Pastor Rebecca Malmin brings us a helpful message on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Mark 14
It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”
(woman anoints his head with precious perfume)
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them.? They were delighted when they heard why he had come, and they promised to give him money. So he began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
(Miracle preparation of the upper room & Last Supper where Jesus says that one of them would betray him)
Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. (Luke says “as usual”)
On the way Jesus told them (quoting Zech 13:7) “All of you will desert me. For the scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.’”
Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.
They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane (which means pressing or crushing like treading grapes or crushing olives to get olive oil), and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.”He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,”
he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before.
When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.
When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”And immediately, even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders.
The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. Then you can take him away under guard.” As soon as they arrived, Judas walked up to Jesus. “Rabbi!” he exclaimed, and gave him the kiss. Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.
Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”
Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.
Part 1 of Jesus’ prayer to the Father
Please take this cup of suffering away from me. (referring to what he knew was coming)
Question for you: What if the Father had answered Jesus’ prayer?
So the title of my message today is “The Unanswered Prayer”
We need to look at Jesus as our example!
What do we learn from Jesus in this passage?
We need to go to the Father when we are facing insurmountable challenges
We need to invite others into the process of our lives
Last week’s message about how Jesus experienced pain from others was so good. That is not the focus of my message but it plays a significant part of what happens to Jesus so I want to draw from his interactions with those closest to him just a bit.
The disciples couldn’t stay awake and then they ALL abandoned him! (who’s always listening and always with us?)
No person on earth understands what we are going through (only God can see each second of our days and what those second feel like to our mind, will, emotions and body)
Not everyone you speak to (even friends) will believe you (the disciples could not grasp what was happening even though Jesus told them many times it was coming) – Only God sees and hears it all!
Some people just don’t know what to do! (the disciples didn’t know what to say to Jesus when they realized they had fallen short)
They didn’t get it right, but they were there with Jesus in this moment! We others and we need God who never leaves us or forsakes us.
We need to remember that not only was Jesus heading into physical pain but emotional pain. From before the beginning of time he was in right relationship with F & HS. Once he died on the cross and the sins of all humanity were placed on his shoulders, the Father & HS would turn away from him. That perfect relationship (something we know nothing about) would be temporarily broken.
Part 2 of Jesus’ Prayer
Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
This is the beginning of the end of Jesus’ time on earth.
This past Wednesday, a car drove into a part of the inner harbor. Several people saw the car and its driver go into the water but everyone just stood there watching.
A sous chef from Phillips Seafood, who had just left work for the day, jumped into the water, broke a car windshield and pulled out the driver. He was able to swim with the driver to a life ring that someone had thrown in and they were pulled to safety. Both the driver and sous chef were checked for injuries and are OK.
In this part of scripture we see Jesus choosing to jump into the muck and mire of our sin (through this journey of his crucifixion) to save us, because we can’t save ourselves.
Do you know what the marketing director of Phillips said? “It was a natural thing for him to do. It was just his character,”
He knew that what was coming was going to take all of the God part of him to make it through. His humanity (Let this cup pass) did not want to do it, his Divinity (Let your will be done) was willing to do anything for us.
It was “a natural thing for him to do. It was just his character!”
We need to surrender to the will of God
Surrender is choosing to allow God to do what HE wants with us, his children.
This is where we grapple with what is, what we wish was and what God knows is best for us.
This hurts!
This is an ugly cry situation
This process of surrender repeats itself. (we see in the verses we read earlier that Jesus prayed “please take this cup of suffering. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” a few times!)
We must not allow others who hurt us, or our circumstances to prevent us from wholly coming to the Father or following His will. (friends:disciples abandoned him, church leadership: the ones who plotted against Jesus and who sent men with clubs and spears)
Let’s dig a little deeper into this! Because we need to build up our spirit until we can say like Paul says in I Corinthians chapter 2
For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, (quoting Isaiah)
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
We need to get into the very center of our being that God has for us: (this is how Jesus did it!)
Peace
Joy
Hope
A future
God has a good future for you!
What should we do?
Decide if you want to truly surrender
Ask God’s forgiveness for choosing your own plan above his
Repent of any sin (sin always gets in the way of the good things God has for us!)
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
What is tripping you up?
Disobedience
Pornography
Selfishness
Allowing bitterness or unforgiveness (between you and God or you and others? The opposite of Love God with all your heart…
We can honor Jesus’ pain, suffering and sacrifice by coming to a place of salvation….
Or if you’ve been saved and yet have been struggling with a specific sin, come to Jesus again today in repentance and surrender. Get help from others!
4. Recognize that our living in a corrupt, sinful world brings pain (emotional pain, mental pain, physical pain). (Jesus knows this on a very personal level!)
Matthew 20:22, Mother of James & John asking Jesus to let her sons sit in places of honor next to Jesus in His Kingdom. Jesus replies, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup.
“Take the cup from me”
In the Bible “cup” is used literally and figuratively.
Frequently refers to the contents of the cup, not just the cup itself.
Figuratively used for something that can’t be refused, especially something unpleasant like God’s judgments, wrath or afflictions (OT & Revelations)
Ouch, it’s getting real!
Choose to believe that your unanswered prayer may be part of God’s master plan for your life.
Theologian John Howard Yoder wrote “Here at the cross is the man who loves his enemies, the man whose righteousness is greater than that of the Pharisees, who being rich became poor, who gives his robe to those who took his cloak, who prays for those who despitefully use him. The cross is not a detour or a hurdle on the way to their kingdom, nor is it even the way to the kingdom; it is the kingdom come.”
Jesus’ pain brought the Kingdom of God,what might your pain bring?
Keep your eyes on Jesus!
Hebrews 12 And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Choose to look towards a better future.
Hebrews 12:2 – Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (what joy can we look forward to?)