Mark 14:32-42

Lord, eyes to see and ears to hear and minds to comprehend what you would speak to us from your

word this morning. We ask that you'd bless us with a fresh outpouring of your Holy Spirit

and draw us ever closer to you, ever closer to your blessed Son, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

How do you deal with emotions when things are difficult, when bad things happen, either because of what you have done or because of what someone has done to you?

When you're facing difficult situations, how do you approach them, especially when there's a great temptation to compromise your values and your convictions?

What do you do? Today, we encounter Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying in his last moments before he is arrested.

These are his last, in a sense, free moments before he is taken and arrested.

This text, it's short, in a sense it's only 10 verses, but it has been deeply influential in the history of the church,

in the prayer life of the church, in the spirituality of the church over the centuries and millennia.

This morning, I mean, it's funny, you know, I jump into the text on usually Monday,

and by the time Wednesday rolls around, I have a decent idea of how to approach it.

And sometimes it's very clear and obvious, but there's sometimes, there's a text like this where there's so much to take a look at.

We could go in a number of different directions.

But for this morning, I'm hoping that the text will help us with two main things and how they relate to prayer.

The first is this, how to make sense of our emotions, our real emotions.

How do we make sense of that?

And the second thing is, how do we deal with failure and compromise?

So how do we deal with our emotions and how do we deal with failure and compromise?

If you would like to grab a Bible, they're at the back.

You're not going to interrupt anybody.

Just get up and grab it at any time during the sermon.

It'd be a great help if you could follow along with me.

But let's just jump right in.

So how does this text help us to make sense of our emotions?

Jesus has been focused on the cross.

Since chapter one, he's been focused on the cross.

He has been resolutely focused on accomplishing his Father's will,

specifically bringing the kingdom of God being at hand with the good news going forth.

This has been Jesus' main aim, and the cross has been what he has been on the journey towards.

Nowhere in Mark's ancient biographical account of Jesus' life and ministry do we see him waver, not once.

Jesus is laser-focused as he goes towards the cross.

He doesn't express doubt.

Nowhere, even when he is confronted by the powerful,

does he try to remove himself from the path that he is clearly on.

Jesus is focused.

No wavering whatsoever.

And Jesus has perfectly accomplished his Father's will thus far.

He is not out of bounds.

He hasn't slipped up.

He hasn't made a mistake.

Nothing about his ministry has been anything less than perfect.

Yet here we have Jesus in the garden expressing, in a sense, great doubt.

He, all of a sudden, he breaks composure, so to speak.

Shouldn't he be more resolute?

Is this a crack in his armor, a show of weakness?

What is happening in this garden scene, in Gethsemane?

Let's take a quick look at what Jesus has to say here in verse, we'll jump down to verse 33.

And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

Remain here and watch.

And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

Is Jesus here, right at the very end, slipping up?

What is happening with Jesus?

Is he showing weakness?

And I would say, Jesus is in no way showing weakness.

Especially as we continue on, you'll see.

But try not to know the rest of the story.

Sit yourself in this scene.

Is Jesus showing weakness?

And I would say, no, he is not.

This text is a profound insight into how we are to engage with deep anxiety and stress.

Because Jesus here, he is making it very clear, the perfect one who is following perfectly the Father,

completely in step with the will of God, is expressing anxiety and stress,

and yet remains perfect in his resolve.

And it helps us to see that when stress and anxiety come,

we aren't expected to put on a stoic demeanor.

We aren't to, in a sense, engage in Zen peace.

The Christian faith makes room for anxiety and stress in a very real way.

For our Savior himself is going through it in agony.

I mean, he is struggling.

He falls on his knees and begins to pray.

The Christian life doesn't ask us to bottle up our emotions or to downplay the realities of the situations we face.

And if you're an emotional person, you're just like, of course, obviously, yes, thank you.

But if you're more of a reserved person, this might be a bit of a difficult text.

Because all of us have emotions.

How we emote them change from person to person.

But it's important that we understand that emotions are very, very important to God.

Why?

God created us with tear ducts to experience highs and lows.

The tear ducts aren't just for, to protect, you know, crazy six-year-olds from staring at the sun and going blind.

Like, they serve a greater purpose than that.

Emotions are part of the human experience and they are not bad.

And they are not evil.

They're not a sign of weakness.

For the strongest man who has ever walked this earth is profoundly anxious and stressful.

And stressed out.

So, Jesus is in anguish.

When we feel it in the text, do we not?

Jesus is about to experience a torturous death.

But more than that, he's going to experience being forsaken by God the Father.

We'll see this in chapter 15 when he breathes his last.

I think it's verse 33.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus is experiencing something more than impending torture and death.

He is on the precipice of being forsaken by God the Father.

Why?

Because he will take on the sins of the world and God will pour his just wrath out upon Jesus

so that you and I and all those who put faith in Christ don't have to taste the wrath of God in our lives.

But ultimately, this means that God forsakes Christ so that we don't have to be forsaken.

Verses, we'll jump into verse 35.

We'll read it again.

And going a little farther, Jesus 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.

And I'll pause there.

Jesus, he is knowing his destiny as he goes to the cross, still does business with God.

He still struggles in prayer in such a way that not only expresses his stress and his anxiety and his agony,

but also comes to God in a very personal, relational, deep, trusting, loving way and pleads with him.

In a sense, this also shows us that God isn't fatalistic.

That we can wrestle with God, so to speak.

We can go do business with God.

And it also shows us that when we experience great anxiety, when we experience great pain that is no fault of our own,

that it doesn't somehow mean that we are sinning against God.

It does not mean somehow if we don't feel his presence, our lives are out of control.

When we don't sense him at all close to us, it's like we haven't heard God's voice maybe ever in our lives,

but we just feel a distance.

Our hearts aren't necessarily excited.

It doesn't necessarily mean that we are lacking.

For Jesus, again, he is perfect in all ways.

He is the closest with the Father.

The Apostle John, in his Gospel account, will, I mean, he records Jesus having this high priestly prayer with the Father,

and constantly he says that I and the Father are one.

There is nobody in human history closer to the Father than Jesus.

And yet, he feels estranged.

He doesn't feel great, and it is no fault of his own.

And that's helpful for us.

Because in a society that, whether you emote or not, by and large, we are ruled by our emotions,

this is giving us permission to say, no, we don't have to be ruled by our emotions.

We might feel a certain way, but that might not be the reality that is happening.

So how does Jesus process and deal with this heavy heart, this agony?

How does he deal with these difficult emotions connected to his impending suffering?

And this is a key bit for us this morning.

What does he do?

He prays.

God, the Son of God, fully man, fully God.

He goes to the Father in prayer.

And he doesn't pray, again, to some far-off, distant God that may or may not care about his situation.

He prays, Abba, Father.

This closeness, this relational, intimate, Father-Son relationship.

And he connects with him.

On one hand, he does business with him.

But only insofar as this relationship already exists, he prays to the Father.

Jesus is honest.

He's authentic.

He lays it bare to the Father.

He says, if there is another way forward, please.

He says this hour, that this hour may pass.

This hour is the hour that he will go to the cross.

When he says the cup that may pass from me, it is the cup of God's wrath.

It's a reference to the prophet Isaiah.

But it's this picture of God's just wrath being poured out because of sin and evil and death and despair.

And Jesus is being really honest with God.

And it means that we can be honest as well.

We can be honest.

We can tell him, I don't like this.

I don't want to face this.

This seems unfair.

This doesn't seem right.

Why to me?

Why not to anybody else?

Why to me?

We can be honest with God.

But Jesus doesn't stop by asking God to simply take away the cup, does he?

Verse 36, remove this cup from me.

But what does he say to complete this prayer?

Yet not what I will, but what you will.

And that's the key bit here.

Yes, he asks God the hard questions.

We could ask God the hard questions in our lives and be very open and honest with him.

But in the end, like Christ here in the garden, we bend a knee in faith and submission to God, trusting that his will is the best.

And he can see the end from the beginning.

And he knows the right way forward for his glory, for our benefit.

And this, by the way, in a sense, submitting to God's will is not an admission of weakness.

Again, Christ is doing it right here, and he is not weak in the slightest.

And I think, in a sense, the self-made man or woman is what, I don't want to say in just a sweeping generalization of our culture,

because I don't, I think there's so many subcultures.

But by and large, a self-made man is held to a very high esteem.

And yet, here, true strength is in weakness and in trusting in the Lord.

Bending a knee to the Father somehow is this beautiful example of strength.

And remember, Jesus is about to have the cup of God's wrath poured out upon him, and he seeks God's face.

He's 100% authentic to how this agony is affecting him, this stress, this pain.

And yet, he still prays for God's will to be done.

It's remarkable.

It truly is remarkable.

The cost of dealing with sin and defeating death can only be paid with the life of the incarnate God, fully man, fully God.

It's, if you just, if you consider that Jesus, knowing all things, requests from the Father that there be another way,

and clearly the answer is no, this is the only way.

It also goes to show us how grievous our sin is.

And not just our sin, the sin of the world, but our sin.

About how the hang-ups and the compromises and the failure to stand strong when temptation comes,

the lies, the cover-ups, I mean, do a self-inventory, you'll see.

But these things were so grievous that it could not be dealt with another way.

That the only way that satisfied justice and also to have a beautiful, wonderful picture of mercy

was Christ himself dying on the cross in our place.

There was no other way.

Not my will be done, but yours.

This is the Father's will.

And Jesus comes to this reality through earnest and honest prayer.

It's a beautiful picture of what this relationship with God the Father ultimately looks like and what it's about.

But what about the disciples?

See, we can talk about Jesus and how he's our example, and he certainly is.

But when we try to place ourselves in the story,

surely we are in the boots of the disciples.

So what about them?

They are exhorted by Christ to pray, and they fail miserably.

Look with me here.

Down to verse 37.

And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter,

Simon, are you asleep?

Interestingly, how he uses Peter's original name, Simon.

Peter is this picture of a rock.

Jesus renames Simon.

He is Peter upon this rock.

I will build my church.

It is this incredible name change in the scripture.

But Jesus says here, Simon, are you asleep?

Could you not pray?

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.

Jesus isn't looking for the disciples to pray for him.

He is encouraging the disciples to pray for themselves.

Because Jesus is facing the cross, but they are also facing temptation.

And it's a real temptation.

At the end of the Olivet Discourse in chapter 13,

Jesus ends with watch and pray, and the disciples are missing it.

Missing it time and again.

We can often fail to pray, or if we do pray, we do so in a way that does not move us to trust in Christ.

But in a sense, oftentimes, I'll speak for myself, oftentimes it satisfies a Christian guilt.

I need to pray.

I'm a Christian.

Jesus has eternal salvation for me on the cross.

I should pray.

And you run through, if you do the daily offices, or you have your own kind of set way of praying,

not every single time of prayer is this, if you pray, if you remember,

is this warm, incredible, intimate connection with God.

You kind of run through it.

And I would just say, by the way, if that happens here and there,

if that's, you know, what ends up happening, say, three, four times out of ten,

then still pray, still get in that habit,

still lean into the reality and the truth that you are a child of God,

and that it is a privilege to pray, whether you feel warm to it or not.

But all too often, we fail to pray.

And notice what Jesus says about prayer.

He says in verse three,

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Prayer is so vital for the Christian life.

Why? Well, first and foremost, because it helps us to connect with God the Father,

God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

It is a huge privilege to pray and to be heard by God.

But also, it helps us to avoid a spiritual stupor

that often results in a kind of narcissism,

that on one hand can take the form of a puffed up self-love,

but on the other hand, a spiraling self-hatred.

It's always interesting that pride goes both ways,

either puffed up or super low.

And prayer,

prayer in essence helps us to remember that it is by God,

and God alone, through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit,

that we are saved,

that we have the strength to do what he has called us to do,

and it gives him the glory.

It removes us, in a sense, from the throne of our own lives,

and puts God where he ought to be.

Prayer is vital for the Christian life,

and it's no surprise that Peter, James, and John,

but especially Peter thumps his chest just the moment before they get to the garden.

I swear to God I will follow you to the grave, Peter says.

And here he falls asleep three times,

which is interesting because when he is about to deny Christ,

he will deny him how many times?

Three times.

Yeah, that's right.

It's a deep connection between this,

on one hand,

this slumber,

this tiredness,

and a spiritual tiredness.

And you could say,

okay, I mean,

he just ate the Passover meal.

It's a big meal.

Four cups of wine,

maybe more.

Wine,

a lot of food.

They mix.

It's nighttime.

What do you expect?

He's going to fall asleep.

This is what's happening here.

Jesus is pointing out

that they are spiritually in a stupor.

They are not sober.

In their life.

Can we not relate to this?

Very interesting.

Jesus,

in a very kind way,

but a direct way,

points out to them

that temptation is on the doorstep,

that they want to follow him,

but their flesh is just so weak,

and that compromise is going to come.

All too often,

compromise is something

that we face,

and it's a very difficult thing.

So we're tempted to compromise,

and in my studies,

I thought it was an excellent,

so I'll just quote it kind of verbatim

in one of the commentaries I used.

Temptation is an invitation

to be untrue to God.

I think that's a very wise way

to look at it.

Because being true to God

is to be untrue to our selfishness,

and to not trust in our own strength,

but in his.

So we have these conflicting desires,

right?

Friday,

Friday,

I had a chance

to give kind of like

my preliminary thoughts of this

to the Parliamentary Hill Fellowship,

which I've never,

well,

once before,

but never preached there,

and it was a cool bit,

but you know,

I talked about compromise,

and on the Hill,

I mean,

compromise if you're a Christian

is like a daily thing,

potentially,

right?

For the sake of politics

and saving face

or PR,

whatever,

we can compromise.

They can compromise.

But in our own lives,

you know,

even if we're working from home,

and we don't see our coworkers,

and we don't necessarily have to,

we're not faced with this,

do I follow Christ

or do I follow the flesh?

We still have constant,

daily opportunities

to compromise.

Temptation is,

is,

is,

it's a part of all of our experience.

experiences.

But here's the thing.

Peter,

Peter fails in the most miserable way,

precisely because he is not praying

and trusting in the Lord,

but trusting in himself.

For the third time thus far,

Simon Peter will play the fool.

And this leads to our second point here,

how this text will help us to see

that compromise

compromise and sin

are,

are indeed a human problem,

but they're not the end of the Christian.

So how do we deal with failure and compromise?

Because we're bound to do it.

So Peter,

he,

this is at least the third time,

he plays the fool.

Right?

He claims that

he will follow Christ,

or he has this insight,

and,

and he is constantly

showing himself

to be

quick to speak,

but not quick to think.

This is his hallmark.

Remember,

just moments before,

beating his chest,

I swear I will go to the grave

before I deny you.

But,

he doesn't.

Three times.

He will,

he will deny Christ,

and then at the end

of all of this,

when he hears the rooster crows,

he breaks down and weeps,

the text says.

We'll look at that in a few weeks.

But he breaks down and weeps.

And I'm thinking,

okay,

pause there.

My goodness.

Where's the redemption for this man?

But here,

here's the wonderful thing here.

Peter,

just a few decades later,

will pen this.

A completely changed man.

Well,

I'll just read it from my,

my notes.

A completely changed man.

Peter will,

will pen this.

First Peter,

chapter four,

verses seven and eight.

And then again in 12 to 14.

The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore,

be self-controlled and sober-minded

for the sake of your prayers.

Above all,

keep loving one another earnestly,

since love covers a multitude of sins.

I'll read verse 12.

Beloved,

do not be surprised at the fiery trials

when it comes upon you

to test you

as though something strange

were happening to you.

But rejoice,

insofar as you share

Christ's sufferings,

that you may also rejoice

and be glad

when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted

for the name of Christ,

you are blessed

because the spirit of glory

and of God

rests upon you.

Are we talking about

the same person?

Like,

Peter,

he,

he doesn't stay awake.

He is not sober

for the sake of his prayers.

He,

he does not glory

in,

in suffering

for Christ.

What does it say

in verse 14?

If you are insulted

for the name of Christ,

you are blessed.

He denies Christ three times.

Who is this man

who is penning this?

Is this the same Peter?

Maybe there's two Peters.

There's not two Peters.

This is the same Peter.

These words of Holy Scripture,

which Peter wrote

by the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit,

are the complete opposite

of what he did

in our text

in chapter 14,

in our text today,

our text last week,

our text to come.

This is not the same Peter.

It's remarkable.

But how is it possible

for a man

to compromise

and sin

and to give in

to temptation

in such a way?

How

is this possible?

Remember

Mark chapter 14,

Mark 14 · chapter mention

just last week,

Jesus said to his disciples,

you will all fall away

for it is written,

I will strike the shepherd

and the sheep

will be scattered.

Verse 28,

but after I am raised up,

I will go before you

to Galilee.

The risen Lord

Jesus Christ,

he restores Peter

in the most miraculous way

that lifts him up

from the very depths

of despair,

of despondency,

of failure.

When we compromise,

and compromise,

I don't want to downplay it,

I don't want to downplay sin

and giving in to temptation,

because it is grievous,

but it is not too grievous

for Christ.

He can redeem

and restore all people.

When you mess up,

when you give in,

it is not the end

of your story.

What do you do?

Peter didn't do

the greatest thing.

He just continued

to spiral down.

Throw yourself

at the foot of the cross,

at the mercy of God.

Throw yourself

at Christ.

Be open

and honest

and authentic

with your prayers.

I have sinned.

I mean,

the Collect for Purity

that we read

every morning

on,

in the,

or every Sunday,

what does it say?

Almighty God,

unto whom all hearts

be open,

all desires known,

and from whom

no secrets are hid.

Can we hide

our thoughts?

Can we hide

our sins?

Can we hide

our desires from God?

Share it with him.

Tell him

exactly what is up.

Be honest with him.

It is a remarkable thing

that Peter is restored

in the way

that he is.

So let us,

friends,

continually throw ourselves

at the mercy

of the one

who did not compromise

when facing temptation

to avoid God's will.

Jesus did not compromise,

but he knew we would.

Let's throw ourselves

at him,

at the one

who submitted fully

and wholly

to the will of God,

who defeated sin

and death forever

at the cross

of Calvary.

It's a beautiful,

beautiful thing.

And I'll just end

with one thing.

As we consider

the grand narrative

of Scripture,

we see there's types

and antitypes

and symbols

and allusions

and prophecies

that go from

the Old Testament

to the New

and we see

that there are,

although dozens

of books

written by different authors,

different genres

over the centuries,

there is this

consistent narrative

throughout the Scriptures

and this is one of them

with the garden.

When do we see

the first instance

of the garden

in Scripture?

It's the Garden of Eden,

right?

And in that scene,

Adam,

the first man,

he doesn't bend

a knee to God.

He doesn't trust

in the Lord.

He doesn't say,

not my will be done,

but yours.

Instead,

he says,

my will be done.

It's kind of like Peter.

He thumps his chest a bit.

And what happens?

Sin and death

and despair

and brokenness

enter into the human experience.

But at the second garden,

the Garden of Gethsemane,

we see the second Adam,

the greater Adam.

He bends his knee

to the Father.

He says,

not my will be done,

but your will.

And what is the result?

It is healing

and it's blessing

and it's forgiveness of sin

and salvation

extended to all.

But there is still

a third garden

that we see in Scripture.

And it's in Revelation chapter 22.

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

And it's subtle,

but it's certainly there.

And this is what it says

in verses 1 and 2.

Then the angel showed me

the river of the water of life

bright as crystal

flowing from the throne of God

and of the Lamb

through the middle

of the street of the city.

This is a picture

of the new heavens

and the new earth,

the new Jerusalem.

So also on either side

of the river,

the tree of life

with its 12 kinds of fruit

yielding its fruit

each month.

The leaves of the trees

were for the healing

of the nations.

The tree of life

was in the garden.

The tree of life

is in the new heavens

and the new earth

and it's an allusion

to a garden.

That in the garden

to come

for all those

that are welcomed

into eternity

with God the Father

through God the Son

by way of God

the Holy Spirit,

we get to enjoy

the end of all despair

and brokenness

where temptation

is a thing

of the past.

No temptation.

Opportunities to compromise

will be absent.

Only enjoyment

of God

and giving Him glory

forever

will be our destiny.

And all of our hopes

and all of our longings

will be found

satisfied in Him.

all because

Jesus in the garden

He bends His knee

to the Father

and He accomplishes

the Father's will

and drinks the cup

that was meant for us.

Beautiful, beautiful thing

that we see Christ do.

Let us pray.

Lord, we thank You

that we

have this beautiful story

of the garden

and how Your Son

facing great anxiety

and pain

and agony

He is honest

on one hand

with the reality of it

but He entrusts Himself

to You

and Lord,

help us to be people

that grow in prayer

as an expression

of our relationship

that You have extended

to us.

Lord,

help us to be people

that grow

in our trust

in You

and when we end up

failing

and falling

and giving into temptation

and compromising

our faith

when we do

that we won't be

slow to come to You

but we will throw ourselves

at the foot of the cross

that we will seek Your face

that we will confess

our sins

and pray

that we may be healed.

So Lord,

we ask that You'll bolster

in us

not a great guilt

for the sin

that we've done

although that is very important

that we would feel

the weight of it

but instead

a great love

and thankfulness

for Your Son

who bore the penalty

on our behalf.

Amen.

Amen.