Pain, Prayer & Growth Mark 14:30-41
I’ve spoken on Gethsemane before. It’s one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible because there is just so much packed in here. I could spend hours going over it all but don’t worry, I’m not.
As I went over this I came to see Jesus at Gethsemane is the point where the final events of God’s plan is locked into place. From this point forward nothing can be changed.
Now if you read scripture, you might be able to make the argument that Jesus and the cross was always God’s plan and it wasn’t going to change and you would be right. But up to this point, Satan has been trying to interfere with this plan.
At the beginning God created humanity in his likeness. Adam and Eve were created perfect and then placed in a perfect world. In time they gave in to Satan’s temptation and mankind would now have to be judged. Satan attempted to corrupt the human race to the point where God would destroy everything he had made. It almost worked for God sent a flood, but he saved mankind and gave the world a rebirth.
In the Book of Esther Satan twisted the heart of the king and he attempted to destroy the entire nation of Israel but God intervened thus allowing his plan for all mankind to move forward.
When Jesus was born Satan moved Herod’s hand and he ordered the killing of the male children in an attempt to stop Jesus before he could get started, but again God intervened and Joseph took Mary and Jesus to safety. When Jesus started his ministry Satan tried to tempt him and when that didn’t work Satan waited and then influenced Peter to try and get him to sway Jesus away from his destiny.
Throughout time Satan has tried to derail God’s plan for mankind’s sin so I guess it would be better if I said that Jesus at Gethsemane is the point where Satan’s influence is canceled out, from this point forward he no longer tries to stop God’s plan.
Think about this. When Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin Satan could have nudged those like Nicodemus to stand up and argue for Jesus, but that didn’t happen. When Jesus was brought before Pilate he found no fault in him; Luke 23:14, “You brought this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him and found no basis for your charges.” Satan could have moved Pilate to release Jesus, but he didn’t. Satan could have worked in the hearts of the crowd moving them to ask for Jesus release. Again he didn’t; Luke 23:21, “…they kept shouting ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’”
I also want to take note of the disciples Jesus brings with him, Peter, James and John. If we remember Jesus brought these exact three when he raised a young girl from the dead. As a group these three represent God’s plan.
And it should be seen that this is the last time they are together like this until after Jesus resurrection. These three being here together in Gethsemane shows us that this is the point that the finality of God’s plan is at hand and that Jesus is the means of that plan’s final solution. This plan as described through Peter, James, and John. So let’s look at how we’re shown God’s plan.
In Luke 22:44 were told “…his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
At present we have Peter; the rock or stone, and stone is the New Testament’s representation of the law written on stone. Also present we have James, the supplanter, or the changer. And we have John, the grace of God. God’s plan for mankind demonstrated in these three disciples; Peter, James, John, the law replaced with God’s grace. And Jesus sweating blood, this new covenant forever sealed by Christ’s shed blood. Even now moments before the final act, God uses events and people to show us his plan for us.
As we read through these verses we see Jesus told his disciples to keep watch, yet three times he came back and found them asleep. We’ve looked at the number three before. The Bible uses this number to represent the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It also is used to represent completeness. And it’s here in the garden that God’s plan comes to fulfillment and is completed with Jesus accepting his destiny and submitting to God’s will; “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)
I think there’s another layer here. Here we have the disciples in the presence of God the son, making the same mistake over and over by falling asleep. Then in verse 41,”Are you still sleeping…Look the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners…”
We as believers in Jesus are his new disciples and as those first disciples we still get things wrong, we still sin. Yet the perfect God did not wait for us to get it right. Despite our sin Jesus went to the cross in completion of God the Father’s plan. Here in the Garden of Gethsemane the events give us a clear picture of man’s actions and of God’s plan.
These events in Gethsemane through the experiences of Jesus show us our life’s experiences. Verse 35, “Going a little farther he…prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.” The hour did not pass.
In each of our lives we may find ourselves in our own Gethsemane asking for the hour to pass. And like with Jesus, it might not. The disease may not be cured, a loved one may still pass.
There are three things here Jesus shows us. First, is the experience of pain. Verse 34, “…my soul is deeply grieved…” In Greek it means more like “my soul is surrounded by grief.” Jesus is surrounded by pain and sorrow with no area of escape. Again verse 34, “…to the point of death.”
Jesus went through and understands our experience. We all can be distressed to where we don’t see a way out of our situation; “The chemo’s not working, what am I going to do?” And we can all get to the point where we don’t think we can go on. We can suffer from disease or accident. We can suffer from rejection and abandonment. And Jesus knew this pain as he watched his disciples desert and deny him. Our pain is Jesus pain for he went through all the pain we will. I also think he suffered beyond what we will because he had to become sin. Here in the garden the anticipation of the pure holiness of God becoming sin must have grieved him more than we can imagine.
What Jesus experiences in the midst of his pain and anguish is what we ca experience in the midst of ours; prayer. Greg Olsen’s painting of Jesus in Gethsemane (which is in your bulletin) shows him on the ground with tears on his face. Jesus offered up prayers with all he had within himself. This deep and total involvement in his prayers allowed God to show Jesus that God was in control.
When we give our all in prayer God gives us peace in the knowledge he is in control no matter the outcome. This is not the same as us realizing there is nothing we can do, this is the comfort and peace that comes from realizing we are in the hands of the creator. It’s not that we can do nothing, it’s that God is doing everything for us according to his will.
Jesus gives us another reason for prayer in verse 38, “Watch and pray so you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
We all have the best intentions. We all want to live our Christian ideals. As we look into the world we can see Christians who let prejudice guide them. They let mistrust direct their actions. They let fear rob them of the peace of God. All these things to a degree have been in my life. Honest prayer allows God to push them aside and bring to light our Christian values.
And it’s through prayer that Jesus shows us the capability of growth. Jesus prayed for God to remove the cup, but he understood that his drinking from this cup accomplished God the Father’s will. When we pray for the cup in our life to be removed, can God remove it, of course he can. Can we just walk away from the cup God gives us? We have free will, of course we can. But our growth in Spirit allows us to see that God cannot remove the cup and still accomplish his purpose in your life. We cannot refuse the cup and still bring glory to God and demonstrate him to others.
Jesus in Gethsemane is the point in his ministry where everything that is to come is locked into place and from this point forward Satan cannot interfere. God’s plan comes to fruition in the lives of men.
Hebrews 4:17, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in everyway, just as we are…”
Gethsemane shows us Jesus as a man experienced everything we do; pain, anguish, fear, abandonment, and rejection. Gethsemane shows us that through prayer we can see God’s will within our troubles and his will in the events of our lives. And in Gethsemane we see that honest wholehearted prayer allows us to see God’s will is supreme, even if the cup is not taken away from us.
Everything we experience both good and bad, is a testament to our faith, a testament to God and the opportunity for us to give honor to our Father in heaven.
Amen.