About this sermon
Peter boasts that he will never deny Jesus, and within hours he falls asleep in Gethsemane while his Lord is deeply grieved to the point of death. Jesus falls to the ground and prays, ‘Abba, Father, remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.’ Christ has a human will as well as a divine one, and his human will submitted perfectly where ours never could. The hour comes, the betrayer arrives, and Jesus rises to go to the cross, where he will conquer sin, death, and hell.
Sermon transcript
Amen. Please remain standing for the reading of God’s word as we can continue our consideration of the gospel of Mark. My sermon text today is Mark chapter 14. I’ll read verses 26 through 42, although I will clue you into the fact that I’ll be focusing especially on verses 32 through 42, but I’ll begin reading at verse 26. Mark chapter 14, beginning at verse 26 and reading through verse 42. Dear friends, let us hear with reverence and awe the word of our God. After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives and Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter said to him, even though all may fall away, yet I will not.
And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you that this very night before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me three times. But Peter kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all were saying the same thing also. They came to a place named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, sit here until I have prayed. And he took with him Peter and James and John. and began to be very distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch. And he went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass him by. And he was saying, 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 said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 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 resting? It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is that hand.
Dear friends, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for God to bless the preaching of his word. Our Lord and Father in heaven, we pray that by your spirit that that Christ would be present with us in the proclamation of your word this day. And we pray that your word would find a lodging place in our souls, make our hearts good soil, that the seed of your word would take deep root and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives that bring glory to your holy name. We pray that you would be with us now, make us open and receptive, and grant me the grace to declare your word with clarity and power. For Jesus’ sake we pray, and all of God’s people said, Amen. You may be seated.
The title of my sermon this morning is Agony in Gethsemane. And if you’re following along in your sermon outline, please notice that there’s quite a number of words you can be listening for in my sermon today if you find that helpful. Well, dear ones, the drama of March Gospel is quickly speeding towards its climax. The crucifixion of Jesus was imminent. Jesus had just finished eating his last Passover meal with his disciples, and in the context of that meal, our Lord had instituted the Holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, a sacrament which we will have the privilege of celebrating in a little while. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, had made arrangements with the Jewish religious authorities to betray Jesus into their hands. And Judas had already gone out to fetch a force from those authorities in order to arrest Jesus and bring him to trial.
After the Passover meal was finished, the Lord Jesus and his disciples go to a place that is called Gethsemane. Now, Gethsemane, which means oil press, was a garden located somewhere on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. And Jesus and his disciples would often go there in order to get away from the crowds. Perhaps it was owned by one of our Lord’s friends or sympathizers who allowed them to have access to his garden. In any case, Judas apparently knew that Jesus and the other disciples would be going to Gethsemane after the Passover meal. And which is why we’re told in verse 43 that Judas came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs to this particular place. Now, friends, for my sermon this morning, I want to have us consider our Lord’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane and the significance of that and some of the vital truths that we can learn from this passage of God’s word as well.
So first, I want us to consider how our Lord’s anguish in Gethsemane reveals his true and genuine humanity. And next, I want us to observe our Lord’s entire submission to the will of God the Father. And finally, I want us to take to heart how absolutely essential it is for those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus to heed our Lord’s command to watch and to pray in the face of temptation. So first, let’s dive into our passage. And I want us to focus, first of all, on verses 32 through 34. Let us consider, brothers and sisters, how our Lord’s anguish and Gethsemane reveals his true humanity. We see here how the Lord’s anguish in Gethsemane reveals his true and genuine humanity. It says this, verse 32, they came to a place named Gethsemane.
Let me just pause there. Remember, they had celebrated the Passover together. Jesus had just finished his last meal, his last supper with his disciples, and they are on their way to this garden called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, we are told, sit here until I have prayed. Isn’t that interesting? Our Lord Jesus was a man of prayer, though he is was and is the eternal divine son of God. He is also a man of prayer. He is the God man. And as the God man, he was a man devoted to prayer. And he needs to pray. He’s with his disciples. He asked them, sit here, wait for me while I go and pray. But he doesn’t go alone. It says in verse 33, he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be very distressed and troubled.
Now, who does he take with him to the spot where he’s going to be praying? He takes the three inner circle, if you will, of his disciples. Jesus takes Peter, James and John, his inner circle of disciples, his closest friends. He takes them with him. And friends, that is very significant because the humanity of our Lord is underscored by the fact that he is so distressed by the sufferings that he knows he is about to face, that he seeks the support and the encouragement of his three most intimate friends. Verse 33 goes on to say that Jesus began to be very distressed and troubled as it is translated here in the New American Standard Version. It’s interesting, those words, very distressed and troubled. The Greek words that are translated by these English words, very distressed and troubled, indicate an extremely intense level of emotional anguish.
See, what Jesus is said to be experiencing here could be described as a deep psychological agony, an inner turmoil that is almost beyond words to describe. This, too, underscores the truth that Jesus, while certainly divine, was also truly, genuinely human. Friends, the real, genuine, true and full humanity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ comes clearly into view, not only in these verses, but throughout the rest of this passage as well. For example, we find our Savior praying not once, not twice, but three times to his father that he might be spared the terrible experience of having to undergo the wrath of God on the cross for the sins of his people. In verse 36, our Lord pleads with the Heavenly Father by saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me.
Yet not what I will, but what you will. Oftentimes in the Old Testament scriptures, the cup of the Lord is a symbol for his wrath and the unrepentant wicked are pictured as drinking from the cup of the wrath of the Lord. Well, Jesus is going to experience that wrath of the Lord as our sin bearer, our substitute. Remember, Jesus died in our place, in our stead. He took the punishment that we justly deserve for our sins. As our sin bearer, our substitute, our savior, he took that punishment upon himself. That was the cup that he would bear, that he would drain down to its dregs for us in our place, in our stead. But here, before his crucifixion, Jesus cries out to his father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.
Here, our Lord Jesus appeals to God the Father. with a deeply intimate term, the term Abba, begging the father to find another way besides the cross for dealing with the sins of his people. You see, friends, in his human nature, our Lord Jesus did not want to undergo the agonies of the cross. This surely demonstrates his true humanity. God has imprinted into our nature the instinct for survival. We have an instinctive, natural drive to avoid pain and to avoid death. We have a survival instinct. And with respect to his human nature, Jesus had that instinct as well. And that’s not a sinful thing to have. It wasn’t sinful for Jesus to want to avoid the cross with respect to his human nature. Also, in verses 37 to 42, we can detect our Lord’s deep disappointment with his three friends. as they allow themselves to succumb to sleep in the hour of their master’s greatest need.
Again, verses 37, verse 37, he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? This is the same Simon Peter who said, Lord, even if all of the other ones abandon you, I will not betray you. Peter being being very confident in himself and in his loyalty to Christ. But here is Peter, boisterous Peter, saying, I’m willing to die with you, Lord Jesus, if necessary, but he can’t even stay awake for his master. No doubt Jesus is deeply disappointed, and Jesus urges him to keep watching and praying. And we’re told in verse 39 again, he went away and prayed a second time, 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. In other words, they were probably very embarrassed that he’s caught them dozing off when he’s asked them to watch with him, to support him, to be there for him.
I mean, friends, it’s really shocking when you think about it. Here is Jesus. deeply distressed and in profound need of the moral and emotional support of his close friends. But instead of staying alert and seeking to provide him with their support, they decide to take a nap. Why do I drive this point home? Why is this so important? We know that Jesus was a man just as he is the Son of God. He is the God-man, the Word made flesh. But it’s important to reflect upon the fact that his humanity is just as important for our salvation as his divinity. It is just as essential, brothers and sisters, for our salvation that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be true man, fully man, as it is that he be true God, fully God. Indeed, the Bible teaches that our Lord Jesus Christ has two natures, a divine nature and a human nature united in one divine person.
As our larger catechism explains in summarizing the Bible’s teachings on this subject in answer to question number 40, the question is, why was it requisite that the mediator should be God and man in one person? The Bible based answer to that question given by our larger catechism is this. It was requisite. In other words, it was necessary that the mediator who was to reconcile God and man should himself be both God and man. And this in one person, that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God for us and relied on by us as the work of the whole person. Dear listener, are you trusting in Jesus, the God man for your salvation, the God man, the one who is the one and only mediator between the holy God and sinful humanity, Christ himself being the sinless one?
Are you trusting in him? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man coming unto the Father except by me. And as the Apostle Paul tells us, there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. Oh, turn to Christ, trust in him for your salvation. That is your only hope of forgiveness and salvation. But next, observe our Lord’s entire submission to the will of God. the Father. We observe next our Lord’s entire submission to the will of God the Father. Look at verses 35 and 36. So again, Jesus has taken his disciples. They’ve arrived at Gethsemane. Jesus has asked the bulk of his disciples to stay put while he takes Peter, James, and John with him to go and pray. And he expresses the deep distress and anguish of his soul in verse 34 and then verse 35, it says this, and he went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass by, pass him by.
And he was saying, Abba, Father, notice the intensity and earnestness of his prayer to his father. Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will. But what you will. Beloved, did you know that Jesus has two wills? You ever thought of that? Think about it. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ has two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. So Christ also has two wills, a divine will and a human will. And just to give you a little lesson in church history There was, in fact, a group of heretics in the early church that were known as the monothelites. Now, the term mono means one, and fellow is the Greek word meaning I wish or I will. And so the monothelite heresy taught that Christ had only one will, namely the divine will.
However, friends, our passage for today clearly indicates that that cannot be the case. After all, It was clearly the divine will that Christ go to the cross to suffer for the sins of his people. But in our text for today, we find the Lord Jesus not wanting to go to the cross. Notice also Christ’s words in verse 36 imply a difference between our Lord’s human will and the will of God the Father, which would have been the same as Christ’s divine will, since the Father and the Son are one in essence and in perfect harmony. one with another. Jesus prayed to the father, yet not what I will, but what you will. In his expository thoughts on Mark, Bishop J.C. Ryle offers this helpful quote from a Bible scholar named Petter, and I quote. Scholar says there are two distinct wills in Christ, but although they be truly distinct and different one from the other.
Yet they are not contrary one to the other, but they are subordinate each to the other, the human will of Christ being always subject to his divine will and most ready to be ordered and ruled by it. Therefore, here we see that he doth submit his will as he was man to the divine will of God the Father, which divine will of the Father was also Christ’s own will. This truth we are to hold and maintain against those old heretics which were called monophyllites, because there was but one kind of will in Christ, namely his divine will. But some might say, well, Pastor, was Jesus being sinful in wanting to avoid the cross with respect to his human will? And the answer to that question is no. It was not sinful for Jesus, with respect to his humanity and his human nature, to desire to avoid the cross.
All of us would desire to avoid such suffering. The human will of Jesus, of course, was a sinless will. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was not conceived and born in sin as we are. We inherit a sin nature from Adam, but Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born without sin. So he is true God and true man, yet without sin. And so it was not sinful for Jesus to desire to avoid the cross. But because you and I have a sinful nature, apart from God’s grace, your will, our will as sinners, is naturally opposed to God’s revealed will. Consider it, my friends. If the sinless Lord Jesus was obligated to submit his sinless human will to the divine will of God the Father, how much more so should you and I as sinners repent of our perverse wills, and by faith submit our sinful wills to the will of God.
But friends, the truth is, the only way that’s ever going to happen to us is if we are born again by the Holy Spirit. You see, in reality, we don’t have, in the ultimate sense, we don’t have a free will. Now we are free, we have a free will in the sense that we are free to do what we want to do, but the problem is, that our desires, our will, our desires are governed by our nature. And if we are sinners by nature, we’re going to freely choose what? We’re going to freely choose sin. Sinners don’t freely choose righteousness unless they are born again by the Holy Spirit. And so God has to spiritually renew us and change our wills. Indeed, he has to spiritually resurrect us, raise us spiritually from spiritual death to newness of life in Christ before we will will to do his will.
He has to make us willing to do his will. Dear listener, has he made you willing to turn to Christ in true faith and repentance? May God in his grace grant you the grace to turn to Christ in faith and repentance. But finally, beloved, let us take to heart how absolutely essential it is for those of us who claim to follow Jesus to heed our Lord’s command to watch and to pray in the face of temptation. This is my final point in your sermon outline. Let us take to heart how absolutely essential it is for those of us who claim to follow Jesus to heed our Lord’s command to watch and to pray in the face of temptation. I draw your attention once again to our Lord’s words to the Apostle Peter in verses 37 and 38.
And he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, and Peter was the spokesman for the other apostles, and he’s the one that so boisterously said, Lord, I will never abandon you. I will never betray you. I will never deny you. Jesus says, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, meaning the human spirit. It’s not talking there about the Holy Spirit. The human spirit is willing, but the flesh, meaning our earthly nature, is weak. Now, again, I understand and we recognize that these words are addressed specifically to the Apostle Peter, and yet I would suggest to you, brothers and sisters, that they have a general application to all of us as well. Again, in verses 27 to 31, we read that Jesus predicted that all of his disciples would abandon him.
But Big Mouth Peter confidently asserted that Jesus was wrong. He says, no, Lord, you’re wrong. I will never deny you, even if all the others abandon you, I will not. Big Mouth Boastful Peter. And then Jesus went on to predict that Peter himself would deny Jesus three times in very short order. Indeed, before the rooster crows twice, as it says in verse 30, Jesus says, truly, I say to you, when Jesus says truly in the Greek, it is Amen. Truly, I say to you, he’s saying this is going to happen. This is important. Truly, I say to you that this very night before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me Again, not once, not twice, but three times. In response, as I mentioned, Peter, along with the rest of the disciples, the rest of the disciples chime in.
As Peter boasts, the rest of the disciples say, yeah, us too, Lord, we won’t deny you, right? They promise to be loyal to Jesus even unto death. As it says in verse 31, Peter kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all were saying the same things also. And certainly we have no reason to doubt that Peter and the others were sincere in this expression of their loyalty to Christ. But even though Peter’s spirit and intention were willing, his flesh again probably meaning here his body or earthly nature was weak. What is the solution to this human weakness in the face of temptation? Jesus answers that question at the beginning of verse 38. He says, keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation.
Now, to come into temptation appears to mean to succumb to temptation. What was Peter’s temptation going to be? Peter’s temptation was going to be to succumb to the pressure to deny Jesus under duress, a pressure from which Peter proudly thought, He was immune. But as we know in Scripture, pride goes before a fall. And oh, Peter fell hard and he fell far. And so, brothers and sisters, as with Peter, so with us. How do we avoid succumbing to giving into temptation? Well, first of all, watch. Don’t let down your guard. God’s word calls us as as his children to be watchful. I’m reminded of what it says in Proverbs 4 verse 23, and I encourage you to turn there. Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23. It says this. Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life.
Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flows the springs of life. But don’t just watch. Watching alone amounts to self-reliance. Instead, what does Jesus tell Peter, and through Peter I would suggest us as well, what does he tell us to do? Watch and what? Watch and pray. Watch and pray. What is prayer? What do we do in prayer? When we pray, are we earning merit with God? showing how holy and worthy we are, no. Prayer is at heart, at its foundation, an expression of utter dependence upon God and upon His keeping power. Dear ones, let us watch and pray in the face of life’s many trials, troubles, and temptations, for only then will we overcome. And so, friends, our passage for today in closing our passage for today shows us our Lord Jesus getting ever closer to fulfilling the ultimate mission that the Father sent him to this earth to accomplish, namely going to the cross where he would redeem us from our sins.
Jesus, at the end of this passage, as he finally returns to his three disciples who are snoozing He says in verse 41 and 42, he says, Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough, meaning probably meaning it’s enough. You’ve had enough time to sleep. It’s time to wake up. Things are starting to happen because he says what the hour has come. What hour is that? The time has come for the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be enthroned upon the cross. where he would make satisfaction for sin. He says, Behold, the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners, just as the scriptures had predicted, just as Jesus himself had predicted. The time had come for Jesus to accomplish the mission that the father had sent him to accomplish, to die for our sins and then following that rise victorious from the dead. bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel.
And so Jesus says in verse 42, Get up, let us be going. Behold, pay attention. In other words, the one who betrays me is at hand. The drama is about to be consummated. Jesus is about to go to the cross. That is, in one sense, this is a time of great distress, but it’s also a time of great victory. For when Jesus goes to the cross, he will conquer sin and death and hell. Let us rest in his victory and let us to get up and be going in our discipleship, let us follow him, our risen, ascended, victorious Lord. Amen. Let us pray. Our gracious Lord and Father in heaven, We do indeed praise you and bless you and thank you for Jesus, our savior. We thank you, Lord, that he was willing voluntarily to undergo such agony, not only agony of body, but distress and agony of soul to do so for us in our place, in our stead.
And oh, Lord Jesus, we thank you that you loved us unto death, that you were willing to stretch out your arms upon the hardwood of the cross and to do so for us in our place. We thank you, Lord Jesus. We ask that you, by the power of your spirit, would inflame within us a deepened love and devotion to you, Lord, and strengthen us in the face of temptation. Grant us the grace, O Lord, in this fallen world where we face many trials, many temptations. Grant us the grace, Lord, to be spiritually alert, to watch and to pray out of gratitude for all that you’ve done for us. In Jesus name, we pray and all of God’s people said. Amen.
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