Gethsemane Matthew 26:36-46
Nobody likes to be weak, vulnerable, to suffer.
But we can have a serious problem when it comes to our view of weakness and suffering and our relationship with God, our faith.
We can tend to think FAITH = PROSPERITY, COMFORT, Things go my way.
Some even preach we call the Prosperity Gospel.
But I want us to take a clean honest look at the gospel of Jesus over the next two months.
Starting with this idea of Jesus’ Passion, his focus, his mission leads to suffering not away from it.
And if we really follow Jesus we will not be immune from the suffering of life and will also have some additional suffering for following Jesus… Great news Andy!!
Well, this isn’t my opinion, it’s gospel. And the bottom line is: We will not flourish in our relationship with God until we align our view of suffering with His.
We will be disillusioned and maybe even depart the faith if we think following Jesus removes us from suffering.
But if we can see what God does through suffering it will make a huge difference.
Matthew 26:36-46
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 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.” 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Gethsemane means “Oil Press”
Ancient Israelites depended greatly on the oil from olives.
They used it for worship in the Temple for offerings and for Temple lighting, cooking food like bread, and for light in their lamps at home.
Olives are too hard to just press right away. There is a process the olives must undergo.
And this process has become symbolic of what Jesus endured during the passion week, beginning on this night in the Garden called Gethsemane.
First the olives must be crushed by a large stone into a paste
then placed into fine woven baskets, and stacked
and the firmly pressed with a large timber weighted by large stones.
As pressed the oil flows out and down into a container.
Pressed three times, the first press was the finest oil: went to the temple, second was for food, third was a for lamps.
Jesus was crushed and pressed, out flowed drops of blood, the cosmic anointing oil
Power, the sustenance, and the light for the world in powerlessness, hunger, and darkness.
Jesus fullness all this, all we need and it starts with His Passion, His suffering.
37 Just imagine, Perfect, Holy, Creator God, sorrowful and troubled
38 His soul overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, have you ever been there?
Keep watch with me, even Jesus says help keep watch.
39 Jesus had to face the same tension we do, but even greater and more difficult.
Jesus had to surrender to God’s will, his surrender saved us. No other belief system has this. Perfect, all powerful creator God, suffering. Scripture says he was perfected through obedience.
Hebrews 2:10, 10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Hebrews 5:8-9, 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
Here being perfect does not mean Jesus was sinful or disobedient before and then become holy and obedient after, it means Jesus’ suffering proved his perfection as he was tested and overcame, he leads us to salvation since he succeeds where we fail.
41 Watch and pray so you don’t fall into temptation, spirit is willing the flesh is weak. There is a spiritual war for your soul.
Application
So this is about Jesus, but it has a direct application to you. What Jesus did, it was for you.
Isaiah 53:3-5 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed.
What is happening in Gethsemane? Jesus is being crushed, pressed by the sin and oppression of the world, facing the wrath of God.
All the powers of evil, sin, and death placed on him with the weight of billions of Godless eternities.
Jesus was crushed for you to be saved.
But you will not be immune from your own version of the olive press.
Your press doesn’t save you, Jesus did that, and your press isn’t the magnitude of Jesus’. But it is difficult.
What that looks like depends on the person, but we all can experience the “Dark Night of the Soul”.
Jesus didn’t suffer so we would never have to, but so that we would overcome our suffering.
Main Idea: The power of God is released through the suffering of God. The power of God is perceived most clearly in this life through suffering.
How to align with God in suffering
Surrender your will
Pray: Let Jesus join you in your suffering. Prayer = Presence
Others to keep watch
Watch out for temptation don’t quit, don’t turn on others, hold on.
When it’s time, rise up, you have a purpose to fulfill. V 46, Jesus, by aligning with God in suffering was empowered to face the biggest challenges ahead of him.
When we do: we are changed by the power of God released in and through us.
We walk not in our own power and talent but in the anointing of God
The oil, the light, the power of the Holy Spirit manifest and magnified in us.
In the end, this gives us fresh power to face old and new challenges alike.
ALTER
Prayer to surrender to Jesus, Some say, “I will follow Jesus, as long as…
Prayer for your need/suffering.