The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E13 - Gethsemane

Episode Date: April 8, 2020

When we read of the suffering endured by Jesus, we can know that we have a Savior who is with us in our pain. 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.” — Matthew 26:39

Hey church family. Welcome back to Devo Time. It is Holy Week, and we started with a triumphal entry, and then we looked at the Lord's Supper, and Jesus was serving his disciples by washing their feet, and I hope you've been serving like crazy. I hope I have been to. And so now we're in Matthew, chapter 26,

in the Garden of Gassimini. The Bible says this, verse 36. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Getsemite. Gassimini is at the Bible. base of the Mount of Olives. And archaeologists found this huge olive press there. Gassimini literally means the place of crushing. And olives were, I mean, they're a really big deal. They're a big deal now. They're a big deal in the first century. And there were three different crushings or presses that an olive would go through to get all of the olive oil that we all use.

The first, they'd take all these olives, they put them in a bag, they'd cinch them up, and then they'd put them on this little, I don't know, it almost looks like a, it's a basket. It kind of looks like a basketball hoop, and somebody tied the net together at the bottom. And just the weight of the olives pressing upon them would release the first or extra virgin olive oil. And then after that was gone, then they would take those olives, and they would put it in this olive press or this olive grind and this like huge wheel kind of rides over it and it presses out olive oil. And then finally, the final crushing is they would take, they take the pit of the olive and they have these huge stones and they take with a pointy end on it. They would take that

stone and they would crush the pit. And when Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, knowing that tomorrow he's going to the cross. And when he goes to pray, he could have gone anywhere he wanted to, I guess. and he goes to the place of the crushing because he knows tomorrow there'll be a series of crushings that he'll go before Pontch's pilot, he'll go before the crowd,

he'll go before Caiaphas, and ultimately, at the very pit, at the very core of who he is, on the cross of Jesus Christ, he will be crushed for our iniquities. And then Jesus went them to a place called Gethsemini, the Crushing. 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. Let me just stop right there. Jesus felt like in his life he needed some brothers that would pray for him. So one of the things that I cannot understand are the people that call themselves Christians. And I'm not saying you're not a Christian, but I am saying you're not doing it right.

If you think that when Jesus was going through the toughest week of his life, that he needed some people, Jesus, the almighty son of God, maker of heaven and earth, the one that spoke everything into existence, the almighty eternal son of God, all things were made by him, for him, through him, and to him, and nothing was made that wasn't made through him, the one that is preemptive. imminent and before him is nothing because he is before all things. That one says, I need y'all to come and pray with me. But you think I got this on my own. Listen, this is why relationships are so important that we need people.

We need a band of brothers or sisters that are around us. Because surely if Jesus needed his disciples to pray with him on this time, surely you need people praying with you. Do you have those people? If not, I hope, and I pray that you will do whatever it takes to get those people in your life to be praying for you. Who is praying for you? Other than your mom? And you don't even tell her the truth. So how could she be really crying out to God on your behalf if she don't even know what to cry out? And so Jesus takes within Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. And he began to be sorrowful and troubled. and then he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful even to death.

Remain here and watch with me. You see, Jesus feels like he's going to die. If you've ever struggled with depression, Jesus knows how you feel. And rightly so, he knew he was going to the cross the next day. He knew that he was going to be tried and beaten and flogged. He knew that he was going to have a crown of thorns pressed down on his skull. He knew that nails were going to be tried. pierce his hands and he knew that nails were going to pierce his feet. He knew he was going to

hang on the cross, which was excruciating. Actually, that's where we get the word excruciating from the word crucifixion. He knew. And he was so sorrowful that he felt like he was going to die down at the soul level. Now, let me ask you this. Do you think that he was feeling this sorrowful? In fact, Dr. Luke, the gospel writer Luke, he says that when Jesus was praying, he prayed with such intensity did but he began to sweat like drops of blood. Do you think that Jesus was this sorrowful because he was afraid of the physical torment that he was going to go through? Well, I don't think so. I don't think so. I'm not saying it wasn't excruciating. It was, but church history tells us of martyrs who have gone to the stake with an unbelievable bravery.

there were martyrs that would go to the stake, and as they were being burned alive, then they would just sing Psalms, or especially Psalm 91 and Psalm 51. They would sing those all the time. There was a martyr in India, and reports are that they were skinning him. They were taking his skin off while he was alive, and he was reported as saying, I praise God that you would disrobe me of this flesh, that I may put on eternity in minutes.

and so surely if these men and women that went to the flame and went to the cross on behalf of the blood of Jesus, if they went with confidence, surely Jesus was stronger than them. He was. You see, the thing that troubled him most is that he would endure the wrath of his father. You see, that he would be crushed by his father. The Bible says that Jesus doesn't just pay for our sin, but Jesus became our sin. 2 Corinthians 521 says that God made Him who was without sin to be sin. That means Jesus became rape and molestation and murder and racism and envy and debauchery and sexual immorality. He's a holy and perfect God, and he became a wretched, wretched, dark, soured sinner so that we could become His righteousness.

And we know Jesus on the cross, quote Psalm 22 and says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And to be forsaken even for a minute by his heavenly father brought him to the place where his soul was very sorrowful, even to death. And so he said, remain here and watch with me. And going a little farther, he fell on his face and he prayed, saying, My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup. Here's what the cup is.

The cup represents the wrath of God against sinners and sin. The cup represented the justice of God that would be poured out against everybody who had rejected God. because God is just and because God is holy sin must be paid for. If God were to just overlook sin, it would make him an unjust and unholy God. Imagine just for a second. Imagine the person that you love the most was raped and murdered. The most was raped and murder. And they caught the person that did it.

And he confessed. And they had a video of it. And you went to the day of the trial. And you sat there, you made your case. Everybody knows that the person, the murderer, the rapist is guilty against the person that you loved the most. And the judge said, we're going to overlook this one. Everybody makes mistakes.

Then you would scream at the judge. You are an unjust judge. You do not deserve to sit there. If God, the almighty, perfect and holy sovereign were to overlook sin, you see, the reason that you and I can forgive sin is because we are imperfect sinners. So we can say, don't worry about it. But an almighty, just and holy judge cannot just overlook someone rejecting him

or hurting another person. And so Jesus says, if this cup, the just judgment for our sin, if there be any other way, you know what he's asking? He's asking the question that most 21st century people ask.

Aren't there a bunch of ways to God? You see, the big, criticism that we often get as evangelical Christians is this notion that Jesus is the only way, that He is the only way, that Jesus is the exclusive path by which we can know God. Now, here's the deal. Some people, they ask me that, you believe that. I do. Jesus said it himself. It's not like we made this up. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. In other words, apart from Christ, death and resurrection,

apart from the gospel, sin cannot be forgiven, and sinful man cannot be reconciled with the Holy God. And again, I've had people say, so you mean to tell me that Jesus is the only way? What about good people? So tell me, what about all the good people in the world? I just go, well, you know, they're not good people. They're not.

They're polite people. They're sociable people. there are people, they're better people, like some are better than others, but deep down at the soul level, every single one of us is a sinner at heart. And every sinner needs a savior, and Jesus is the only savior. And Jesus is asking the same people, the same question that people ask us. Aren't there other ways? Jesus is saying, Father, if there's another way, like if you can be good enough, if you could obey the law, if you can align your chakra, if you could just visit Mecca, if you could just obey the five pillars and pray five times a day, God, if you could just be

reincarnated and do good enough in this life that your karma works out good for you and you just move on to Nirvana, God, if there's any other way for men and women to be saved, seems like an awful waste of my blood tomorrow on the cross. And then ultimately, what Jesus does is he prays the ultimate prayer. He says, not my will, but your will be done. My father, if it be possible that this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and he found them sleeping and he said,

Peter, so could you not watch with me one hour, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation? The spirit indeed is will. willing, but the flesh is weak. What Jesus is experiencing with the disciples, listen, he says it, like at their heart level, at their spirit level, they want to do what Jesus ask them to do.

Will you please just stay awake and pray? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. This is why Jesus has to go to the cross. Because even on our best days, we can't pull off what Christ ask us to do. And again, for the second time, Jesus went away and he prayed, my father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. So many times when we pray, what we're actually saying is, God, forget your will, my will

be done. And what Jesus says, at the most important hour, is not my will, but your will be done. And again, he came and he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And so leaving them again, he went away and he prayed for the third time saying the same words again. And then he came to the disciples and he said to them, sleep and take your rest later. See, the hour is at hand and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise. Let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And then the Bible lets us know that Judas, his friend, comes up and betrays him with a kiss. And that Peter, Peter pulls out a sword and tries to chop a guy's ear off. Jesus picks up. Jesus picks up.

the ear, puts it back on the man, says, Peter, that's not how our ministry is going to go. And then, over the next several hours, Jesus has handed over to Pontchus Pilate. First, it goes to Caiaphas's house, and then he goes to Pontius Pilate. Nobody wants to be the person that slams down the gavel on this innocent man and says, crucify him. And Jesus follows through on what he prays for here in the Garden of Crushing. That he would be crushed for our iniquities. There is no resurrection without a cross.

There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. There is no heaven that we get to experience with God in eternity without the son of God becoming a man and laying down his life. Jesus in the Garden of Gassimini, he asked the question, Father, if there's any other way to pay for sin, let's do that. If not, I will lay down my life for the forgiveness of those I came to die for. And then Jesus walks that path. He experiences the full crushing of his father.

And with the execution of the Son of God came the execution of the plan of God. And three days later, we would celebrate that if the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. Even sinners like us being saved from our sin. God, our spirit is willing and our flesh is weak. And so God, we thank you that we don't have to live by our flesh, but that when we put our faith in you, then your spirit, the Holy Spirit, dwells within us, the same spirit that put breath back in your lungs in that tomb,

that rolled away the stone, and then enabled you to be resurrected and walk out of there alive and forevermore. And so, God, I pray that we would have the same kind of prayer that Jesus has, not our will but your will be done. Lord, we pray this week that all around the world, however you get the gospel to the ends of the earth, Lord, through a whole lot of internet for sure, God, we pray that thousands and thousands and thousands of people

would come to the place where they would realize that you are who you say you are, the Christ, the son of the living God. Lord, we pray that they would admit that they're sinners in need of a Savior, God. I pray that they would believe when you died on the cross that they counted for them. And Lord, I pray that they would confess you as Lord and they would be saved. And Lord, we pray that you would use us and our church

as a conduit to that end, which is your glory. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen.