Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Was Jesus Afraid of Death? | Mark | Mark 14.32-42

Episode Date: March 10, 2021

Why was Jesus so distressed in the Garden of Gethsemane? Was he scared of the cross? Find out what really troubled him from https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Pastor Keith Simon) as he continues our series on https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/mark/ (Mark). Interested in more content like this? Check out https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcasts/why-jesus-had-to-die-learning-to-follow-jesus-luke-9/ (Why Jesus Had to Die) and https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcasts/why-jesus-had-to-die-learning-to-follow-jesus-luke-9/ (Understanding Jesus's Death). Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO and @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. My name is Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. If this podcast has been helping you in your walk with God, would you take five seconds to help us? Hop onto Twitter and follow our new Twitter account at TMBT Podcast. If you go there, you can see our latest episodes. You can also follow Keith and I and send us messages. We'd love to follow you back and see what's happening in your life. Right now we're asking, who is Jesus? Your heart will be moved by the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gassimony.

If you understand this story, you understand Christianity. Let me set the scene. Jesus has just finished the Passover meal with his disciples. They all sing a song together and leave. It's late at night and they head to one of their favorite meeting places that they'd been to many times before, the Garden of Gassimony. Scholars think that the garden was probably owned by a wealthy acquaintance of Jesus. He tells the disciples to stay near the entrance, except for Peter, James, and John, who he takes further into the garden with him. Jesus tells the three that make up his inner circle. He says to them,

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch. Now, this isn't the first time that Jesus has felt the immense burden of the cross looming in his future. In Luke 12, he said this, there is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. In John 12, Jesus said this, Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, Father, save me from what lies ahead? But that is the very reason why I came.

You can just stack the emotional words one on top of the other. He is deeply troubled. Jesus is heavily burdened. He's overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Jesus falls to the ground, sweating drops of blood. You put all this together, and it's clear that Jesus looked with dread, almost terror at what was ahead of him. Three times he prayed that if possible, the cup be taken from him so that he does not have to drink it. What was in that cup that has Jesus terrified?

Theologians have pointed out that throughout centuries people have courageously faced death. Plato tells us of Socrates sitting in a prison cell, drinking Himlock that his friends had brought him. Plato says he took poisonous drink without trembling or changing color or expression. He raised it to his lips and very cheerfully and quietly drained it. When his friends burst into tears, Socrates rebuked them for their absurd behavior and urged them to keep quiet and brave. Socrates, it is said, died without fear, sorrow, or protest. So was Socrates braver than Jesus?

And there have been plenty of Christian martyrs. Remember what Jesus had told his followers? blessed are you and people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who are before you. Is Jesus one of those teachers who said one thing but did another, that he told his followers to be brave and courageous in the face of persecution, but then he failed to practice what he preached? I mean, his disciples took his teaching to heart. Remember in Acts chapter 5, the disciples are flogged and beaten because they are proclaiming Christ, and after they are released, they rejoice because they've been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.

In the history of Christianity, there have been thousands and thousands of believers who have willingly given their lives. So we go back to Jesus in the garden. He's lying face down, sweating drops of blood. He's repeatedly asking the Father, if there's any of God. way for this cup to pass, for him to not have to drink it. So you see the problem, right? Jesus taught that a person should rejoice in the face of persecution, and the first disciples and many others have done that throughout the centuries, but here is Jesus in a similar situation, and he's acting really differently. Why? Well, because the cup that he drank from wasn't the

same cup given to the other martyrs. It wasn't physical pain in that cup. The cup symbolized divine wrath. In the Old Testament, a wicked person was said to drink from the wrath of the Almighty. What overwhelms Jesus isn't physical suffering and death, but identifying with sinners and becoming the object of God's wrath. It is one thing, fearful as it will be to answer for our own sins before a holy and almighty God. But who can imagine what it would be like to stand before God to answer for every sin and crime and act of malice and injury and cowardice and evil in the whole world. It was the cup of God's judgment and wrath against sin that Jesus drank. God set his love on saving sinners, but that could only be done if Jesus bore our sins,

if he bore the wrath and judgment that we deserved. In the garden, Jesus was willingly submitting his will to the Father's will. He was going to bear the sin of all who believe in him. The reason that this is a life-changing passage is because this is the gospel. This is how a person is made right with God. Jesus prayed three times for that cup to pass. But he concluded his prayers with not my will, but thy will be done. If there had been another way, the Father would have provided it.

But Jesus's request was met with silence. No, the cup would not be taken away. So Jesus, in humble obedience, submits to his father's will. Jesus is resolute. He will go to the cross. He will suffer and die for sinners. Behold the humility of our king. Behold the love of our Savior.

Behold his compassion for lost sinners. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.