"The Willingness of Christ"

Have you ever stopped to wonder why did Jesus really have to die on the cross? Have you ever wondered why did Jesus have to go through everything, all his suffering and pain for us? Let me remind us all that the ultimate problem, the root issue is SIN. This is the one issue we would rather not deal with in our day and age. In fact, most people don’t even want to talk about it because generally if you were to ask most folks, they believe that they are generally good people.

One of the sad and yet very true characteristics of sin is unwillingness. Sin causes us to be this way.

-We are unwilling to surrender our lives to Him.

-We are unwilling to trust the Lord.

-We are unwilling to serve Him.

-We are unwilling to obey Him.

-We are unwilling to forgive, make peace, seek reconciliation, be kind, patient, and loving so often.

What this really shows us is the selfishness of sin. I am selfish by nature. There are many times when I pray that I have to ask the Lord to forgive me and to submit to his will and his ways. I find that if I am not careful I can make life all about me. My wants, my needs, my feelings, my dreams. There is this struggle within me to make life about me and what I want. And I see this really play out in many areas of life.

-Marriage. Guys if we are unwilling to make sacrifices and forgive and love our spouse our marriage is not going to be good.

-Raising our children. Parents if you are unwilling to be patient, kind and loving to your children how are things going to work out? Yeah not good.

-Friendships. Friendships can’t work when friends are unwilling to give and serve.

-Our jobs. Then there is the workplace. If are employer is unwilling to listen and love his workers things won’t work.

I think that many of the problems that we all deal with daily are an unwillingness to live as our wise and Good Father has designed us to live. God knew that we needed rescued and He had to send His one and only Son to be willing to do for us what we would never do. Jesus came and willingly died in our place. Think about that for just a moment.

So, tonight that is why the Journey to the Cross the Jesus made for each of us is so amazing, convicting and hope-giving. Listen to these words from Luke tonight.

Luke 22:39–40 ESV

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

The gospel of Matthew says it this way.

Matthew 26:41 ESV

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

As humans we may say we are willing to follow the Lord and obey Him but often times we are fleshly and weak. Let’s keep reading.

Luke 22:41–46 ESV

And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Imagine yourself being in the Garden watching the Lord pray. We see here his interaction with his disciples, but also this prayer with the Father. Let me ask you, what would be on your heart and mind? Would we be like the disciples? Man, I am sure tired I think I am going to take a nap. What would we be wondering about Christ?

It is interesting here in verse 40 that Jesus tells them to pray, so that they may not enter into temptation. Clearly these men were exhausted from lack of sleep and the sorrow on their hearts for their friend Jesus. In verse 41 Jesus withdrew from them about a stone’s throw. In other words, this means that Jesus withdrew to a place that was within ear shot of where the disciples were at so that they could hear him praying.

Then Jesus prays. He is praying to the Father and His prayer is not my will, but yours be done. Wow!!!

Church, I want you to notice something special about this prayer. This prayer truly gives us hope. And here is why, because Jesus was willing. Jesus was willing to step out of heaven and come to earth and take our place on the cross. This passage here is a clear window into the willingness of Jesus. Jesus knew what he was going to have to face. He knows that in just a moment he will face betrayal by his own disciple. He knows he will face injustice, torture, public ridicule, and the worst death possible. However he will also face something that most of us never stop to think about. Jesus will face the rejection of His father. Now this does not mean that the Father doesn’t love his son or is upset at Jesus but this is part of the redemptive plan.

Jesus asks the Father if you are willing to remove the cup from me. What does this all mean??? This cup is referring to the wrath of God. This wrath here is the wrath that comes from our sin or against our sin. In the Old Testament wrath against sin was sometimes referred by the metaphor of a cup.

Psalm 11:6 ESV

Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

Isaiah 51:17 ESV

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.

In other words, God the Father will have to place all of our sin onto his own Son so that Jesus will pay our penalty.

In the Lord’s humanity he asks the Father if there is any possibility for the cup to pass or for there to be another way? Now I know that this could look like the Lord was trying to get out of this situation but please here me tonight. Jesus did not end his prayer trying to be released from this sacrificial suffering and here is why. He says to His Father, “Not my will, but yours be done.” (vs. 42) This final prayer that the Lord prays here in the Garden gives us as sinners hope. Why? Because Jesus does not think of himself first. He never thinks about his own comfort. He is not focused on His rights, and He never demands to be accepted and respected. Jesus gave up everything, he forsook it all for us. Jesus was willing because he knew what was at stake and he knew what the result of his self-sacrifice would be.

Luke goes on here to explain the physical condition that the Lord was in as He prayed. Clearly he was in agony and pain already. Luke describes the Lord’s physical agony in descriptive terms, as we might expect a physician to do. The sweating here that Luke describes to us was apparently so bad that it looked like blood dripping from a wound. I want you to see this tonight because this is the horror Jesus was facing. You and I get stressed out when we deal with a mean person, or have a flat tire, or get an unexpected bill in the mail and yet Jesus is facing death. He was willing to die for me.

Closing: Many people today live very selfish lives including myself. We live for ourselves. I have heard so many people lately say it is my body, my choice, my life. In the Garden of Gethsemane over 2,000 years ago Jesus understands the Father’s will. Jesus understand’s what he is about to face, and in knowing all of that there is no selfishness or rebellion. Jesus had a submissive, loving and willing heart. Because Jesus was willing to suffer and die for our sin this should give us hope tonight church. Yes, Jesus was willing to endure suffering and death and that should cause all of us to be in awe and thankful. We desperately need the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. It also gives us hope as we live for the Lord. My prayer for us as we prepare for this Easter is that we would be willing to submit to Christ, to love him and serve him. That we would have a hunger for His Word and a desire to follow him all of our days.

(Close in Prayer)