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Matthew 26:36-46
Intro to Theme:
In our sermon series we’ve been
following the life of Jesus as it’s recorded in the four gospels. This
morning we are coming to the very end of His life. In the passage we’re
looking at, Jesus is just hours away from a godforsaken death, nailed to
a Roman cross, and He knows it. This has been the objective of His life
from the very beginning. The gospel writers therefore take their time
over describing Jesus’ death. In every gospel account of Jesus’ life –
His death comprises about a third of the book.
Therefore if you pick up a gospel and
read through it all in one sitting you’ll get the experience of the story
slowing down almost to a halt as the cross draws nearer and nearer. It’s
almost as if the gospel writers want us to look around and take
everything in as Jesus approaches His death.
In the passage we’re studying this
morning we have ground to the most excruciating halt. In a garden outside
of Jerusalem, Jesus is hours away from suffering hell. Judas is on his
way, accompanied by an armed guard, ready to arrest Jesus. These are His
last few minutes of freedom.
[VIDEO – Miracle Maker – Gethsemane]
This is such a powerful scene. It has
captured the imagination of artists down through the ages. In that clip
from the movie the Miracle Maker the high drama of the moment comes
alive.
[SLIDE – Jesus in anguish]
Jesus falls flat on His face in
anguish and actually asks His Father whether there is some other way –
some way other than the cross. The one reason why Jesus came to this
world and Jesus does not want to go. He begs and pleads His Father for
another way.
What makes this scene so moving is
that here is no weak man afraid of the Romans. Here is – the Miracle
Maker. Jesus can control any situation – He can calm a storm with a word,
He can heal the sick and raise the dead. But here He is faced with
something He finds virtually unbearable. The prospect of taking the cup
from the Father is almost too excruciating for Him.
But why? What was so bad about the cup
that Jesus was presented? Why was Jesus in such agony? What is going on
when God pleads with God for another way?
Let’s hear the passage read…
[READING]
Sermon:
Have you ever been so sad that you
thought you would die from the sorrow? Not just that you wished you were
dead. Not just that the prospect of death made you sad. But that the anguish
and torment itself seemed enough to kill you?
Jesus did.
Have you ever been utterly deserted by
those closest to you in your time of greatest need?
Jesus was.
Have you been betrayed by someone who
pretended to all the world they were your friend?
Jesus had that happen too.
Has the prospect of some future event
so wracked you with anguish that your whole body has started shutting
down?
Jesus knows exactly this experience.
Have you ever fallen with your face to
the ground wrestling with God and His will for you.
Again Jesus knows from experience all
these things, and so much more.
In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus, is
in mental and psychological agony that so outstrips the physical agony He
is about to endure on the cross. It is here that Jesus confesses to His
closest friends verse 38: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the
point of death.” In Luke’s account of this same incident he records that
Jesus is so churned up that He begins to sweat great drops of blood.
Blood vessels are bursting all over His body and He falls flat on His
face before His Father begging Him for another way.
Do you see His prayer in verse 39?
There’s nothing like it in all of Scripture. He prays “My Father if it is
possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You
will.”
As we saw on the video – Jesus cries
out “Not my will, your will Father. Your will be done.” It’s clear that
Jesus does Not want to go to the cross! His will, here in the garden of
Gethsemane, is to avoid the cross – to find some other way. He prays that
the Father’s will be done – but He tells us that His will, right here,
right now – is different.
This should alert us straight away to
the fact that something momentous is about to occur. Jesus – God’s
Eternal Son – who has only ever done the will of His Father – who defines
Himself as the One Sent from the Father who always does His will – this
Jesus, here for the first time in history expresses a will different to
His Father’s. You see He begins verse 39 in submission and ends it in submission
- “My Father if it is possible… Yet not as I will but as you will.” But
unmistakably in the middle He wants another way. Jesus’ will here is not
to take the cup.
[SLIDE – the cup]
Now what is this cup that Jesus is so
sorrowful about drinking? We saw it portrayed in the film clip wrapped in
a crown of thorns. What does it mean to take the cup?
Well to see why the cup is such a
terrifying prospect for Jesus, we’re going to have to look at some
terrifying truths about God’s judgment. As we do so, let’s make it clear
we’re not looking at judgment because we have a morbid fascination with
it. We’re looking at the judgment of God because that is the cup which
Jesus must drink.
“The cup” in the Bible is a symbol of
judgment.
[SLIDE – Isaiah 51]
In Isaiah chapter 51 it is described
as the ‘cup of God’s wrath.’ The cup symbolizes the anger and judgment of
God.
[SLIDE – Psalm 75]
In Psalm 75, the psalmist gives us
such a striking picture of this cup:
“In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with
spices; He pours it out and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to
its very dregs.”
A cup full of foaming wine mixed with
spices. And to drink it is to drink down the very wrath of God. Can you
picture this cup in your mind? Full of death and judgment and the anger
of God.
Well in Jeremiah it gets even worse.
And again I want to tell you, I’m not trying to scare people with this. I
am trying to get inside Jesus’ head and think through what the cup means for
Him. No-one likes talking about God’s wrath but we need to see what it
meant for Jesus to drink this cup.
And the terrifying thing about
Jeremiah 25 is that actually everyone is in line to drink from this cup.
[SLIDE – Jeremiah 25]
“Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath… You
must drink it!.. I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the
earth, declares the LORD Almighty.”
We are all due to receive this cup
foaming with the wine of God’s wrath and we all are to drink it down to
its very dregs.
People often cry out “Where is God’s
justice? God says He’s serious about sin and injustice – so where is
God’s justice when innocent Iraqis die in bombing raids? Where is God’s
justice for war criminals? God has promised judgment for these things –
so where is His justice?” Where is God’s justice for paedophiles and
rapists? Murderers and Home-wreckers? Where is this promised judgment of
God?
Answer:- It’s there foaming in that
cup. The goblet of God’s fury is full of every wickedness humanity has
ever conceived, all distilled down into the wine of His wrath.
Which means it also contains God’s
justice for you. In that cup is God’s justice for your self-centredness
and pride and wickedness and unbelief. In that cup is your arrogant
refusal to bend the knee to Jesus Christ.
And this cup Must be drunk. God’s
justice Will be meted out. He Will avenge His anger at human sin and
rebellion. He’s not joking – sin IS serious and there will be an
accounting.
But here in the garden – look who it
is who’s going to drink the cup! God the Son is about to drink it. The
wine of God’s wrath is being passed from the Father to the Son and here
in the garden of Gethsemane it is placed before Him. Would He drink??
That is the issue – in this garden on that Thursday night 2000 years ago.
Would He drink?
Here was the reason why Jesus came
into the world – to take God’s anger at sin on the cross. To drink down
the judgment of God. Would He go through with it? Before the garden, He
is so resolute – purposefully striding towards Calvary. After the garden,
He is utterly composed, silent before His accusers, accepting of His
fate.
But here IN the garden, He is torn
apart. Verse 39 – “Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the
ground and prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken
from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
That’s why I love the Miracle Maker
which we saw earlier. The way it depicts this scene is so powerful.
Because the temptation here to flee from the Father’s will is real. Jesus
is wrestling with His obedience to the Father. And He is sorely tempted
NOT to go the way of the cross.
What happens in the garden of
Gethsemane is mind-boggling. The love of the Father for the Son has
existed before the creation of the world. It brought the creation into
existence. Jesus has always remained in the love of the Father. He has
always perfectly obeyed Him and perfectly conformed to His will – but
here in the garden something is threatening the very being of God. As we
read this account, we are eavesdropping on a cosmic crisis in which both
the history of the world and the history of God is at stake. This is NOT
simply one man wrestling with God. This is God wrestling with God. And
all reality hangs in the balance.
There is no help for Jesus from His
disciples. He brings them to the scene of this struggle for comfort in
verse 36. Then, verse 37, He goes further into the garden with His top
three disciples – Peter, James and John. But finally, verse 39 – He goes
on further still and separates Himself out from His mortal friends. At
THIS time, Jesus alone can take the heat while the best that humanity has
to offer is sleeping through the whole thing. In verse 45 Jesus returns
to His sleeping disciples and says to them “Are you still sleeping and
resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners.”
The hour is near. This hour Jesus has
been waiting for His whole life. The hour is coming upon Him when the
powers of this dark world do their worst. And no-one can stand up in this
hour of darkness except Jesus. We see that at the end of verse 56 – Jesus
is arrested and “all the disciples deserted Him and fled.” Only God the
Son can stand at this time. Only God the Son can drink this cup.
We see that in verse 42. Jesus prays a
second time to His Father and He prays “My Father, if it is not possible
for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
It’s clear isn’t it. Unless Jesus
drinks it – it is not possible for this cup to be taken away. Only if
Jesus drinks down the judgment of God, can that judgment be taken away
from you and I.
The cup must be drunk – down to its
very dregs. Our only hope is if Jesus will take away the cup and drink it
Himself? Judgment must fall – God is just, His judgment must fall. Our
only hope is if Jesus takes this judgment on Himself.
In Gethsemane – everything is at stake
as Jesus wrestles in prayer. The whole world ought to have been holding
its breath. Instead – humanity being humanity – we were sleeping through
it. Too helpless and pathetic to even watch and pray. God Himself had to
sort out the mess we had gotten into. God Himself had to take the
judgment of God. And thank God, He did.
Through His wrestling in prayer, Jesus
has, by the end of this passage, regained total composure. He has
committed Himself utterly to the will of His Father and in verse 46 He
meets His fate head on.
“Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Once again Jesus is resolute and once
more He strides purposefully towards the cross. He understands what is at
stake. He understands that He must drink down the judgment of God for the
sins of the whole world – and He submits. Jesus walks confidently into
the arms of His betrayer.
Circumstances did not overtake Jesus.
Political forces did not become too much for Him. The reason why Jesus
goes to the cross is because Jesus chose it.
We went onto the streets this week to
ask some Clerkenwellians why they thought Jesus ended up on a cross. Some
of their responses were a little different.
[VIDEO – Vox pops – Why did Jesus end up on a cross?]
Because He had different beliefs?
Because He was a different race?
Because of political power games?
Because the Romans were too strong for Him?
Recording those interviews was the low
point of my week. It made me so sad to see people under the shadow of our
own spire completely ignorant of the One power to save them.
So many thought Jesus died because He
had different beliefs, or was a different race or political persuasion.
It was striking to see how many people thought Jesus died because the
Romans were too strong for Him. The Romans were too strong for Him?
Look down in Matthew 26 to verse 53.
This is what Jesus says at His arrest: “Do you think I cannot call on my
Father, and He will at once put at my disposal 12 legions of angels?”
Jesus was not overtaken by the Romans! If He wanted, His army could have
snapped Judas and his lynch-mob like a twig.
Nothing overpowered Jesus – no human
power got the upper hand. Jesus does not go to the cross because He is
weak – but because He is strong. He alone is strong enough to drink down
the cup of the LORD’s wrath. No human power compelled Jesus – even His
Father did not force Him.
The Bible is crystal clear – why did
Jesus die? He chose to. He chose to drink the cup of judgment so that it
could be taken away from you and me.
And that means two things.
[SLIDE – arrows to the two conclusions]
There are two conclusions to be drawn
from the fact that even in Jesus’ anguish He chooses the cross. The first
conclusion is – there is only one way of salvation.
[SLIDE – Only one way]
Jesus prays repeatedly to His Father
“if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it,
may your will be done.” Unless Jesus drinks this cup – it cannot be taken
away from you and me. Unless He takes the judgment we deserve – there is
no-one else to take it away.
Think of the scene in this garden:
Jesus – the Eternal Son of God – sweats blood as He pleads His Father for
there to be another way of salvation. “Let there be some other way” begs
Jesus. And He receives the answer NO. No. There is no other way.
If there was, if there was another way
for our sins to be dealt with – don’t you think Jesus would have taken
that way?? If there was another way of salvation – why did Jesus suffer
godforsaken hell on the cross?
Many people suggest that the problem
of our sin before God can be solved if only we try our best to be good.
They say we don’t need Jesus or the cross, we just need to try harder. If
that were true – Jesus died for nothing. His agony was pointless. And God
the Father was wicked for making Him endure it.
But no. Jesus submitted to the horrors
of the cross because nothing less than that could solve the problem of
our sin. If we take Jesus seriously, if we take the garden of Gethsemane
seriously, if we take the cross seriously then we must reach the
conclusion that there is no other way of salvation. Jesus had to drink
the cup – or else we must drink it.
But that leads us to the second point
Yes there is only one way of salvation
– but if that’s hard on anyone – it’s hard on Jesus. It’s Jesus who must
drink this cup all Himself. If He could just share the cup around, that
would be much easier, but no. He drinks it for everyone. And that means
something very wonderful. It means that we are SO loved.
[SLIDE – we are so loved]
We are so loved that Jesus freely lays
down His life for us. He doesn’t do it for His own sake, He’s going
through hell. He does it so that we need never drink from the cup. Jesus drinks
the cup so that we don’t have to. That means you are loved. Maybe you’re
here this morning and you don’t feel like you are particularly loved. Let
me tell you – Jesus suffered hell for you. That is love.
That’s why He’s going through the
agony of Gethsemane. Do you think He’s doing it for His health? His whole
body is breaking down under the weight of this sorrow. Do you think God’s
enjoying this? The Beloved Son of the Father in anguish? Why is He going
through this? One reason – He loves us. He’s not forced to do this – He
chooses to do this because He loves us.
Friends as we approach Good Friday we
ought to look forward to it with fearful joy and wonder. As we look to
the cross we can see Jesus saying to us “I want to stand where you’re
standing.” When we hear about Jesus we can think – He died for me.
You’ll hear the word Jesus in the
office, in the pub, on the sports field. Most often used as a swear word,
but however it’s said – it means the same thing: “He died for me”. So
when you hear it, why don’t you echo that in your heart. Let’s try it now
– I’ll say Jesus – you say in your heart “He died for me.” Jesus. Jesus.
Jesus. However you say it, it means the same thing. Jesus stood in your
place. He took your cup – He drank it to the dregs. And He died for you.
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