Mark 14:32-42

You grab your Bibles and turn back to Mark 14. Mark 14, starting at verse 32, that's on page 851.

Let me pray for God's help. Heavenly Father, help us tonight to hear your word and not just take it as words in our ears, but would you drive them into our heart and would we know and love Christ better. In his name we pray. Amen.

There are moments in life where you can feel sick to your stomach. Those moments are usually before a big event, as the moment approaches, like the moment before a big final exam, as the clock approaches the start time, or before walking on stage for that big performance and the audience are ready and the lights are on.

And it's just before that happens that you begin to feel the nerves, the sickness, that your knees get a bit weak. You feel that this is the big moment. It's coming. And now I just need to go through with this.

But for all of us here, that big moment has never been our death. On July 1st, 1916, at 7.29am, British and French troops were in their trenches at the Battle of the Somme.

And they were waiting for a Somme. And they were waiting for a Somme. And at the sound of a whistle, they were to climb up their ladders, out of their trench, and walk head on toward the German front line.

And that meant heading onto an onslaught of German bullets. In those moments, those troops were waiting for their death. And in those eerily quiet moments, before that whistle was blown, can you imagine the sickness that they felt in their stomach?

The distress that they felt in their stomach? The distress that they felt in their stomach?

Basically any of those discomfort? Basically any of those discomfort? Basically any of those discomforts were in their stomach?

Basically any of those discomforts were in their stomachs were in their stomachs were in their stomachs.

Basically any of those discomforts were in their stomachs were in their stomachs were in their stomachs were in their stomachs.

And there's not just sickness in his stomach, there is terror within him.

And this is my first point.

Jesus faced terror before the cross.

Jesus faced terror before the cross.

Look at verse 32 of me.

And they went, asked the disciples of Jesus, they went to a place to get 70.

And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray.

Jesus has gone to this garden to pray.

Something is weighing on him.

He needs to go to his heavenly father and pray.

And he even asked for help from his friends.

Look at verse 33.

And he took with him Peter and James and John.

And what is weighing on him?

Why do you need to pray?

Verse 33.

He began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

There's something seriously wrong.

Internally, Jesus is deeply unsettled.

He's anxious.

He's scared.

His emotions are overwhelming him.

But more than that, the issue goes even deeper inside of him.

He says to Peter, James and John in verse 34,

My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

Remain here and watch.

There is sorrow down to the depths of his soul.

And it's not just a little sorrow.

It is sorrow to the point of death.

A sorrow and distress that's so heavy and so crushing, it's almost killing him.

He's burdened with grief.

He's tormented.

He's disturbed to the very depths of his being.

Those of you who might suffer with anxiety or panic attacks, can I just say that Jesus knows how you feel.

And even worse, actually.

Anxiety can feel like a dark cloud over you, can't it?

Like the colour has gone from the world.

And like your body physically just won't settle.

Well, Jesus knows how you feel because he is going through something much worse here.

And so, he leaves the three disciples behind and heads further into the garden.

Verse 35.

And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed.

Now, this is no normal praying position he's in here.

A normal position might be standing or kneeling and perhaps have his arms up and eyes lifted to heaven.

But Jesus doesn't do that here.

What does he do?

He fell to the ground.

Jesus collapses to the dirt.

He falls before the Father, coming to him in dire need.

This prayer is a desperate cry to God.

And he prays to the Father, asking him in verse 35,

that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

Now, this hour he's speaking of here, this is the hour of his death.

Jesus has already foretold three times in Mark's Gospel up to this point,

that he's going to be handed over to the authorities of Jerusalem,

and he's going to suffer, and he's going to die.

And this has been his mission.

This has been his task from the beginning.

This is why he was sent.

This is what his whole life and ministry has been building up to.

And now he knows the hour is almost here.

He lies in the trench of Gethsemane, waiting for the whistle to blow.

He knows the time has come for him to die.

And this is why his soul is so sorrowful.

He's staring death square in the face.

He's on death row, staring down his execution.

And it fills him with dread.

The shadow of the cross is looming over him and crushing him

with trouble and distress and sorrow.

But, it's not just death he's staring at.

There's something more troubling going on here.

Look at what he prays in verse 36.

In verse 36.

And he said,

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me.

Yet not what I will, not what you will.

It's not just death that awaits him.

But it's a cup.

Now this cup is a very important and a very terrifying cup.

And you can read about this cup in Isaiah 51.

And this is the cup of God's wrath.

This cup represents God's punishment on sin.

And in this cup, there isn't water.

There isn't even acid or poison.

In this cup is the blistering fury of God's wrath on sin.

This cup hangs over all our heads.

Every sinner has to have their sins accounted for.

Every sin needs to be punished.

Every sinner has God's wrath resting on them, ready to fall.

Everyone has this cup waiting for them.

And you can't ignore it.

You can't pour it down the sink.

You can't avoid it.

No, this cup needs to be drunk.

And so here in the garden, Jesus isn't just facing death.

He's facing wrath.

On the cross, Jesus not only faced physical pain and agony and a brutal death, which he most certainly did.

But he also faced spiritual torment.

And he experienced the very wrath of God itself.

Jesus drank this cup.

But it wasn't his cup.

Sinners have this cup.

But Jesus committed no sin.

There was no cup for Jesus.

This cup wasn't his.

Christian, it was mine.

And it was yours.

Jesus drank the cup of wrath for our sins.

Jesus was in that garden facing down the sin and wrath deserved for us.

He knew he was about to answer for every sin that we committed.

Every lustful thought, every nasty word, every lie, every burst of anger, every sin of ours that deserves an eternity in hell.

All the sin that we did.

Jesus was staring it square in the face.

And he knew that he would be punished for it.

The cup was hanging over him.

And so, how bad is our sin?

How bad is this wrath?

Well, Jesus looks at it and is in utter distress.

He is physically and emotionally disturbed.

He is sorrowful in the depths of his soul to the point of death.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus looked at the wrath stored up for me and for you.

And it filled him with dread.

We don't know how many Christians there will be in the new creation.

It's impossible to even guess.

But let's say there's 10 billion.

Now that could be way off.

We don't really know.

We can't even really guess at these things.

But let's say 10 billion people in the new creation.

That means on the cross, Jesus took the sin of 10 billion people.

10 billion judgments.

10 billion eternities in hell.

The wrath stored up for your sin alone.

That's terrifying enough.

But can you imagine the sin of an entire people?

And so, is it any wonder Jesus falls to the ground in sorrow and distress?

We can't even begin to imagine that feeling.

And so Jesus prays to the Father.

Asking if it is possible that this hour might pass from him.

He prays, Lord, this is such a terrifying and agonising task.

If it is possible, please let there be another way.

Now at this point, you might ask, well, is Jesus chickening out there?

Is this Jesus not wanting to do what God has planned for him?

Well, no.

I want you to hear it here.

In all this, Jesus willingly faced this terror.

And this is my second point today.

Jesus willingly faced terror.

Jesus willingly faced terror.

There are two times in this passage where Mark tells us that Jesus prayed and asked his father that his death might not happen.

So look at verse 35.

He fell on the ground and prayed.

If it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

And then again in verse 36, we hear his own words.

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me.

Yet not what I will, but what you will.

We must think here that Jesus is asking, Lord, stop the plan of redemption.

This is too scary.

I'm backing out here.

No.

We're witnessing here the true humanity of Christ.

It is human to fear death.

it is human to be distressed

at the idea of God's wrath

and so

we're not seeing any sin here

we're not seeing any unwillingness

we're seeing here

that the frailty of Jesus

fearing death

and the natural impulse

to avoid it

so think of it like this

imagine if I put a stove in front of you

and I turn the stove on

and blast it up to full max

and so the flames are roaring

and the iron griddle

is getting glowing hot

and I said put your hand

on top of that and hold it there

what are you going to do

you're going to back away

aren't you

you're going to want to avoid that

that's your human instinct

to avoid pain and death

it's not a sin

to want to put away

you're not disobeying me doing that

there's no fault in you

for doing that

well neither with Jesus

in the garden

Jesus is feeling

the blistering heat

of God's wrath

and in his human instinct

and frailty

he's trembling

and he's naturally

wanting to pull away

and so he comes to God

and says

Father

if there's another way

to do this

if that is possible

Father I pray for that

he comes with the burden

and the dread

of the cross

to his Father

to see if there's another way

but not to twist God's arm

to change the Father's will

but actually

quite the opposite

to that

he prays

to align his own

human world

with the Father's will

because look what he says next

at the end of verse 36

yet not what I will

but what you will

Jesus is saying here

though my flesh fears death

and the task ahead of me

is terrifying

yet I know your plan

is for me to do this

and so I will do

as you tell me Father

yet not what I will

but what you will

now these words

are some of the most

important words

ever uttered

on this planet

these are the words

of Jesus perfectly

obeying his Father

the fate of the world

depends on Jesus'

obedience

to the Father's will

and so the fate of the world

hangs on these words

and this obedience

if Jesus walks away now

he disobeys the Father

and there's no cross

there's no salvation

and all humanity

is left to drink this cup

the fate of the world

is in the balance here

and so it's no coincidence

where all this takes place

it's no coincidence

that all this takes place

in a garden

because can you think

of another garden

where the fate of the world

was decided

it was Adam

in the garden of Eden

Adam's disobedience

to his heavenly father

when he took

the forbidden fruits

that disobedience

plunged humanity

into sin and misery

Adam said

not what you were God

but what I were

but what happens

here in Gethsemane

Jesus in the garden

of Gethsemane

says

not what I were

but what you were Father

in this moment

Jesus is undoing

what Adam has done

by saying yes

to the Father

he's taking his people

out of sin

and misery

and so

no one else

could have done this

no one else

could have said

these words

this is such a huge

burden

such a dreadful task

such perfect

obedience

is required for this

only Jesus Christ

could have done this

and his disciples

prove that point

do you remember

what Jesus commanded

Peter

James and John

to do while they prayed

verse 34

remain here

and watch

their task is simple

stay here

and stay awake

it's kind of your

task at the moment

this evening

so he's feeling sleepy

stay here

stay awake

but look what happens

next in verse 37

Jesus comes back

over to them

verse 37

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

as Jesus

faces his burden

task

they have one

simple task

stay awake

and they couldn't

even do that

why?

well Jesus says

that the spirit

indeed is willing

but the flesh

is weak

Jesus is saying to me

your tiredness

is pulling you away

from the simple task

of stay awake

and pray

your spirit

is willing

but it's not

willing enough

and he comes back

again in verse 40

and what are they

doing?

sleeping

and he comes back

a third time

in verse 41

what are they doing?

sleeping

the disciples

are being contrasted

here

with Jesus

to show that

no one else

could have done

what Jesus did

they couldn't even

stay awake

so they definitely

crumb under the pressure

Jesus was facing

and so would we

so would any one

of us

and what's even worse

these aren't any

old disciples

James and John

said back in

chapter 10

Jesus we can

drink the cup

that you're about

to drink

and Peter

in verse 30

of this chapter

said

I will die

with you

for now

look at the

mystery

they can't even

stay awake

for Jesus

even the most

unwilling

could not do

what Jesus

did

Jesus

stands alone

in the garden

as the only

one who will

save the world

so did you

notice

where Jesus

is in relation

to the disciples

in verse 35

it says

Jesus went

a little farther

than the disciples

in Luke's gospel

it says

he went

a stone's

thrown away

this little

distance

this

a little

farther

is the

distance

between

the world

and its

saviour

between the

weak

and the one

perfectly

obedient man

who willingly

faced this

terror

now look at

what Jesus

says when he

returns for the

last time

in verse 41

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

the hour

he's been

dreaded

is now here

and he

simply says

rise

let us be

going

he willingly

heads straight

towards

he knows

Judas is

just ahead

he knows

the wheels

are in motion

he knows

his fate

is sealed

and he

walks straight

to the cross

straight into

the heat

straight toward

that club

all the while

saying

yet not what

I will

but what

you will

he had

his father

on his mind

that night

but not just

his father

Christian

he had

you on his

mind

in this

agony

because

Jesus

willingly

faced

terror

so that

you

will

never

have

to

that's

my third

point

tonight

Jesus

willingly

faced

terror

so you

will

never

have

to

have

you ever

wondered

how

martyrs

Christian

martyrs

could so

willingly

and

fearlessly

face

death

have

you ever

wondered

or seen

godly

Christians

so peacefully

and dreamfully

lay on their

deathbed

as they

stare down

death

maybe you

know someone

like that

or knew

someone like that

why don't

those Christians

have dread

or trouble

or sorrow

inside of them

because in

death

they aren't

facing the

wrath of god

there's nothing

left for them

to drink in the

cup

that they

aren't sorrowful

because Jesus

was sorrowful

for them

it's because

of this

very moment

in the

garden

and Christian

that goes

for you

too

as you

face death

however that

may be

that might be

old age

maybe illness

or maybe even

like a martyr

for your faith

whatever it may

be

you can be

very sure

that you

have nothing

to fear

in death

you don't

ever need

to feel

sorrowful

or distressed

or feel scared

about what's

coming after

death

your fate

is certain

there is no

wrath to face

for you

there is no

anger

Christian

there is nothing

left in that

cup for you

to drink

Jesus

has drunk

it all

and so let me

be clear here

your sins

are completely

and utterly

dealt with

and death

for you

is not entering

into a dark

and scary

place

no it is

the complete

opposite

death for you

is like coming

home

you will be

with Jesus

and it will

be amazing

Jesus faced

this distress

for you

he was terrified

as he approached

death

so that you

will never

have to be

but if you're

not a Christian

here today

can I just

speak to you

for a moment

maybe you're

here today

and you do

fear death

and it

troubles you

or maybe

you're not

a Christian

here today

and you just

haven't really

thought about

it

well

whether you

fear death

a lot

or you

haven't really

thought about

it

the truth

is that

death

is a lot

worse than

you think

because for

those who

aren't following

Christ

death isn't

just an

unknown

death isn't

nothingness

death is

terrifying

death is

when you die

you will face

God's wrath

this cup

that Jesus

was so sorrowful

and so distressed

to drink

you will have

to drink it

and it will

be a horrible

unimaginable

experience

and if I can be

straight with you

here it will

be hell for

eternity

someone

has to

drink this

cup

someone

has to

take this

punishment

so I ask

you today

will it be

you

or will it

be Jesus

because if you

turn from your

sin

and you trust

in Jesus

and follow

him

if you come

to Jesus

and say

Jesus

I don't

want this

wrath

please

save me

from it

rest

assured

he will

save you

he will

save all

who come

to him

and if you

do

if you do

come to him

you will

find

your cup

is already

empty

Jesus

has already

drunken

on the cross

and death

will be

transformed

for you

death

will not

be a mystery

it won't

be anything

to fear

in fact

it will

be entering

joy

it will

be like

coming

home

this is

why Jesus

willingly

faced

terror

in this

garden

he did

it

so his

people

will

never

have

to

fear

death

so

Christian

you

have

nothing

to

fear

on this

night

in this

garden

Jesus

said

there is

sorrow

in my

soul

and he

said that

so that

we can

say yes

and now

it is

well

my

soul

praise

Jesus

let me

pray

Lord

we

thank you

for

Jesus

Christ

we

thank you

for this

night

in the

garden

we

thank you

for what he

went through

so that we

would never

have to

and we

pray that

we would

continue

trusting

in his

death

and that

we would

be assured

that our

sins are

dealt with

and that

death

has been

transformed

for us

Lord help

us to

fix our

eyes on

Jesus

in his

name we

pray

Amen