. There is the emotional suffering in His face. There is the physical suffering of the nails that would soon hold Him to the cross. There was the spiritual suffering of the cup of the soon coming separation from the Father. We have also seen His palms of surrender as Christ cried out, “Your will be done.” Now let us notice one final set of palms.

Palm #3: The Palms of Submission (26:47-56)

Jump down to verse 50 as we notice the enemies of Christ lay their palms upon Him. Throughout the rest of the verses we discover that Jesus knew that His enemies were coming. Listen closely and you will sense the shaking of the ground beneath the marching and trampling of determined feet. Do you now hear the shouts of the mob? Cast your eyes upon the lights of the torches. Hear the sound of cold steel of clanging swords. It is time to run. It is time to flee. You must hurry before it is too late. Yet Jesus does not run. Jesus does not resist. To the contrary, with palms of submission He does what He has already committed Himself to do. He is in full submission to the will of His Father by submitting Himself to the evil plans of men.

Now notice some of the diabolical details of this submission. We observe a great multitude, probably around one thousand armed soldiers that came out to arrest a Jewish carpenter, who happened to be the Prince of Peace (47). Look around this crowd and see who is leading it. There he is. It is Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss (48-49). Peter finally awakens from his slumber. He and the other disciples had been sleeping when they should have been praying. Peter is now wide awake and does what he does best (51). He does something rash. He pulls out a sword and tries to take off the head of one of the men seizing Jesus. Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away (52-54). Jesus then picks up the ear of the man Peter attacked and miraculously reattaches it. It is a good thing He did or there would have been four wooden crosses on Mount Calvary.

Conclusion

This Palm Sunday we have observed three types of palms that were present in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have observed the palm of sorrow, the palm of surrender and the palm of submission.

American historian, Gene Smith, wrote a book entitled, When the Cheering Stopped. The book relates the events surrounding WWI and the experiences of that time of President Woodrow Wilson. At the end of the war, people possessed great optimism. They believed that the last war had been fought. Their dream of a world that had at last been made safe and the way had been paved for democracy and freedom everywhere. When Woodrow Wilson paid his first visit to Europe, he was greeted by large crowds and was cheered everywhere he went. He was more popular than any war hero. He was viewed as an icon of hope. The cheering lasted about a year. Then it began to stop. Slowly the people began to lose hope, not only in Europe but also the United States The cheering eventually came to a total collapse.

People are fickle. One day you are the best thing since sliced bread. The next, you are nothing but a crumb. That Sunday so long ago Jesus was cheered as king. By Friday He was being lifted high upon a cross as the worst of criminals. In the garden we see the palms of sorrow, surrender to the Father and submission to those He had created. From the cross, we observe the blessings of the exposed palms, palms stretched out in love for you and for me.