Prayer of Agony

Good morning, everyone. Thanks, Ed. I really appreciate that.

! This morning our passage is Matthew 26, 36 through 56.

! I ask you to turn there in your mouth.

I ask you also to stand for the reading of God's Word if you're able to.

Let me pray for the reading of teaching.

Lord, thank you for your Word.

Thank you for the guidance that you give us.

Thank you that you stand with us in our prayers.

Thank you for the comfort that you give.

Lord, I pray as we look at your Word, as we look at Jesus at a low point,

and then the high point through prayer,

pray that you would just guide and instruct us,

pray that your Spirit would speak to us,

and we would all look a little more like you after this.

Amen.

Alright, Matthew 26, 36 through 56.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane,

and he said to his disciples,

sit here while I go over there and pray.

And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,

he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then he said to them,

My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

Remain here and watch with me.

And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed,

saying, My Father, if it be possible,

let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will,

but as you will.

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping.

And he said to Peter,

So, could you not watch with me one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

The Spirit indeed is willing,

but the flesh is weak.

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed,

My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it,

your will be done.

And again he came and found them sleeping,

for their eyes were had them.

So, leaving them again,

he went away and prayed for the third time,

saying the same words again.

Then he came to his disciples and said to them,

Sleep, take your rest, lay it alone.

See, the hour is at hand,

and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Rise, let us be done.

See, my betrayer is at hand.

While he was still speaking,

Judas came, one of the twelve,

and with him a great crowd with swords and gloves,

from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

Now the betrayer had given them a sign,

saying,

The one I will kiss is the man.

Seize him.

And he came up to Jesus at once,

and said,

Greetings, Rabbi.

And he kissed him.

Jesus said to him,

Friend, do what you came to do.

Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus,

and seized him.

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus

stretched out his hand,

drew his sword,

and struck the servant of the high priest,

and cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him,

Put your sword back into its place,

for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father

if you will at once send me

more than twelve legions of angels?

But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled

that it must be so?

At that hour,

Jesus said to the crowds,

Have you come out again?

Have you come out as against a robber

with swords and gloves to capture me?

Day after day,

I sat in the temple teaching,

and you did not seize me.

But all this has taken place

that the scriptures of the prophets

might be fulfilled.

Then all the disciples left and fled.

This is God's holy and thoroughbred word.

Please be seated.

Layoffs in white-collar companies

have been rampant in the 2020s.

I know a number of brothers and sisters

in our church who have been in companies

where they happened,

and working ten years in tech,

I've probably been through four or five myself,

depending on how you can.

Personally,

I don't think I've ever heard

a strong justification for layoffs

as an employee that sits right with me.

No matter what the financials are

or the company needs are said to be,

the fact at the end of the day

is that people lose their livelihoods

with little say in the end.

One of the worst industries

for layoffs in recent years

have been video games.

Reports say that one in three

American game developers

have been laid off in the past five years.

In the midst of all this,

an old news story

featuring Satoru Iwata,

former Nintendo president,

has been making the rounds.

Back in the early 2010s,

Nintendo was struggling with sales

with their new console lineup.

Instead of layoffs,

President Iwata and his team

took a 50% pay cut in 2011,

and then again in 2014,

and opted to trust

in the current team to pull through.

The shareholders naturally had questions,

and when they asked about why,

this was his answer.

If we reduce the number of employees

for better short-term financial results,

employing morale will decrease,

and I sincerely doubt

employees whose fear

they may be laid off

will be able to develop

software titles

that can impress people

around the world.

And partly due to

a lot of business decisions,

Nintendo is one of the most

successful game companies today,

as my kids can also address

when something goes wrong.

When things go wrong,

studies show we humans

are likely to blame

anything but ourselves.

This is what makes

Iwata's response so strong.

In a scenario where

most executives choose

to push consequences outward,

one prominent business leader

instead chose to take

financial risks on himself.

And we'll see similar principles

at play in our story today.

The disciples are faced

with a hard situation,

and act like most of us will.

Try to fight off or avoid

a losing scenario.

We're also going to see

Jesus fixing the hard situation,

the hardest, in fact,

in human history.

And rather than exercise

his rights or power

to escape or defer the problem,

we'll see Jesus

pit a different path.

We'll see him as

the suffering king

who reigns through submission.

And the passage today

breaks into two parts.

First, we'll see Jesus

in Gethsemane reigning

in submission to the Father.

in trouble.

Then, we'll see

the suffering king

in control,

even in the importance

of Jesus.

Now, this passage

starts out with Jesus

and the disciples

moving from the Last Supper

to Gethsemane.

We know Gethsemane

is an olive orchard

simply because

the word means

olive press.

And it's likely

this garden is

close to Jerusalem

and a place

that the disciples

regularly go.

Otherwise,

Judas wouldn't have been

able to go out,

gather a crowd,

and then find them

again so quickly

any of those of the night.

Jesus leaves

both of the disciples

in one spot

and takes three

with him to go pray.

These are the

inner three disciples,

Peter, James, and John.

Quick reminder

that this is

Jesus' inner circle.

These are the three

that saw

the transfiguration

of Jesus.

Peter seems to be

involved in a little

bit of everything.

and he's walking

on water

and then he's

sinking.

And then he's

being handed the keys

to the kingdom

and professing

Jesus as Lord

and then he's

rebuking Jesus

the next day.

And James and John,

remember,

were the two that

asked to sit

at the left

and the right

hand of Jesus.

So it's pretty clear

that they know

their social standing

within the circle

at least

to make that

in the past.

And so it's

no wonder

that Jesus

brings these three

close to him

in one of his

most difficult moments.

And commentators

point out a couple

things about

Jesus' sorrow here.

First,

this is the first

time in Matthew

that Matthew,

the author,

has explicitly

drawn attention

to what Jesus

has seen.

This is a rare

time that Jesus'

inner life

is explicitly

editorialized.

Second,

it's worth noting

that the first

words that Jesus

uses to describe

his sorrow

are a paraphrase

of Psalm 42.

Why were you

cast down,

oh my soul,

is very similar

in Greek.

To,

my soul,

is very sorrow.

But,

Jesus goes even

further in those

words of lament

and adds on

the end,

even to death.

And now,

I don't think

he's literally

saying he's

going to die

soon,

though that is

true,

it's something

that's coming.

It seems more

like he's saying

the emotional

weight of the

scenario is so

great that the

turmoil itself

makes him.

So,

Jesus asks

the Greek

to remain

watched.

And at this

point,

Matthew starts

intermedium

the reactions

of the

disciples

with the

interactions

of Jesus.

And so,

I'm going to

split those

out a little

bit,

and first

I'm going

to talk

about

Jesus'

path in

prayer,

and then

I'm going

to talk

about

the

disciples'

reactions.

So,

Jesus steps

away to do

his own

watching and

praying in

response to

his sorrow.

Commentators

hopefully point

out that

Jesus'

prayer follows

the pattern

of the

Lord's

prayer.

I actually

have a slide

for this

part to make

it a little

more clear.

prayer.

So,

we'll see

Jesus'

prayer,

my father,

which is

similar to

our father

from the

Lord's

prayer,

relating

as a

child of

God.

Then he

says,

let this

talk

past

the

man,

which is

now to

give us

this day

our daily

bread,

give me

what I

need in

this

moment.

But,

only if

it can

possible,

not as I

will,

but as you

will,

which is

really

similar to

your kingdom

come,

your will

be done.

So,

Jesus

covers his

own sorrow

with the

prayer he

taught his

disciples to

pray.

But the

important part

to this

whole prayer

is the

copy.

What is

the copy?

That's the

thing that's

overwhelming

him.

Is it

just his

forthcoming

death?

Is it

the abandonment?

Is it

the torture?

Any of

these things

alone,

I think,

would cause

any of

us great

emotional

turmoil.

But,

the

common

instance

specifically

represents

something,

God's

wrath.

When we

talk about

God's wrath,

we're talking

about God's

just response

to the

wrongdoing

that people

incurred.

There's a

number of

Old Testament

passages that

refer to the

cup specifically

in this web,

and Jeremiah

has a very

succinct

presentation of

it.

In Jeremiah

25,

5-6,

we read,

Thus the

Lord,

the God

of Israel,

said to

me,

Take from

my hand

this cup

of the

wine of

wrath,

and make

all the

nations to

whom I

send

you drink

it.

They

shall drink

and stagger

and be

crazed because

of the

sword I

am sending

among them.

So the

cup here

is clearly

symbolic,

the wine

of wrath.

Whole

nations of

wrongdoers

are made

to drink

of it.

The

immediately

following

verses

to this

passage

are a

long list

of nations.

Judah,

Egypt,

Uz,

Edom,

Moab,

the list

goes wrong.

The

drunkenness

symbolizes the

instability and

weakness brought

on by the

government,

the sword

in this

case.

So

specifically,

other nations

conferring through

war.

God's judgment

will come to

those who

oppose him.

This, then,

is the burden

that Jesus

is taking

on.

Wrath reserved

for nations

full of people

is coming on

to one person,

Jesus.

Sometimes it's

Christians,

we think,

and I know I

think,

Jesus died

individually for

my sins.

And we

realize the

individual burden

he bears for us,

and that's what we

said.

But,

Jesus takes

on the wrath

of God

for all

who we

need.

For every

tribe,

every tongue,

every nation,

a great

multitude,

too vast

account,

is represented

in the world.

This

exponential

multiplication

of responsibility

reminds me of

how our

students'

responsibility

naturally

expand in

our own

lives.

When you're

a kid,

you're responsible

for yourself,

sort of,

but your

parents are

all taking

on account

and taking

responsibility

for you.

But,

then you

grow up,

and you

age into

adulthood,

and you

end up

taking on

more and

more

responsibilities.

Homework,

driving,

work,

housing,

food,

laundry,

until eventually

most of us

are fully

sustaining

ourselves in

some way or

another.

Personal

life,

you're going

to expand

from this

area.

You get

married,

you have

a kid,

you have

more kids.

Now you're

responsible for

more than

just yourself.

or maybe

you start

a PhD,

and then

partway through

you own

a research

product,

and then

you get

the PhD,

and now

you're

in charge

of a

lab.

You start

as an

employee

at a

company,

you take

on a

bigger

project,

now suddenly

you're

ending

the team.

With all

of these

blessings

come more

stressors.

Your day

no longer

just involves

yourself,

but affects

many different

lives of

people who

depend on

you.

I think

this is

similar to

what Jesus

is experiencing.

He's

bearing a

large little

responsibility,

the weight

of

nations.

But he's

going much

further than

what I just

said.

Everything I

just described

is a good

blessing in

our lives.

Jesus is

only bearing

judgment,

only the

negative

aspect for

all of

these

people,

and so

the weight

is immense.

Now,

our culture

tends to be

uncomfortable

with the

wrath of

God.

God,

the proposition

is often

like this.

How is

God,

who is

a God

of

all,

sorry,

how could

a God

who is

love

punch

people?

And one

of the

points that

people will

often bring

up against

God's wrath

is what's

happening

here.

The Father

is putting

a nation's

worth of

wrath onto

his Son.

Is this

some sort

of cosmic

child abuse

at play?

And I

hear the

concern.

In fact,

I've even

seen Christian

families take

the principle

of godly

submission

that's present

in the

Bible and

what Jesus

is doing

here,

and twist

it in a

manipulative

way to

get kids

to listen

to any

parenting,

even abusive

parenting.

But there

is a

significant

difference

between

horrible

parenting

and what's

happening

to Jesus

here.

Jesus,

in full

knowledge,

is the

one taking

the cup

and drinking.

He is an

active

participant.

Note that

even the

difference

between

the

language

and

Jeremiah,

which I

just read,

and what

Jesus says

in his

prayer.

In

Jeremiah,

it says,

make the

nations

drink the

cup.

In

verse

42,

Jesus'

second

prayer,

Jesus is

participating.

He says,

your will

be done.

Hebrews

9,

14,

makes this

point very

clearly.

Jesus

offered

himself

without

lunch to

God as

a sacrifice

for us.

This is

not a

God of

love,

harming

his

son.

This is

Jesus,

the

God of

love,

taking

punishment

for us.

And I

want to

be clear,

the cup

of wrath

that Jesus

is talking

about is

not just

some

Old Testament

thing for

ancient

eerie

strength

countries who

practice

child

sacrifice.

In

Revelation

14,

10,

it says

that when

Jesus

returns to

earth in

glory,

those who

do not

worship

Jesus as

God will

drink the

wine of

God's

wrath,

pour full

strength into

the cup of

his

anger.

If you're

here today

and you're

not a

Christian,

maybe you're

interested in

Christianity or

a friend invited

you,

and Jesus is

intriguing but

not someone you

personally know

yet,

I ask you

to consider

what this

passage says.

God takes

seriously the

bad accents

and words and

even thoughts of

every person.

And I ask you

to hear the

good news too.

God takes

sin so

seriously that

Jesus,

his son,

took all

judgment,

all guilt,

and all shame

for your

wrongdoings

upon himself.

For anyone

who repents,

turns away

from the

wrong things

they've done,

proclaims that

Jesus is the

king of all

things,

who suffered

for his

people,

there is

forgiveness

for everything

you've ever

done,

and a new

life in

his family

in the

church,

the people

here.

If that

speaks to

you right

now and

you have

further

thoughts or

questions,

feel free to

talk to me

after the

service,

or with

our prayer

today,

who will

be up

after the

service,

or honestly

any of our

members here.

We'd love to

introduce you

to this

Jesus who

actively

died for

you.

Now,

we know

what the

cup represents,

so we can

take a look

at the

entirety of

Jesus'

prayers.

And in

these prayers,

we see

Jesus growing

in submission

to and

confidence in

the Father's

plan of

salvation.

commentators

note the

difference

between the

two prayers

that Jesus

offers in

itself.

In the

first prayer,

we see

Jesus ask a

more positive

plan, if it

is possible

for the

cup to

pass, an

open question,

a sign of

exploration.

In the

second prayer,

we see

Jesus instead

consider that

if it is

not possible,

the realization

becomes that

he must take

this cup in

order to save

his people.

And in

total, we

see three

prayers, a

sign of

certainty and

confidence that

this thing

will be done.

We will see

this confirming

pattern of

three actions

just a bit

later.

Peter is

going to

deny Jesus

three times,

making clear

his betrayal.

But in

this act of

three, we

see Jesus

fully submitting

to the

Father and

fully owning

the work

to come.

Now, we've

seen Jesus

in his

prayer, submitting

himself to the

Father and

building confidence

and certainty

to do his

life.

What about

the disciples?

Well, we've

been bouncing

around, so

let's go back

and reread

verses 40

to 41.

Verse 40

says,

He came to

the disciples

and found

them sleeping.

And he

said to

Peter,

So, you

could not

offer me

one hour?

Watch and

pray, but

you may not

enter into

temptation.

The spirit

in he is

will, but

the flesh

is weak.

Okay, there

are some

passages in

the Bible I

relate with,

and this is

one thing.

I'm a light

sleeper, but

I fall asleep

everywhere.

I don't

sleep on

planes, cars,

my work

desk.

My work

desk, when

I'm

calls the

customers,

we have

videos of

kids screaming

around me or

stacking toys

on me while

I'm napping

on the couch.

I can

easily imagine

sitting down

to pray,

but it's late

at night,

we're exhausted,

and, wait,

is Jesus back

already?

Oh, it's

been an hour?

But Jesus

comes back

and emphasizes

the importance

of prayer,

once again

stealing a line

from his own

playbook in

the Lord's

prayer,

keep us

from temptation.

What's the

temptation to

sin here?

When I first

read this

passage, I

assumed that

the sin was

thoughtlessly,

because Jesus

is looking for

prayer support

from his best

friends.

Hey, guys,

I'm literally

about to die a

double death

for the sins

of the world.

Could you spare

me one prayer?

However, when

Matthew says

the flesh is

weak here,

commentators

note that

flesh does

not mean

something

morally wrong.

This isn't

Paul, right?

Paul in his

letters often

uses flesh to

indicate sin.

Instead, in

Matthew, it

seems much more

likely to indicate

just the natural

difficulties of

being human.

This has

already been a

long back to

the disciples.

The Passover

meal that ate

likely started

after sundown,

so now it's

really late.

Jesus is going

to die,

and Jesus

is left

and is at

least up

the sun

in the

various.

Their spirit

is willing

to follow

Jesus in

this act,

but their

bodies are

just mortal

and more.

So the

temptation

and the

topic of

prayer is

likely the

same as

Jesus'

prayers,

to be

ready for

the hard

time that

is in it.

The disciples

will also be

faced with a

scenario where

falling away

from God's

will will be

very easy,

and they

need to

pray.

This also

makes sense

of why Jesus

needs to

pray.

He's

human as

well.

His flesh

is also

moving.

And after

the prayer,

we'll see

the stark

contrast in

how the

disciples

react and

how Jesus

reacts to

his arrest.

Jesus,

after prayer,

is about to

take full

control of

the situation,

while the

disciples,

after an

app or two,

are about to

flounder

through a

fighting

light mode.

That's it.

Prayer is

preparation for

trials.

It reminds

me of something

a few of us

in the

church

that

does

this

journey,

which is

wake up

early,

drive down

to

Harvard

Stadium,

and run

the stairs.

For those

that don't

know,

the Harvard

Stadium is

an outdoor

one,

like a

coliseum

with one

open end.

There's

37 seconds,

over a

thousand stairs,

and they're

almost twice

the size

in the whole

step.

And the

exercise

between there

is to go

up and

down,

almost all

of them.

For those

that are

excited about

this,

it's cool.

It's gorgeous,

it's a

sunrise,

it's a

strong

workout,

come with

the

group

sometime.

For those

who think

that sounds

terrible,

you're also

correct.

So for

me,

I've

gone a

few

times.

I can

do the

full

round of

stairs

in about

50

minutes,

which is

fine,

and I've

never

improved

my

time

ever

because

I've

gone

to

this

for

out.

In

contrast,

Sean,

our pastor,

has been

going

weekly,

and he's

told me

after months,

he's

down from

the

50

minutes,

even

some

of

our

long

distance

runners

in

this

church.

Now,

I do

not expect

myself to

improve

without

going

regularly,

and neither

does anybody

else.

We all

know it

takes

preparation.

Practice

restraining

the muscles

necessary to

endure and

then go

faster.

Prayer is

the same

here.

Jesus has

run the

medical

stairs,

and the

disciples

have

stayed

home and

slept in

it.

We

should

not

expect

them

to

perform

well

at this

upcoming

challenge.

One

commentator,

Dr.

Grant

Osborne,

says on

the difference

between

flesh and

spirit

here,

for

Jesus,

the

spirit

has

made

the

flesh

strong,

and for

the

disciples,

the

flesh

has

made

their

spirit

be.

And

this is

a great

reminder

for us

of the

importance

and

power

of

prayer

in

our

own

lives.

One

of my

favorite

parts of

community

group

over the

years

is

seeing

things

we

pray

for

get

answered.

In

the

last

year or

smaller,

we've

seen

a

healthy

new

baby

corner,

multiple

new

jobs

acquired,

including

one

just a few

days ago,

a couple

near misses

from financial

stresses,

at least a

couple

friends led

to saving

faith in

Jesus,

and multiple

healings,

all made

possible through

praying,

we end,

we go.

But we've

also seen

those prayers

sustain and

grow people

through those

hard moments.

Job searches

are wrong,

recovery from

injury is

tedious,

financial

distress is

very

concerning.

God has

grown all

of us in

patience and

perseverance,

even as

his answers

and prayers

themselves.

In the

last few

years in

my own

personal

life,

I've

started

noticing

that I

have

roughly

two

bodies,

things that

I pray

for and

things that

I don't

regularly

pray for.

For

example,

for years

as an

adult,

I did

not have

a regular

prayer habit

for my

studies or

my career.

First,

I rarely

prayed about

college,

and then I

rarely prayed

about grad

school,

and then I

rarely prayed

about work.

I've been

thinking of

so many

stressful

situations

in those

years that

I did

not handle

well,

because I

let my

class

make my

spirit.

The last

couple years

though,

I started

praying for

work more

regularly,

and goodness,

this is being

recorded,

and I'm a

manager at my

company,

so I'm not

sure I want

to share

too much,

but I've

seen so many

things resolved

this past

year,

so many

issues,

just work out,

so many

tough situations

are to

teach,

and I

wonder if

God's

changed me

too,

because the

part of my

work hasn't

necessarily

become any

easier,

but some

of my

responses

seem to

change

for the

best.

Now,

I'm definitely

not bragging

here,

I just

spent the

first part

talking about

how I

barely pray

for very

important

things for

a large

time of

month,

but I'm

encouraging

you to

stop and

think,

are there

areas in

your life

you're not

praying about?

A job?

A relationship?

A project?

A family

member?

A financial

need?

A physical

family?

I'm actually

really encouraged

by what Rona

and Lauren

shared this

point as well,

and I think

that helps you

be willing to

pray for us

because of

the part

that you're

going from.

Remember,

the flesh is

weak.

I think it's

incredibly easy

to not pray

about something,

and it's

incredibly hard

to pray

about something,

but assuming

that you'll

be prepared

for trials

without prayer

is like me

assuming I'm

going to cut

my stairs

time and

half without

practice.

So start

eating today

a quick

prayer,

or ask

others to

pray for

you after

you.

So,

after the

final time

to pray

for Jesus

and the

final time

sleeping

for his

disciples,

Judas comes

and we

see the

suffering

king

now in

heaven.

Verse 47

shows us

Judas arriving,

leading the

way of an

armed and

seemingly

ready-to-be

violent

mom.

Judas

likely kisses

and calls

Jesus

rabbi

in verse

48 as

says to

identify

him,

you know,

picture

maybe a

dark room

with some

bubble

cakes for

people so

that they

know exactly

who they're

coming to

see.

In this

context,

calling Jesus

rabbi

sound

irreverential,

but it's

actually an

implicit denial

of who

Jesus is.

And all

the rest of

his disciples

consistently

call Jesus

Lord,

even Peter

who is

about to

be

praying.

Jesus

actually

responds

in kind.

He calls

Judas

friend,

which seems

familiar,

but it's

actually a

pretty alienated

word.

The word

friend here

is basically

someone who

has a

relationship,

but is not

holding up

their end

of the

bargain.

friend.

We've

actually seen

this word

used in a

couple

parables

already,

and I

have a

slide for

a cross

comparison.

Friend shows

up in

Matthew 20,

the parable

where the

master gives

the same

wages to

everyone,

regardless of

if they

work the

whole day

or just

evening.

When the

workers from

the whole

day complain,

hey, we're

going to pay

the same

amount as

the people

who overwork

a part of

the day,

the master

specifically

says,

friend,

I do

who you

know

about.