Praying in Gethesemane

Good morning, welcome to NHCC, please open your Bibles to Mark 14.

Join us next week as we hear from Pastor Oscar.

Read Mark 14:32-42- And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 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.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 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. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Pray.

In Gethsemane, we find a crucible.

2 parts- Jesus’ Gethsemane and the disciples’ Gethsemane.

Completely contrasted with one another.

Jesus is awake, alert, prayerful and ultimately obedient to what is to come.

Disciples are groggy, falling asleep, prayerless and ultimately flee from what is to come.

We better not pass over the Gethsemane experience of the disciples, as we know more of what was said to the disciples by Jesus than what was said to God in Jesus’ private time of prayer. Mark draws our attention directly to the rebuke against Jesus’ followers.

In the chaos of life, we find the good example in Jesus, the bad example in the disciples.

Meant to be clear as day- Goofus and Gallant showed clearly what was right and what was wrong- what should be followed and what should be avoided.

1. Jesus endures agony.

I’m not sure this can be overstated. Mark certainly wanted us to grasp some sense of the heaviness of Jesus’ suffering in the garden.

Notice the lengths that were used to express Jesus’ suffering by Mark.

Called Gethsemane, why is it called that? - Oil press.

Likely a grove of olive trees. But a place where olives were gathered to be pressed and ground into oil.

Sit here while I pray.

Turmoil isn’t necessary for Jesus to pray, but in Mark’s gospel, we have seen Him pray at difficult times.

When His ratings were on the rise early on in His ministry.

Began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

Distressed- His emotions were pricked- to be alarmed.

Thinking of Jesus as even- moments when we find heightened emotion in Him.

Troubled- anxious- overused in our day.

My soul is sorrowful, even to death.

Two ways of seeing such a statement:

The stress and emotional toll are literally driving Jesus to a point near death.

A sentiment that some have experienced- I’m so sad, miserable and heavy hearted that death seems a better alternative.

Left behind the three to go deeper in to pray by Himself.

Reminds us of the solitude of the temptation from chapter 1.

Frederic Knowles- “Joy is a partnership, grief weeps alone; Many guests had Cana, Gethsemane had one.”

Being alone and experiencing loneliness are often the birthplaces of grief, and we see this clearly in Jesus.

Fell on the ground.

Luke 22- Knelt.

Matthew 26- Fell on His face.

We can imagine the progression as the heaviness of the coming events weigh down His physical frame.

The prayer itself.

Let the hour pass, remove the cup.

What is this prayer?

Cup- God’s wrathful judgement, the consequences of God’s holiness and wrath against the sin of mankind.

Psalm 75:8- For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

Isaiah 51:17- Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.

Jesus’ suffering was tied to the drinking of the cup. Jesus, receiving the fullness of the wrath of God against the sin of mankind, specifically the sin of the redeemed.

Words cannot express the weight of such a cup. We see glimpses of God’s wrath. Moments of wrath expressed against a person or a nation.

We likely cannot fathom God’s wrath against the sin of humanity, past, present and future.

This is what Jesus was receiving on the cross. The anticipation causes such stress. Likely caused burst capillaries according to Luke, where His sweat was then mixed with blood.

We must realize the agony that Jesus faced as it will frame our own moments or seasons of agony.

Agony is to be expected. We will not escape our own crucibles. How do we prepare?

In those times, we doubt God’s love.

Remember Jesus in the garden.

Would we ever doubt the Father’s love for the Son? If we are God’s children, why would we doubt His love for us?

2. Jesus exemplifies honest prayer.

Why did He pray?

Part of normal life. Being in constant communication with the Father and constant adherence to the Father’s will.

Temptation is coming. How easy to walk away from the bearing of the world’s sin. The drinking of the cup of God’s wrath.

It’s easy to flake when we don’t want to do something.

How did He pray?

Intimate address to God.

Abba- The way we might address the most loving of fathers.

We become uncomfortable with the way Jesus prays because we lack the intimacy that Jesus had with His Father.

Like reading through the Psalms.

If we have no intimacy with God, then such prayer would be filled with disrespect.

Confidence in God’s omnipotence.

All things are possible for God.

This is why we come to God in prayer.

We recognize our own limitation in fulfilling our own desires.

Prayer, at its root, is the humble recognition of our own humility and uselessness and God’s sovereignty, omnipotence and ability.

Plea to be spared.

Perhaps one of the most difficult texts in all of Scripture.

Was Jesus’ will not in alignment with the Father’s? Was this fake frustration?

What was Jesus doing here? Revealing His humanity. There was not a desire for pain, a desire for suffering.

Submission to God’s will.

Jesus found Himself in a place in which many of us often find ourselves- between hope and dread.

W.H. Vanstone- “One waits at such moments in an agonizing tension between hope and dread, stretched and almost torn apart between two dramatically different anticipations… Torn between rational hope and rational dread one may properly pray for the best while still prepared for the worst.”

3. The disciples have ignored the teaching of Jesus.

There is in our text a distinct connection to the Olivet Discourse.

Stay awake, stay on guard, be watchful. It hasn’t been long since Jesus gave these instructions.

David Garland- “The hour has come, and the disciples are found snoozing. They fail miserably in their responsibilities. A nameless woman anoints Jesus for his burial over the objections of his friends. A bystander carries his cross. A pagan centurion who supervises his execution makes the public confession that he is the Son of God. A council member who probably participated in his condemnation obtains the body and buries it in his tomb. Women followers watch him die on the cross and go later to anoint the body. By contrast, the male disciples doze while he shudders in horror, betray him, flee for their lives when he is hauled away, and deny him while he is being condemned to death. They do not keep watch but fall asleep.”

A warning to those who claim closeness with Jesus.

If you truly want to see the connection, consider Mark 13:35-37- Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Four times that are given, let’s quickly consider the activities that took place at those times.

In the evening- the disciples dine with Jesus for the last time and one of them, Judas, decides to hand over Jesus to the religious leaders.

At midnight- All of the disciples desert Jesus, fleeing and leaving Him to the enemy.

When the rooster crows- Peter disowns Jesus.

In the morning- Jesus is left alone, delivered over to the Roman gentiles, and sentenced to death.

The disciples did not take seriously the words and warnings of Jesus.

Their slumber ought to have been a warning sign to readers, when hardship comes, they will be ill-prepared.

Jesus asked them to stay awake and watch out through the discipline of prayer. Their flesh was simply too week.

Because they had not fortified themselves in prayer, they were depending completely on that weak flesh.

When the time comes for their allegiance to be made known, what will they do? Will they stand strong? No, they will scatter.

As we saw last week, they require the work of the resurrection of Jesus to remove their self-reliance and give them a new God-reliance.

Massive point of application. What are we readying ourselves for?

Romans 16 tells us to watch out for those who cause division in the church and teach things contrary to sound doctrine.

1 Corinthians 16 defines watchfulness as standing firm in faith in Jesus.

Luke 12 warns to be watchful against covetousness.

Galatians 5 warns of the works of the flesh that are made evident in the lives of non-believers.

Philippians 4 tells us to be watchful for and contemplate on that which is honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable.

Does our life, as it is currently being lived, display a watchfulness that is in line with Scripture?

How can we tell? Look to our priorities, our time, our thoughts, and ultimately our prayer life.

The text ends with a command from Jesus- the last words that He will say to his collective disciples- Rise, let us be going.

Takes us back to that very first command that He gave to His disciples back in Mark 1- Come, follow me.

Our text ends this morning with a cliffhanger, and I find that to be appropriate. What will the disciples do? Will they follow Christ where He leads them, or will they fall away like seed in rocky soil?

The same command is given each of us this morning- Let us be going. Are we ready prepared to go, even this week, where Christ is leading us? Are we willing to be humbled, prayerful, and obedient?

Christ prayed that He would trust the Father and do what was necessary, the disciples fell asleep. With whom do we identify more this morning?

Let’s pray.