Christ s Cup of Suffering

Transcription

1 The following sermon was preached at Redemption Baptist Church on Sunday, 30 October We encourage you to look up the Scriptures that are referenced. May the Lord speak to your heart as you study His Word. Christ s Cup of Suffering John 18:1-11 In our last message from John 17, we finished up our study of Christ s High Priestly prayer to His Father. Christ prayed this prayer just after He had passed by the Temple with His disciples, and as they were walking down into the Kidron Valley. While Jesus was praying, they were probably standing on the Monumental Stairway, which descended from the back side of the Temple down into the Kidron Valley, on the eastern side of Jerusalem. As we have seen, Christ s prayer contained seven specific requests. All these requests were offered up to the Father on behalf of, and for the benefit of, His disciples, in one way or another. What the disciples were witnessing was Christ carrying out His role as High Priest. As the Lamb of God, Christ gave Himself up to be the perfect Offering for sin, so that we might be pardoned of our sin and have a relationship with the Father; and as our High Priest, Christ continually prays for us to the Father, both day and night. The disciples had the incredible privilege that night of hearing one of the prayers that Christ continually makes to the Father for His people. Now that Christ had finished praying to His Father, He led His disciples all the way down into the Kidron Valley. After they had crossed the Brook Kidron, they entered into a Garden called Gethsemane (a garden which is still in existence to this day). The Garden of Gethsemane was filled (and is still filled) with ancient olive trees; and it was among these trees that Christ often spent time in prayer with His disciples. However, Jesus prayer time on this particular night would not be like any previous prayer time. Jesus was about to have the most intense prayer time that He had ever had, because He was about to suffer and die on the cross: and He needed to be strengthened for what lay ahead. The very name Gethsemane means oil press : and Jesus Christ was about to go through the oil press of pressure and internal agony as He prepared to become the Sacrifice for the sins of the world. This morning we will begin to examine the events that led to Christ s suffering and death on the cross. The title of this message is Christ s Cup of Suffering. Read John 18:1-11 I. The unprepared disciples (vv. 1-2) There is an event that is recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but which is not recorded in the book of John: namely, the hour that Christ spent praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He was arrested. I do believe that there is a specific reason why the Lord did not move the Apostle John to include this event in his Gospel. I will talk more about this reason later in the message; but for now, let s go to Matthew and Luke, and read about Jesus time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Read Matthew 26:36-49 Read Luke 22:39-48 It is hard for us to comprehend this: but Christ, in His humanity, was dependent upon His Father. Although He is Almighty God, He is also Man. When He took on human flesh, He

2 willingly made Himself dependent upon His Father. Christ, as a Man, actually needed this time of prayer in order to be strengthened for what He was about to undergo. The thought of having the sins of mankind placed upon Him, and of being separated from His Father for six hours on the cross, was so agonising to Him, that He sweat great drops of blood. (By the way, this is a known medical condition, which happens on rare occasions to people who are in great emotional distress. The small blood capillaries burst, and blood mixes with sweat. It is called Hematidrosis.) As a Man, Jesus was so humbled, that He even allowed Himself to receive aid and comfort from an angel. The Bible tells us that Jesus made Himself a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Jesus, as a Man, was weak, and needed to be strengthened. He was so distraught at the thought of what He was about to do, that He actually asked His Father to let the cup pass from Him, if possible. There is probably no greater demonstration of Jesus humanity than in this request! Christ knew full well that He must suffer and die, according to the very Scripture that He Himself had given to the prophets of old; yet, as a Man, He so recoiled from the thought of this suffering, that He actually asked for the cup to be removed, if possible. But, in the end, Jesus was prepared. He said, Not my will, but thine be done. What made the difference? It was that sweet hour of prayer that Jesus had spent with His Father! By the time Jesus got up off His knees, He was ready to take the cup and drink it. Now, contrast Jesus to His disciples. While Christ was getting prepared for the most agonising battle of His life, the disciples were completely unprepared. Instead of praying, as Jesus had urged them to do, they were sleeping. They were not being strengthened for the battle, which was now only an hour away. Was it understandable that the disciples were sleeping? From a human point of view, yes. It had been a very long, exhausting day, and it was now late in the evening. However, Jesus had specifically warned them that an exceptionally intense spiritual battle was coming; and He had urged them to pray (three times, no less). He had also told them that His own soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death. That statement should have been enough to jolt them out of their sleepiness, and keep them awake and praying. But it wasn t. They slept. Consequently, when the soldiers came, they fled. Just as had been prophesied by Zechariah, Jesus disciples were scattered abroad that evening. (See Zechariah 13:7.) Almost as soon as the danger arose, the disciples were gone. They were unprepared. Now, this brings to mind something that happened earlier in Jesus ministry. There was a day when James and John came to Jesus and made a very bold request. Jesus had already promised the disciples that they would sit on twelve thrones in the future Kingdom age, and that they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel; but James and John wanted something more. They asked Jesus if they may sit on His right hand and left hand in the Kingdom. In answer to their question, Jesus asked them a question a question which was far weightier than theirs was. Let s take a look at that question. Read Mark 10:35-40 Jesus had a cup of physical and emotional suffering to undergo; but He wanted the disciples to understand that they would one day undergo much suffering, as well. Of course, Jesus would suffer for an entirely different reason than that for which the disciples would suffer. Christ would suffer God s wrath for our sins, and pay the penalty for our sins. The disciples would not undergo suffering to pay for anyone s sins, because only Christ could do that. The disciples suffering would be for the sake of Christ. Christ suffered God s wrath for our sins; but the disciples suffered man s wrath, as God s enemies tried to stop them from spreading the

3 Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because Christ had paid for their sins, they would gladly and willingly suffer in service to Him for the rest of their lives. Yet, at this particular point, they were not ready for that cup. Christ was ready to drink His cup; but they were not ready to drink theirs. When the cup of suffering was brought to them there in the Garden of Gethsemane, they ran. There is much to be learned from this. How often do we sleep, spiritually speaking? How often do we doze off spiritually, and dream about pleasures, comforts, and pursuits of this world, and become totally oblivious to the spiritual warfare that is raging all around us? Ephesians 5:14-16 It has been 2,000 years since Paul wrote those words; but the days are still evil. Why? Because our old enemy, the devil, is still walking about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. God s people still need to walk circumspectly (literally, looking around for danger). We still need to stay spiritually awake, and to be on our knees in prayer. Spending much time in prayer is the only way that we can be strengthened and prepared for the spiritual battle that we face every day. If we do not start off our day with quality time of communication with God, yet think that we are spiritually prepared for the day, we are fooling ourselves. We are sleeping on the job ; and we will stumble and fall. II. The traitorous Judas (vv. 3-5) (Read verses 3-5 again.) Judas was a man who appeared, to everyone around him, to be a follower of Jesus. For three years, he walked like a disciple, and talked like a disciple. He fellowshipped with true disciples; and he even endured ridicule and hardship alongside Christ s true disciples. Yet, all along, he was lost. Jesus Himself made this clear all the way back in John 6. He said, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? Now, that last statement of Jesus is a little hard to understand. Why would Jesus have chosen (literally, elected ) Judas, when he was a devil? Does this mean that Jesus chose Judas to be saved, but then Judas later lost his salvation? No, it does not. You see, when the Bible says that God elects, or chooses, it does not mean that He elects people to be saved. That is what Calvinism teaches; but it is not what God s Word teaches. When the Bible says that God elects people, it means that He chooses people to live a life of service after they are saved. From eternity past, God chose those who He knew would respond to His offer of salvation to live holy lives after they have put their faith in Him. (See Ephesians 1:4.) Now, with all this in mind, the question remains: If Jesus knew that Judas would never truly believe on Him, then why did He choose Judas to be an Apostle? Why would Jesus elect Judas to a life of service to Him, if He knew that Judas would never be saved? What this reveals is that Jesus is sincere in His offer of salvation to all! Even though He already knows who will choose to reject Him, He still is not willing that any should perish; and He sincerely offers salvation to everyone. (See 2 Peter 3:9). Even though Jesus knew that Judas would never believe on Him, He was so sincere in His offer of salvation, that He bent over backward to give Judas the opportunity to believe on Him. He brought Judas into His inner circle, where he could hear His words firsthand. He even offered him a place of service in the most exalted office of the New Testament age the office of Apostle. Judas s future service to God was all mapped out for him: it was all his for the taking. You see, Jesus, as God, knows not only what will be, but what could have been. I have no idea what history would have been like if Judas had repented of his sin and truly believed on

4 Jesus; but the Lord knows. Christ knew what Judas could have done for Him; and He was willing to give the office of Apostle to him. Yet, He also knew that Judas would never receive Him. Jesus chose Judas to a life of service, and He would gladly have given him that honoured position of service, if only Judas would have received Christ s gift of salvation. But Judas chose not to receive that precious gift. My friend, if you have never truly repented of your sin and self-righteousness, and believed on Jesus Christ alone, I urge you to pay attention to what the Bible says about Judas. You may not like to fancy yourself to be like Judas, the traitor; but the sobering fact is that you can act like a Christian, talk like a Christian, go to church, and fellowship with Christians, yet never truly be saved! That s exactly what Judas did. Judas himself may have honestly considered himself to be a follower of Jesus for a while; but in time, his lost condition became known to all including himself. When Judas walked into the garden on the evening of Christ s arrest, he was no longer with Jesus disciples; he was with Jesus enemies. As we read in verse 5, Judas stood with them (the soldiers and officers). A line had been drawn; and Judas was now on the other side of the line, where he had really belonged all along. Even then, he still kept up his hypocritical act a little longer. In Mark 14:45 we are told that he addressed Jesus as Master two times, and then kissed Him. But at this point, his hypocrisy was too obvious even for the eleven disciples to miss. Judas had gone out from among Christ s disciples; and by doing so, he had made it plain that he never truly was one of them. Read 1 John 2:18-19 To Judas, Jesus was never Lord. Nowhere is it recorded that Judas called Jesus Lord : he always called Him Rabbi ( Teacher, or Master ). Is this what Jesus is to you merely a teacher, but not the Lord of your life? If you have never repented of your sin and believed on Christ, you may keep up the appearances of being a Christian for a while; but sooner or later, you will, most likely, depart from God s people and go out into the world, where your citizenship really is. And even if you should keep up the act of being a Christian until the day you die, you will not be able to keep up the act after you depart this life. You will, tragically, hear the words, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. My friend, please don t end up in that horrible place! Jesus has made the provision for you to be saved, by dying and rising again for you. He has done everything necessary for you to be saved: but you must receive His gracious gift. Won t you repent ( turn in your heart from your desire to live for self and sin), and turn to Jesus Christ in faith? III. The faithful Lord (vv. 4-11) We ve examined the unprepared disciples. We ve also examined the traitorous Judas. It has been a sad record, to say the least. But now, let us examine the faithful Lord. In the next few verses, we will examine Jesus in four distinct roles. In these verses we will see Him as the God-Man; as our High Priest; as the Suffering Servant; and as the Substitute for our sins. First of all, we see Jesus as the God-Man. Let s read verses 4-8 again. (Read verses 4-8.) This is one of the many passages in the book of John in which Jesus states, in a powerful way, that He is God. You ll notice that Jesus did not say, I am Jesus of Nazareth : instead, He simply said, I am. Our English Bible reads I am he ; but you ll notice that the word he is in italics. When you see a word in italics, it means that it is a word that was not actually in the original language. The translators of our King James Bible supplied the word he because in the English language, it doesn t make grammatical sense simply to say I am : there needs to be a predicate nominative or predicate adjective following the verb. Thus, they

5 added the word he. However, they put the word he in italics in order to show the reader that he was not in the original Greek. In Greek, Jesus simply said Ego eimi I am. Those words I am ring a bell, do they not? Remember back in John 8:58 when Jesus told the Jews, Before Abraham was, I am? The Jews tried to stone Him to death for saying that, because they knew what the words I am mean. God s name, Jehovah, means I am. Jesus was claiming to be Jehovah the eternal, ever-existing God, who has no beginning or ending. Read Exodus 3:13-14 The soldiers fell to the ground for good reason. They were in the presence of Jehovah. This was merely a tiny demonstration of Jesus divine power. The soldiers had no power to arrest Jesus unless He allowed them to do it, because Jesus is the great I AM! By the way, did you notice that John said nothing about Christ s hour of prayer just before this event happened? Why did he not mention it? Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mentioned it in their Gospels. Why didn t John? Well, it s important to remember that each of the four Gospels emphasises a particular aspect of who Jesus is. The book of Matthew mainly emphasises the fact that Jesus is the King of Israel. The book of Mark mainly emphasises that Jesus is the Suffering Servant. The book of Luke mainly emphasises that Jesus is the Son of Man. But John emphasises that Jesus is the Son of God. By leaving out Christ s very human agony in the Garden, but including the fact that the soldiers fell down when Jesus uttered the words I am, John is stressing the fact that Jesus is God. But that s not all. Not only do we see Jesus as the God-Man in this passage: we also see Him as our Great High Priest. (Read verses 7-9.) Remember those words, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none? That was what Jesus said in His prayer to His Father back in chapter 17. Those are the words of our High Priest. As our High Priest, Christ keeps (or guards ) every soul whom the Father has given to Him for salvation. Now, in what way, exactly, was Jesus guarding His disciples in this situation? John says that when Jesus commanded the soldiers to let the disciples go, He was fulfilling what He had said in His prayer about keeping those whom the Father had given to Him. How, exactly, was Jesus keeping the disciples by letting them run away from Him? After all, shouldn t the disciples have stayed by their Lord, and have gone to prison and to death with Him, if necessary? Yes, they should have. Weren t they cowards for running away from their Lord, and abandoning Him? Yes, they were. Why, then, did Jesus command the soldiers to arrest Himself, but to let His disciples go? Was Jesus condoning their cowardice by doing this? No, Jesus was not condoning their cowardice. What they did was not O.K. The disciples should have been praying with their Lord in the previous hour. They should have been asking the Father to strengthen them for the battle. They should have stayed by His side. Why, then, did Jesus just let them run away? Well, we need to remember that as our High Priest, Christ keeps His own. Not only does He keep His people from eternal condemnation, but He also keeps us from physical danger, and from temptation. In this case, Jesus was doing both. On the one hand, Christ was protecting them from physical danger. Jesus had much work for His disciples to do after His resurrection; and they needed to stay alive, so that they could do that work. For decades after Christ s resurrection (in John s case, for six decades), the Apostles went all over the known world and preached the Gospel. It was not the Lord s will for them to die at this point, because He had much work for them to do. Jesus was allowing them to go free so that they may live to preach His name all over the world!

6 Now, that raises a question. If the disciples had been spiritually prepared for this moment, and if they had stayed right by Jesus side as He was arrested, could Jesus have still protected them from death? Of course He could have! He is God, and He could have spared their lives in any way He saw fit. Yet, Jesus chose to protect them by allowing them to run away like scared sheep. Why did He protect them in this way? Because not only was Jesus protecting them physically: He was also protecting them from temptation. Jesus knew that they were not spiritually prepared for the temptations that they would have been faced with if they had been arrested. If Peter denied that he even knew the Lord because of a taunt from a servant girl who recognised him as a follower of Jesus, what would he have done, or have said, if he had been actually put on trial that evening? Peter and the other disciples simply weren t prepared for it: and Jesus was making a way for them to escape from those temptations. Read 1 Corinthians 10:13 Later, when the disciples were spiritually strengthened, and were ready to bear the temptation, they took up their cup of suffering; but for the time being, the Lord made a way of escape from temptation. Christian, aren t you glad that your Master is longsuffering with you? Aren t you glad that He makes ways of escape from soul-scarring temptations when you are weak, and not ready for the onslaught (even though it s your own fault that you are weak)? Jesus is your High Priest; and He is keeping you. Let s look at Jesus next role. Not only is Jesus the God-Man, and not only is He our High Priest, but He is also the Suffering Servant. He is the Servant of the LORD; and He is also the Servant of man. Let s read verses again. (Read verses ) Now, let s supplement this Scripture with another Scripture in Luke, which gives us a little more information. Read Luke 22:49-51 In taking time to heal Malchus s ear, even as He Himself was being arrested, Christ was being what He had been throughout His entire life the Suffering Servant of Jehovah. Peter, on the other hand, was not following his Master s example. He was being anything but a suffering servant. He did think to ask Jesus whether he should smite with the sword; but he didn t wait around for Jesus answer. He just started to swing his sword around. Not only that, but he smote a poor servant of the high priest, who apparently wasn t even armed. This incident shows us a couple things. First of all, it shows that our mandate, as New Testament Christians, is not to take up the sword. Jesus said, Put up thy sword into the sheath. If Christ wouldn t even permit Peter to take up the sword to defend his Master, how much less would He allow His people to take up the sword against unbelievers in order to set up some kind of Christian theocracy? Such an idea is utterly anathema to true followers of Jesus Christ. True churches of Jesus Christ throughout the last 2,000 years have never taken up the sword and forced people to submit to Jesus Christ: instead, they have lovingly attempted to persuade them to believe the Gospel by way of preaching and testifying, just as the Apostles did. False, apostate, pseudo- Christian religions such as Roman Catholicism, which have slaughtered countless millions of people, show, by their murderous actions, that Jesus Christ is not their Master, and that they do not know Him! Now, we who have received Christ as Saviour know these things very well. Most of you are not hearing anything you don t know already. As born-again, Bible-believing Baptists, we know that our mission is not to destroy men s lives, but to tell them about the One who can save their lives. But before we pat ourselves on the back for not being one of those apostate religions that persecute people, let s look at this scenario a little closer, and see if there might

7 not be a personal application for us. How many times do we cut off unsaved people s ears, so to speak, by getting angry and saying harsh and unkind things? Perhaps you are in a place of business, and the employee who is dealing with you is not exactly being helpful to you or is, perhaps, even being dishonest with you. Do you respond in the flesh, and say things that Christ would not have said? Perhaps someone even says blasphemous things against our Lord while you are trying to witness to him. Do you allow your fleshly anger to take over, and respond with unkind, caustic words which give the impression that you hate that person when you should be showing that you love him, and want him to be saved? How many times do we make it necessary for our Lord to heal the ears that we have cut off with our un- Christlike words and actions? Can you imagine how hard it would have been, after Christ s resurrection, for Peter to look up Malchus and try to witness to him, and tell him that Jesus Christ could save him and make him into a new person? Peter was not being a suffering servant that evening; but Christ was. Jesus is the Servant of God and of man, par excellence. As Isaiah prophesied, Jesus is the LORD s Servant, whom He upholds, His elect, in whom His soul delighteth (Isaiah 42:1). Now, there is one more role in which we see Jesus in this passage. Let s read verse 11 again. (Read verse 11.) In this verse, we see Jesus Christ as the Substitute for our sin. Jesus told Peter that there was a cup that His Father had given Him, and that He was resolved to drink it. What, exactly, was this cup? Well, we ve already seen that there is a cup of suffering that even we, as Christians, must drink, because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. As Jesus warned His disciples back in John 15, the world hates us because it hates Him. But the particular kind of cup that Jesus is talking about here is a cup that we, as Christians, do not have to drink. It is not the cup of man s wrath: it is the cup of God s wrath. It is the cup of God s divine wrath and judgment upon sinners. Let s read a Scripture in the Old Testament which talks about this cup. Read Psalm 11:6 / Psalm 75:8 As Christ hung on the cross, Jesus drank God s cup of judgment against sin. All our sins were placed upon Him, as though they were His own. He paid the penalty for our sin in full, so that we would not have to pay it. The only way we can pay for our sins is to suffer God s wrath in hell forever! But Jesus suffered God s wrath in our place for six hours on the cross, so that God could let us go free, and accept us into His family. That is how much Christ loves you! Have you received that wonderful gift of salvation that He is offering you? Have you repented of your sin and placed your complete confidence in the sacrifice that Christ made for you? If not, I urge you to do so today! Conclusion: The soldiers who arrested Jesus had no idea of whom they were dealing with. Their falling back on the ground when Jesus uttered the words I am should have been their clue. It should have been Judas s clue, as well. Yet, they were not afraid to arrest their Creator, the King of glory! Such is the power of unbelief. My friend, if you have a heart of unbelief this morning, I urge you to respond to the light of truth that is shining upon you today! Don t be a Judas only appearing to be a Christian, but not truly believing on the Son of God. Turn to Him in faith and repentance today! Christian, this message has been for you, as well. Are you, like the disciples, failing to watch and pray? Are you spiritually weak, and not prepared for the battle that is raging all around you? If so, please take time this morning to talk with the Lord, and ask Him to increase and enrich your prayer life, so that you may be enabled to follow your Master wherever He may lead.