"The Passion of Our Lord: Praying in Gethsemane" (Lenten sermon on Mark 14:32-52)

So it’s Thursday night. Jesus and the disciples have been celebrating the Passover. At the end of that meal, Jesus institutes a new Passover, the new covenant in his body and blood. At the same time, Jesus knows that one of his disciples will betray him that very night and that he will be handed over to be killed. There’s a lot on his mind, to be sure!

Now the meal has concluded. Jesus leads the disciples out of the city and up the Mount of Olives. Oh, they’ve been there before. It was a familiar gathering place for the group. They all knew it, including the one disciple who had arranged to betray Jesus and who now has left the group. But he knew that’s where to find them.

So there’s this garden there on the Mount of Olives, a garden called Gethsemane. The word “Gethsemane” means “olive press.” That’s where people would go to gather and press olives to make olive oil. But tonight it is not olives that will be pressed. It’s the Son of God who will be pressed hard, facing enormous, unbearable pressure, because of what’s about to happen to him.

Well, what does Jesus do when he’s hard pressed like this? He prays. And so our theme tonight: “The Passion of Our Lord: Praying in Gethsemane.”

This pressure-packed praying goes to the mystery of the nature of Christ as both true God and true man. As true God, Christ came to do the will of his Father, which is to suffer and die for the sins of the world. As true man, though, this will involve the most extreme suffering that anyone could imagine. And as a man, Jesus would rather not have to go through with this, if there were any other way possible to accomplish the mission. But there isn’t.

Going into the garden, Jesus takes with him his inner circle of disciples, Peter, James, and John. Jesus is “greatly distressed and troubled,” it says, and so he tells them: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” Jesus wants these disciples there nearby as his support system while he’s going through this agony in the garden.

“And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” Well, the hour has come. The distress is upon him. Is there any other way at all to save sinful mankind?

So Jesus turns to his heavenly Father in prayer. You can hear the raw emotion in his voice: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

“Remove this cup from me,” he says. Jesus is talking about the cup of suffering he is about to experience. “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And the Father’s will is that his Son will drain that cup of wrath and suffering, so that you will not have to drink it.

Friends, here we see the faithfulness, the commitment, that our Lord has to carry out his mission and rescue you. He is undergoing the most intense pressure imaginable, facing what’s about to be done to him, and yet he goes through with it anyway. He yields his own understandable will to avoid such suffering, if possible, and he willingly submits to the Father’s will to carry on with the rescue mission. That’s how much Jesus loves you.

Meanwhile, what’s been going on with those three disciples Jesus told to remain nearby and watch? While Jesus has been praying, they have been laying--laying down on the job and sleeping! Some support system they are! “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.” Weak indeed! Three times this happens, Jesus coming back and finding them asleep.

Friends, isn’t this like us? We may have fine intentions. We may resolve to become better Christians. But our flesh gets in the way. Our weakness overtakes us. And we fall asleep on the job. We turn out to be not as good Christians as we would hope. Can you identify? I can.

But then, that’s why Jesus came. To do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We may be sleep-walking through life, but our Lord is intent and determined to save us in spite of ourselves.

Now, though, it’s time for the boys to wake up. Trouble is on the way. “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.”

Jesus has been praying. The disciples have been sleeping. And now the betrayer comes betraying. It’s Judas, one of the twelve. One who had dipped his bread into the dish with Jesus just earlier that evening. And now he is betraying his Master.

And Judas is not there by himself. He has brought along guards and soldiers with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus and take him away. In the darkness of the night, the guards will need to know which one is the man they need to arrest. And Judas has told them he’ll give them a sign.

So Judas betrays Christ in a most despicable manner: with a kiss and an embrace. “Rabbi!” he says. And with a show of friendship he betrays his Lord.

The soldiers seize Jesus. One of his disciples now wants to fight. But Jesus does not want any swordplay. He will go willingly. He knows that this is what needs to happen. “But let the Scriptures be fulfilled,” he says.

Christ Jesus came to fulfill the Scriptures. And those Scriptures told of a Suffering Servant who would come to do the Lord’s will and to suffer and die for the sins of the people. Jesus is that Suffering Servant. For you! He undergoes this intense suffering for your sake. He is handed over for you, so that you will not die forever.

Friends, tonight we see Jesus praying in Gethsemane. He puts up with weak, sleeping disciples, who now cut and run. He allows himself to be betrayed and arrested. All because of his commitment to his Father’s will and his commitment to you and your salvation.

Brothers and sisters, this is the kind of Savior you have! He will see you through! He will see you through whatever distress, trouble, and sorrow you face. And he will take you along with him to a garden where there is no more trouble or sorrow. Praise the Lord!

Mark 14:32-52 (ESV)

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 is at hand.”

And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled.

And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

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