Agony & Glory in The Garden | Mark 14:32-42 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

I hope you recovered from conference last week.

And as I said Friday, what was more exciting than any funds

that we were raised raising for the building fund is that we saw

people give their lives to Jesus Christ.

We saw people confessing Christ for the first time.

And that is the greatest thing that can ever happen in any

church meeting. So we give God, God glory for

that, and we trust that those who know Christ and knew Christ

then were built up in their faith.

And we're going to build our faith even more as we come to

the Bible together. Do you have a copy of God's Word

in your hand? I hope you do.

Meet me in Mark chapter 14, please.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 14 beginning in verse 32.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

And we're going to read down to verse 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 as is at hand.

Lord, this is a text that we need your help with.

It requires your wisdom. It requires your guidance.

It requires your power for the full force of the agony and the

glory that Jesus displayed in this garden to make an impact in

our hearts. So we ask in great humility that

we would see something that we've not seen, that these shoes

would reignite a love, a passion, a worship for what

You've done for us. We trust that you will be here

as we come to Your Word. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. According to the Law, during the

Passover, faithful Israelites were to remain in their homes

until morning during the feast. And this practice commemorates

the original Passover, when the Israelites were protected by the

smeared blood of a lamb on their doorpost while the Angel of

death passed over and claimed his victims.

But on this particular Passover, this very unique evening, we

don't find the Lord Jesus in the upper room.

We don't find them in any room. As you and I read, we see him

transitioning and making his way to this place called Gethsemane.

And according to John's Gospel in chapter 18, verse one,

Gethsemane was a garden. And it's important to confirm

that the departure Christ and the disciples made here was not

defiance. When Jesus made this move, he

was symbolically confronting death, not hiding from it, but

embracing it so that he would conquer it, overcome it, and

then through that make way for a new exodus.

Because as much as Jesus was the perfectly obedient servant,

perfectly obedient Israelite, he was also sent to fulfill his

duty as the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the

world. But I read this and I think to

myself, why did the Lord Jesus move from the upper room to this

place? And it's very plain.

There's no mystery here. We're told right in the

beginning of where we read that he went to this place to pray.

In fact, prayer is the theme that dominates this section of

Scripture. We find the Lord Jesus, aware

that His hour has come, feeling the great need and urgency to

commune with the Father, to be alone with the Father.

However, we know that he was not completely isolated because in

verse 33 He called for three out of the 11 disciples to join him

at a nearer distance. Why?

Why did Jesus call for Peter, James and John to be near to Him

if there are different reasons? And one of the reasons I believe

according to Jesus own words was for the sake of companionship,

for the sake of a level of support.

You may not get that impression from Mark's account, but listen

to how Matthew adds 2 important words when he invites these

three, his inner circle, to join him this very important night.

You don't have to turn there, but listen to Matthew 26 verse

Matthew 26:38

38. Then he said to them, My soul is

very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.

Watch with me. There's a level of fellowship

that the Lord desired in His greatest hour, a great hour of

trouble. But it's more than that.

Christ and His invitation for these three leaders was also

intended for their instruction. The same group that learned from

Jesus as they were called up to that mount.

Remember that mount called the Mount of Transfiguration?

When Jesus unveiled His Majesty and His splendor, there was

instruction there. There was something that they

were to apply to their own hearts.

It is no different as they are now LED into this garden.

They are to learn a few things, learn a few things about Jesus

and learn a few things about themselves.

And that is why you and I also have been invited to witness a

very solemn scene, the Lord Jesus Christ enduring this great

agony before his arrest, more than just for you to be moved by

it, but also to grow and mature from it.

And since prayer is what permeates this passage, that

will be the main focus of our instruction as we consider 3

vital truths that the Master models for us.

And this will be our source of meditation before we come and

partake of the bread and the cup.

The first thing that we should take away.

There are many ways to go about this text, many angles, but the

first thing that we should absorb from this is that like

our Master, we must go to prayer in our times of sorrow.

Very quickly we read that Jesus felt and even admitted the deep

despair and anguish that was rising within his soul.

Soul. What was it though?

What was it that caused him to be distressed and not just

distressed? Look here again at verse 33,

we're told there and began to be greatly distressed.

And in his own words in verse 34, not just sorrowful, but he

says my soul is very sorrowful. And it makes you wonder, what

was this agony about? But before we get there, the

agony was so profound, so extreme, so intense that the

beloved physician Luke documents something that a doctor would

document that when Jesus was there writhing and wrestling

with this inner turmoil, it did something to him physically.

It brought him to a a point in which Luke tells us that great

drops of blood were falling down to the ground.

And Luke was not speaking in hyperbole.

Luke here is telling us in detailing for us, a very rare

but very real medical condition known as hematyrosis.

Tiny blood vessels around the sweat glands dilate and can even

erupt, causing the blood to leak into the sweat glands.

And that emotional stress can bring somebody to the point

where it looks like there is an open wound on their skin, when

in fact that is not the case. It's a phenomenon, and the cause

of this condition is exactly what Jesus here is describing.

But what's taking place in his heart?

And it makes you wonder, what was it?

Was it the faithlessness of his disciples?

Was it the vile partnership between Judas and this vicious

group known as the Pharisees? Would it be the false

accusations as he stood on trial and all these people lied about

his character and his actions? Would it be the torture that he

would experience, the shame of hanging suspended on a cross for

all to mock and for all to add to his pain with their slander

and their spit? Would it be all of those things

combined? I don't think so.

I don't think so because history testifies of many Saints who are

martyred and who also experienced devastating

betrayals and excruciating executions, but had resolve and

were embracing their death with singing hymns and smiles and

bold witness. I refuse to believe that mere

men showed more determination than the Savior.

No, what Jesus is experiencing is beyond human comprehension,

nevermind what humans have experienced.

The imagination can't even conjure up what he was

undergoing. The eternal Son of God moments

away of becoming the sin bearer of the world and as a

consequence becoming the object of God's fury, the Father's

wrath, and for the first time sensing a separation from the

one that he is known. Uninterrupted communion with the

thought alone for the Lord Jesus was crushing.

And it is no coincidence that Jesus experiencing this

pulverizing of the soul took place in Gethsemane because the

very name of that garden means oil press.

And so in this Grove of oil trees would have been an

instrument that would allow for olives to be crushed until every

drop of oil can come out of its skin and substance.

And here we find Jesus being crushed.

Why? Because He said right before

approaching Gethsemane that his blood would be poured out for

many. And it's beginning here.

But I I do not believe this is the only reason why the Lord

chose this location to prepare Himself to be the ultimate

sacrifice for humanity. Turn to John 18I quoted to you

briefly John 18, one where Gethsemane, according to John's

word, was a garden. But look at it John 18, verse 2,

John 18:2

John 18, verse 2. Now Judas, who betrayed him,

John 18:2

also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His

disciples. This is not Christ's first time

at the site. The Spirit, through John, tells

us it was a very familiar place. He frequently visited there, and

I believe the reason why he visited there was because it was

his pleasurable preference. That was his spot.

He delighted to be there. That is where he retreated from

all the noise and all the demands of ministry.

That is where he felt the greatest refreshment.

That is where he would pray often with the beautiful scenery

and helpful seclusion. Jesus went to this place many

times before He would come here with his disciples.

So it is no surprise that this was where He decided to pour out

his heart before before the Father.

You might have a room like that in your house.

You might have one particular Bible that you enjoy going to,

and Gethsemane was a preferable place for Christ.

And though you and I can't relate to the source of His

suffering, we can identify with how He handles it.

The Lord shows us here where you and I must flee, when we begin

to feel our hearts flooded with pain and fear, not necessarily

to a garden, but before God. There's so many staggering

things about this moment, including how Jesus Christ

addresses God as He senses his very body being crushed.

Go here to mark 1436 with me. And he said, ABBA, ABBA, Father,

all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me yet.

Not what I will, but what you will.

ABBA, ABBA. You know, sometimes art muddies

our picture of what the Bible portrays.

You've probably seen the image of Christ there in the Garden of

Gethsemane with a Halo around His head, kneeling on some rock,

so poised, so put together, that that is not the image that we

get from the Bible. He fell to the ground.

There was red stains of blood mingling with dirt as He fell on

his face. And yet with all of that, he did

not lose sight of the comforting truth of who God is and His

immense love and compassion and who He was to Him.

He could have said father. That's how we always addressed

the father. But he adds ABBA, according to

Mark, and it's a word in the Aramaic that a child would use

to address his dad in a very personal and intimate way.

The Lord didn't lose touch of His Father, and He fully

understood the amazing mercy of the one that He was spilling his

soul before. And I believe there are many who

can't seem to find the liberty to do that as Christians, even

before God, because they can't seem to shake off this idea that

God is more like an unpredictable boss, a very hard

to read judge who is more inclined to listen to you on

some days over others. What a great loss to have such a

poor perspective of who God is and never challenge it.

The proper revelation of the character of God will make

prayer a real experiential means of relief even though you don't

receive what you are requesting in the way or in the timing you

were hoping for. Simply knowing, simply knowing

that you are entrusting your burdens into the hands of an all

powerful yet incredibly wise and personally caring Father is

healing in itself. And I just want to speak to you

from my heart to yours. If you go to the Lord and pray,

not believing that, not seeing him in that way, you're not

going to know the potential of this heavenly gift.

And if you go to him but are not sensing increments of comfort,

then perhaps you have to rediscover his character before

you can actually enjoy communion with him.

Here's the Lord who comes before God, the very one who is going

to pour out his judgement, and yet he addresses him as ABBA

Father, He runs to God. Yes, the Son of God runs to God

with his sorrow, but it's more than that, because we also

learned that we must go to prayer not just because of our

sorrow, but in order to overcome temptation.

Let me read to you again, verse 37.

Then he returned to his disciples and found him

sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, Simon,

are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

That must have stung. He doesn't call him Peter.

He calls him what his name was before he met Christ.

Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

So we know how much time Christ spent in prayer up to this

point. Watch and pray that you may not

enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,

but the flesh is weak. Some here might deems Christ's

rebuke as being insensitive, but we have to remember that earlier

he commanded all the disciples to pray while he was praying.

You won't find that in in Mark. You're going to find that in

Luke's version. If you want the reference, it's

Luke 2240. He tells all the disciples to be

in prayer, including these 3. And that's important to know

because whenever the Lord commands anything, we are

assured that He provides the grace to fulfill it.

And if He provides the grace of the fill, any of His commands,

then we are without excuse to realize it.

Including these three disciples. They were asleep.

Yes, it was late, but Christ gave them an order.

And with that order, He gave them the power, surely the

mercy, the grace to be able to walk in it.

Now, on a side note, let me make this practical point of

discipleship, OK? I would never use a text like

this to teach Christians to deprive themselves from needed

sleep, even in the name of spiritual discipline.

I'm saying this for a reason. I know it seems like there's a

flow with the main sermon, but give me some space, please.

Godly Saints who have done this to themselves admitted later in

life of the great harm that they put themselves through because

of such thinking. So let me let me be very clear

here, as as a person who loves you and cares about your

sanctification, beware of extreme measures and of those

who teach and advocate them. Nonetheless, this was a very

important evening. This was a unique time for the

disciples, one that in a few moments would present a

tremendous challenge to their faith.

And the Lord was aware of that, and so He wanted them to be

prepared for that. These obstacles were about to

come and they needed to pray to overcome them.

And what would be the temptation that these disciples would face

exactly? We all know it very well.

To flee, to flee from danger because they were associated

with Christ and even to deny Him.

Did the Lord expect faithfulness from His own?

Yes, especially after their collective boasting in the upper

room, that they would go to the end with Him.

You remember that right led by Peter, of course.

Look at Jesus last words of their of our text.

Look at verse 42. Maybe you missed this when he

said that his betrayal was at hand.

He said something right before it rise.

Let us be going. He didn't say all right, it's

time for me to go. I know you're going to flee so

go ahead. He said let's let us be going.

Let's go together now. Let us be going.

My betrayer is at hand. So Christ expected them to stand

with Him like He expects us to stand for Him.

Unfortunately, it did not matter what the disciples said earlier

that evening, and it even didn't matter the command that Christ

called them to follow. Do you know why?

Because the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

We need power. We need supernatural help.

We need God even to please God. And interestingly here, Peter's

threefold denial. That's how many times he denied

Christ, right? Peter's threefold denial came

soon after his threefold failure to pray.

Let me remind you, look at Mark 14 verse 30.

Mark 14:30

And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you this very night before

the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

And how many times did Jesus go back and forth between his

private time of prayer and ensuring and calling his

disciples to pray? Look at verse 41 of Mark 14.

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. You're going to deny me three

times and have followed a threefold failure of praying for

every temptation. It doesn't matter it's

frequency, regardless of how fierce it is, prayer can help us

defeat it. Prayer can help us conquer it.

But listen, this victorious, temptation defeating kind of

prayer carries a quality that you and I cannot afford to

overlook. And many people do.

When did Christ call his disciples to be watchful and to

be prayerful? Can I tell you when before the

temptation came? Do you know why I say that?

Because it's the tendency of Christians to run and rely on

this resource called prayer. The moment temptation comes, the

moment the test surprises you, that is not how Jesus trained

his disciples to pray. Instead, he calls them, and he

calls us to draw from it, even when the sun is shining.

Because the design of prayer is that as you engage in it and as

you enjoy it, it builds you. And that building them prepares

you. And that preparedness keeps you

when unforeseen tribulation visits you.

We see this working positively and negatively in this very

scene. Christ was able to succeed and

stand and go to the cross. Why?

In great part because He was victorious in the garden,

whereas the disciples, when their tests came, collapsed.

What was the difference? One was watching and praying and

the others were sleeping and snoring.

That's the difference and one minister put it wisely.

Listen to this. This is this is gold, he said.

Often times the spiritual battle is won or lost before the crisis

comes. Spiritual battles are often won

or lost before the crisis. Watch and pray, lest you enter

into temptation. Have you ever wondered why the

disciples fell asleep even after Jesus?

How are you sleeping? You would think that if Jesus

tells you wake up, you need to pray, that you're going to wake

up and you're going to pray. They were tired.

Yes, they were tired. Do you know why they were tired?

It was late. Yeah, it was late.

But there was something else. Luke tells us you'll see it in

Luke 22. Meet me there.

Luke 22, verse 45. And when he rose from prayer, he

Luke 22:45

came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow.

Why were their eyes very heavy? Why were they exhausted?

Because emotionally, they were spent.

They were absolutely drained. Why were they drained

emotionally? Well, just look at the events

leading up to this. They were told by their master,

one of you is going to betray me.

Things began to register and they were grieved.

And so that weight caused them to doze off.

But that wasn't an excuse. The sorrow wasn't an excuse.

What did Jesus do with his sorrow?

He spread it at the feet of the one who said, cast all your

anxieties on me. It wasn't an excuse.

And the broader lesson is this. This is so important, so vital

to grasp. The lesson is that we cannot

afford to allow what you feel to keep you from doing what you

know you need to do. Brother, do you always feel like

praying? No, sometimes it's flesh.

I wake up to it and it's more aggressive than I thought it

would be. But I don't go with what I feel.

I go with what I know. I know that I need prayer.

I know it and I I've read the Bible, yes.

And I've also witnessed enough tragedies among ministers

especially to realize that when people crash and fall, usually

where it all begins is when they neglect prayer.

That's the common denominator. That's where it all starts.

The first thing to usually go before somebody's faith goes,

before somebody's testimony goes, is a dependency on God

expressed in prayer. I don't go with what if I go by

what I feel. Disaster awaits me and disaster

awaits you. You go with what you know.

Unfortunately, these disciples allowed what they felt to remain

in the driver's seat of the devotion.

And Jesus here reminds them, you must watch and pray if you're

going to overcome anything. We must go to prayer with our

sorrows because there is a loving God who has, yes, all

power, but also immense affection for us, who is willing

to hear us and do something with our request.

We must go to prayer to overcome temptation and closely associate

with that truth #3 we must go to prayer to receive grace, to do

His will. Mark tells us that after the

third session of prayer and verse 41 and 42, Christ returns

to his sleeping students and announces that his betrayer is

only steps away. But when you read verse 41 and

verse 42, you get this impression.

You are moved by his choice of words, as though He emerges from

this time of prayer with remarkable ascendancy and

authority. Read it again with me in verse

41. 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.

Do you sense it? A strong Savior with his

shoulders rolled back and his head up.

Yes, perhaps there are stains of blood on his brow.

Yes, perhaps there is dirt on his knees.

But what we see here is a Jesus ready to drink the cup that His

Father prepared for him. Don't you dare disconnect the

awesome determination we see here in Jesus from his time of

prayer. That would be a grave mistake.

He is ready to drink the cup. Now.

I have to say this. I have to make mention of this

and briefly address the need to carefully interpret Jesus's

words when He came before the Father and said not my will but

yours be done. When He requested take this cup

if it's possible, let it be removed from me when Christ

prayed that it is in no way any indication that He was forced to

do this and that He was trying to escape it, that He was

begging for this not to happen, that would be wrong.

Instead, what you see here in His reaction is exactly what you

and I should expect from the perfectly holy, extremely and

eternally pure, sinless Son of God.

The fact that Christ cringes and He shudders at the thought of

becoming, in Paul's words, becoming sin.

You got to tread carefully with that verse.

Becoming sin and drinking the wrath of God would make sense in

light of His Immaculate purity. He who knew no sin would become

sin. So why is it even a debate?

Why is it a matter of criticism to see Christ here saying, if

it's possible, let this cup be removed from me?

And the fact that it was not removed from Him and He did

embrace the cross, means for us today that there is no other way

to be saved. There is no other way to be

saved. This is the only way, not only

because the apostles who were in dwelt with the Holy Spirit and

inspired by the Spirit writing that in their epistles, but

because of the Father's silence. There's no other way.

This is the only way that humanity will be redeemed.

This is the only way that sins can be forgiven.

This is the only way that we'll be able to populate heaven with

fallen sons and daughters of Adam.

Is there another way? There is no other way.

Why the request then? Because of His royal holiness,

the horrific thought of the sin being placed on him, and as a

result, God the Father turning his face away.

If anything, this does not defame his character.

It actually affirms His transcendent holiness.

That is why he wrestled. But he was able to, in his

wrestling, overcome and embrace the will of the Father.

Because when he prayed, not my will, but yours be done.

Something happened. Can I tell you what happened?

Luke tells us what happened again in Luke 2242, saying,

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me,

nevertheless not my will, but yours be done.

And there appear to him an Angel from heaven, strengthening him.

And so great was this supernatural strength that was

administered to him, that when Judas and the mob were around

the corner, Christ said, Rise, let us be going.

What would be the reflex of any of us if we knew that a mob, a

crowd of enemies were on their way to apprehend you?

It wouldn't be rise, it would be retreat.

It wouldn't be let us be going. It'd be let us be fleeing.

But what was it that contributed to Christ standing tall and not

running from His enemies? Get this.

Walking towards them. He prayed, He prayed, let your

will be done. And when you, like the Master,

pray and desire God's will. He doesn't just grant His will,

He grants the strength to obey it and to walk in it.

It sustains you and it surges through you, and it's only

reserved for the prayerful and despite the intimidations or the

persuasions, ready to confront you.

Jesus shows us he showed it to his apostles who would no great

suffering after his departure and his ascension into heaven.

Seek him. Wait on him and trust that with

all his resources He will find a way to strengthen you for any

temptation. Is this the only time an Angel

came and ministered unto the Lord Jesus?

No, you remember in Matthew or he was tempted by the devil.

And at the end of that account Matthew tells us that there were

dispatched angels ministering to the Lord Jesus.

He is faithful. So Christ here in this holy

moment, he shows us that we must pray.

Run to him with your sorrow, that you must pray if you're

going to overcome any temptation, and you must pray if

you're going to receive grace to do his will, Jesus, his agony,

his glory in the garden. The Bible is a masterpiece for

different reasons, including how it all connects.

We read early in Romans 5 the contrast between the first Adam

and the last Adam, and that theme continues even here in

this gospel account, because the first Adam was in a garden, but

he rebelled. The second and last Adam was

also in a garden, but he submitted.

The first Adam was in a garden and he did not care for the will

of God, He cared for his will to be done.

But now you have the last Adam who says not my will, but yours

be done. You have the first Adam who

through disobedience brought in sin into the world.

Now you have Jesus, the last Adam in his obedience in a

garden bringing redemption and hope and salvation.

There's a lot of debate today about identity, right?

Identity politics. University classes about

identity. Classes of identity.

The Bible talks about identity, but it presents two classes and

only two. You're either in Adam or you're

in Christ. You're either a part of the the

race that is condemned or you're part of the race that is

redeemed. And what makes a difference is

you making the willful choice of who will be your representative.

You have a choice in how you are identified in this way.

And so every person has a choice to either remain under Adam and

to expect the consequences of his failure in the Garden of

Eden, or to shift your allegiance to a new

representative for humanity in the person of the Jesus Christ,

where he at a garden wins your obedience and wins eternal life.

And the way you transfer that is through repentance and faith.

Are your sins forgiven? Are you sitting here today with

a full assurance that if you stand before God, your record of

wrong will not be held against you?

Have you made a conscience decision to say Jesus Christ, I

receive what you've done on the cross for me.

If not believe, turn to him, receive him, repent.

He will receive you, He will forgive you, He will make you

new. Do not wait, do not delay, do

not harden your hearts. So I invite you, if you're not a

Christian here, if there's any response to this messages.

Did you get a did you get a taste of what this Jesus of

Nazareth went through for you? Has it moved you?

Has it convicted you? I pray to God that it does do

something to you. But for the believer, see what

pain, see what sorrow, see what difficulty Christ endured so

that you can rest. Are you moved by that, or has

the good news become old news to you?

Yeah, that happens a lot. I hope the name of Jesus has not

become tasteless to you. I pray that you savor it.

And Christ, knowing our forgetfulness, has instituted

something to help us remember, something that we can even taste

so that we can connect it to the goodness that is found in the

Savior. Let's prepare our hearts to

partake in the celebration, shall we?

Father, what we read, we believe actually happened, and we are

grateful that it happened. Thank you for the practical

truths. But Lord, we are more grateful

for the positional promise that these truths have won for us.

Lord, we today gladly admit that we can't be saved apart from

you. Every vile, filthy, despicable

thing has been plunged beneath the blood.

Move our hearts to worship You. For that we honor you, and today

we give you glory as we remember you.

In Jesus name, Amen.