Now, for the rest of our time, I would like to finish point #2 as we consider 3 implications from this prayer. We will spend most of our time on #3.

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1 1 Mark 14:32-42 The Garden of Gethsemane (part 2) This is the 2 nd part of a sermon on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. If you remember from last week, I said that we were going to cover 3 truths about Jesus and his experience in the garden. The first thing we noticed was his agony. We saw that his agony was unique to him. Although the disciples were there with him, they did not experience what he did. The agony of Jesus was something that only he could experience. In this truth we were able to consider the humanity of Jesus and see some of the beauties of the incarnation. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:15-26). Next, we turned to the prayer itself in vv Here, we asked the question, Why the agony? Why the drops of blood as Jesus sweat? Then, I believe we found the answer as we considered the cup when he prayed, Remove this cup from me. We saw from Is. 53 that this cup wasn t simply physical death, but instead something deeper. Jesus was agonizing over something unseen that would happen on the following day when he would die, namely the wrath of the Father that would be poured out on him as he became sin in the place of sinners. We see this again as he physically cried out on the cross, My God, My God why have you forsaken me? Last week I asked the question, Can you imagine a worse place to be than to know that the God of the universe is angry with you? In that garden, God was not angry with Jesus. In fact, Luke tells us that in the garden an angel came and gave him strength (Luke 22:43). The anger and wrath and separation as he became a curse for us would happen on the next day. It was in the garden that Jesus soul was sorrowful as he said to the Father, your will be done. Now, for the rest of our time, I would like to finish point #2 as we consider 3 implications from this prayer. We will spend most of our time on #3. 2. The Prayer of Jesus: Some Implications. Implication #1. Jesus laid down his life voluntarily. In other words, Jesus freely laid down his life. In those moments in the garden as Jesus wrestled with the cross, he said, I will do it. There is no need for force. As much as I am dreading what is to come, I will go. When he said, Yet not what I will, but what you will, he was settling in his soul that he would do what he came to do, not being coerced or forced. It was the Father s will, but in that garden, in one of the beautiful mysteries of Christianity, Jesus said, I will lay down my life freely. I want to do it. Jesus echoed the prayer of David in Psalm 40:8 when he said, I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. HE was praying the prayer he taught us to pray: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Mat 6:10 KJV). As Isaiah considered the holiness of God and the sinful people to whom he was preaching, God said, Whom shall I send? And he said, Send me. I will go. In the same way Jesus said, I will go. There is no need to force me. In fact, I want to do it. Do you remember from home group in John cp 10? Jesus said in v. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and

2 2 scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord (John 10:11-18). You see, if Jesus were ever to have a motive that did not want to do what he did, his sacrifice would not be sufficient. The whole-hearted sacrifice in total obedience to the Father s will was the only kind of death capable of saving the sinner. Implication #2: The Punishment Jesus received on the cross was sufficient as the wrath of God was satisfied. I will not spend much time here. We touched on this last week as we considered Is. 53, especially the verse that says God has laid on him the iniquity of us all. But, in this prayer, I believe Jesus agonizes even to the point of sweat drops as he considered the extent of the wrath of God that would come down on him in punishment. This is a great mystery to me. But, I believe the Bible teaches that the punishment Jesus received was sufficient to cover all the sins of all his people for all time. As an example, think about our justice system. If someone commits a crime of speeding, he/she will pay a fine. If someone doesn t pay their taxes, they will first have bad credit, and then, if not paid, there will be extra fines, and possibly jail time. If someone steals a car, there will be jail time. If someone murders there will prison, and possibly even the death penalty. What I am trying to say is that our justice system tries to be fair. Each crime has a different punishment based upon how severe the crime. In Jesus case, the punishment of God had to be equivalent (sufficient) to cover our sins (all of them). Let me say it a different way. Jesus suffered the full equivalent of that which his people would have suffered if no one had died in their place. In other words, hell, as it were came to him in Gethsemane subjectively and on the following day at Golgatha, and as the Apostle s Creed says, He descended into hell. Implication #3: Jesus alone could pray this prayer. Why was Gethsemane unique to him? He could do this because he alone was sinless. Therefore, He alone was worthy. Heb. 4:15 says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. We know that Jesus was an acceptable sacrifice because he obeyed the law of God in both motive and deed one hundred percent of the time. As the Israelites brought a spotless lamb, so, Jesus is the spotless lamb. But, I would like to go a step further than simple sinlessness and get to the source of why Jesus prayer was unique to him in this aspect. After all, if sinlessness were sufficient for an acceptable sacrifice, then what do we do with the angels who have never sinned? Could one of these be an acceptable sacrifice? What about Michael or Gabriel? This is what the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses believe in essence. In fact, anyone who denies the deity of our Lord and still believes that God sent merely a sinless man (or an angel come as a man) as an acceptable sacrifice

3 3 believes in a sinless offering. Do they not? Why are they wrong? Why wouldn t an angel or a sinless man alone be sufficient? There are probably different ways we could approach the answer to this question. But, I would like to consider this for a moment from the aspect of the presence of God. In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Even sinned, what did they lose? We know they became sinners. But, what was their biggest problem? I believe it was this: they lost the presence of God, at least in the intimate way in which they walked with Him in the Garden. After they sinned they were kicked out of the garden, away from the tree of life, and in all of this, they were separated from the very presence of God. We may call this spiritual death. From that time we see God and his presence rarely. God walked with Enoch. God walked with Noah. But, it wasn t like the garden. As we continue through the OT we see altars being built and God spoke with men like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. In the case Moses God spoke only with him; and this was on the mountain and at the tent of meeting. And, even then Moses only saw a glimpse of his glory. Since the sin in the garden no man could look upon the face of God (all of his glory) and live. Later, the presence of God would be seen in the holy of holies, at least in the 1 st temple. At various times we see the Angel of the Lord (which we know and recognize as God himself) appearing to men where his presence would be seen. If you are listening you should be able to see where I am going with this truth. A mere angel or sinless man cannot restore the presence of God. At the end of salvation we have a holy God. He is the end of the salvation of any sinner, separated from his presence. Throughout the Scriptures we see by implication and by direct truth that God Himself (ie. His presence) is the treasure of his people. In Gen. 15:1 in the KJV God says to Abram: Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Psalms 16:5 says, The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. Lamentations 3:24 says, Lam 3:24 The LORD is my portion, therefore I will hope in him. With this in mind, think of Christ. He told Phillip, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9). Matthew repeats an OT prophecy and says in 1:23: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us). 2 Cor. 4:6 says, For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. At the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation we see the end of the story, which is essentially the same thing. John said, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God (Rev. 21:3). Concerning the temple John said in 21:22-23: And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there. You see what has been missing from the Garden of Eden cannot be restored by a mere man who has no power to take us to the presence of God. Jesus Himself is God s presence because he was

4 4 100 percent God. In Christ ALONE God provides! He Himself is the sacrifice! This is the Gospel: God Himself. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever! This is Christianity. And, its not a social club. It is not a self-help religion. It s not a crutch to make your life better. It s about God and His Presence. Do you remember before Joshua led God s people into the Promised Land beginning with Jericho? Joshua was on cloud 9. The 40 years in the desert were finished. They had just crossed the Jordan as God caused the water to stand still. Everything was going his way. Then, the Bible tells us that Joshua lifted up his eyes and saw a man standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And with great confidence Joshua approached him and asked, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, NO; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. And Joshua was humbled to the ground and he fell on his face to the earth and worshipped him saying, What does my Lord say to his servant? He said, Take off your sandals. For the place you are standing is holy ground. Then he knew that his life wasn t about himself, but about God and his presence. Today, Jesus Christ is God, not simply a sinless man who has no power to restore and take us to heaven. You may say, Jon why spend so much time here? The reason is I want you to see the beauty of Christ in his person and his work. When He was in the garden only He could pray such a prayer! When you start to get behind this prayer and understand the person behind the prayer, then the desires of your flesh will fade. Your life will change. You will consider the depths of the cross and say, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! Fathers, you will become more focused in your task to lead your wife and children to Christ. Mothers, you will more often find yourself speaking the words of Christ to your children. Spouses, you will love one another more deeply. High School students, you will do whatever it takes to be godly and tell your friends about Jesus. Children, you will obey your parents better. Church member, you will love and serve your brothers and sisters. All of these things flow from the gospel of Jesus Christ. The way to create an environment where the Gospel displays the glory of God is to consider and understand the person and work of Christ. Today, some of you are more concerned with your social life than you are about the Lord Jesus. You would rather serve yourself than your brother or your sister. You would rather be entertained than read the Bible, which by the way is about this Gospel we preach. You might say, Jon, that s not true. But, if you are honest with yourself, you know that the fruits of your life prove what I am saying. Now, let s come back. I have moved from my point (maybe). Jesus wasn t simply a sinless man whose death had no effect. He was God, and only his death could restore God s presence. This is why his prayer in Gethsemane was a prayer that only he could pray. At the end of the day, and if this is true, I must ask: How can you neglect such a great salvation? How can you say as a believer, this is too much to ask I will not do it. How can you say, I will continue in my sin? after considering these beautiful truths from our Lord in the garden? As we finish this morning I would like to leave you with a thought. In Luke s version of Gethsemane he tells us that an angel came and ministered to him. What a time that God would send an angel to attend to him. I ask, What must the angel have thought? What a mystery. I

5 5 think of the words what angels long to look into. They are not sinners. They don't know what it is like to be redeemed. Listen to these words from Heb. 1:6-13: For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you? Or again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God's angels worship him. 7 Of the angels he says, He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But of the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. 10 And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? What a beautiful savior. In Christ alone, the greatest act and what went along with it is reserved for him alone. He is the savior. He is the Lord! These implications today should add to the meaning of Jesus words, I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but through me. He is the one who took the wrath of God. He is the one who waited from before the world began for this moment! What a savior! Today, Trust him! Love him! Behold his beauty! Lean on him! To the blessed God and savior Jesus Christ! Worthy is the lamb! This is the key to godliness. This is the key to church growth. This is the key to happiness in this life. This is the key to all the promises of God. Today Jesus is Lord!