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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters, the text comes from the Gospel reading, the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus does not begin this scene with sugarcoating anything. He tells all of the twelve who have been with Him for three years that not some of them would fall away, Not even most of them would fall away. But he tells them that all of them will fall away. And then he quotes an interesting passage of Scripture where he says, just as was foretold in the prophecy, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Now it’s two parts of that prophecy Prophecy that need to be understood. The first part, I will strike the shepherd, that is God’s undeniable will. He will strike the shepherd down. He will crush him and lay upon him our punishment. It’s the second part of that prophecy. And the sheep will be scattered. God does not want the sheep to be scattered. So then why are the sheep scattered? Why are they scattered? Because of their self-centered, sin-filled fear. Their own fears are why they scatter. God does not cause them to scatter. God only says that because they need to admit and come to terms with their sinful fears that are welling up within them. Now it’s kind of interesting. Jesus doesn’t leave them with doom and gloom when He says, all of you will fall away. Did you listen carefully? Because he says something of great hope. He says in this scene of Gethsemane, after I am raised. He’s giving them the end of the story that is beyond doom and gloom. It is the bright sunshine that shines the next day. It is the hope that their hearts need in the midst of their suffering and in the midst of their trial. Because of this suffering and trial in which they are ensconced, they have hope that they’re about to witness struggling and suffering that they’ve never seen before. Jesus warned them of their own heart by saying, Watch yourself. Don’t be confident in yourself. But it went in one ear and out the other of the twelve. How do we know that? Because Peter completely and utterly defies the authority of his God’s words to him when he says, I will never fall away. Think about this. Peter is saying to Jesus, you don’t know me. You don’t know me well enough because I’m different. He’s telling his God who knows every thought, every feeling that courses through Peter that he doesn’t know him. Worse than that, it is also Peter saying to Jesus, I don’t believe any word you’re saying about me in regard to falling away or not. I don’t believe it and I’m not going to have any part of it. Is that not sin-filled, self-confident pride? Peter sinned greatly when he said those words to Jesus. But Peter’s sin wasn’t just contained within himself. Because of Peter’s bald-faced, brazen pride, do you know what Peter did to the other eleven? But pulled them along in his sin. The text said, and they all said the same. It’s kind of scary when you begin to think about our own sins and how when we sin, we don’t just sin in a vacuum. Our sin affects people around us. Our words, our actions, it affects people around us. Peter loves his brothers with whom he has been for three years, but Peter’s sin led them down the same path that he walked. Oh, they didn’t get marked with the moniker of the crow crowing, and Jesus having been denied by Peter’s lips three times. No, that was Peter’s alone. But did they not all scatter? Did they not all leave his side? Did they not all fear for their own flesh and blood more than they feared for their Lord? Yes. And what is our Lord’s response to such great sin? Silence. Jesus could convince them He’s God. He could argue with them all the day long and prove to them their insanity, could you say, in thinking that they would never fall away. He rather chooses to leave that door open for them to return home When they come to their senses, somewhat like the prodigal son before he came home to his father, and the words from his lips, as you remember, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. That’s why Jesus didn’t argue with them. So they go to Gethsemane after this interchange of conversation. And in the garden, he has all of them gathered around him. But he kind of separates himself off from the other nine with Peter, James, and John, proving once more God is not an equal giver of crosses to bear. The other nine are not going to watch up close and personal Jesus’ suffering like Peter, James, and John. He does exhort all of them to watch and pray. And in essence saying, don’t be led into temptation to fall away. So here they are, Peter, James, and John, being given a great burden to bear, up close and personal to their Lord’s suffering. And his suffering is very visible and very visceral. The first thing is just his description, Mark’s description. He began to be greatly distressed and troubled. You know how hard it is when someone you love, through their countenance or their body posture, show you that they are greatly troubled. What is it you want to do but solve and fix their pain? To no avail. Then we get Jesus’ own words. My soul is very sorrowful even to the point of death. He is not speaking in hyperbole. He is speaking literally, literally. If you’ve ever been with someone who is in the throes of death, if you’ve ever watched someone die, it is a very arduous and emotional journey down which you will walk, gut-wrenching, because there’s nothing you can do. And their suffering, you cannot stem or stop. There’s Peter, James, and John witnessing this in Jesus’ countenance, never before seen. Never before seen that kind of look on Jesus’ countenance. Never before seen his body wracked with this suffering and agony internally that he’s going through. And what comes out of our Lord’s lips, but something not just for himself, but for Peter, James, and John to listen to. He says, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Yes, applied to this text, absolutely it means, Lord, if it is your will that I don’t have to drink this cup, let it be. But if not, I will drink it. Not my will, but thy will be done. But when you begin to think of that statement in the context of his agony and suffering, does that not give encouragement? If all things are possible for God, then your suffering is in his hands. He holds it. He carries you in it. And he completes it in his time and in his fashion, but you are his. Just as Christ entrusted himself into the Father’s hands in the midst of this arduous agony, so he does to you. What comforting words to come out of a man’s lips who are suffering in so much. He’s dealing with the beginning of guilt that he’s never ever experienced before a He’s dealing with shame that he’s never had to encounter in his entire psyche before. Remorse. All of those things that you as a sinner deal with day in and day out, he is wracked with. And not just yours. All of mankind’s. And it’s just the beginning. Climactically coming to its conclusion at the cross. And what does he do? But loves his dear children. He goes back to them three times. Three times. Pray. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. And then a statement that you shall not overlook this evening. He says after pray that you may not enter into temptation, he tells you what you can do. The Spirit is willing. Put a point of reference at that. The Spirit is willing. You are able to pray for such things. You can resist temptation. You do have that Spirit within you. But He also calls you what you are. The flesh is weak. Therefore, do not rely on self. Do not think and give some act that you’re going to do, you hope to do, you wish to do, but you know you will not. Rely on the one that did do it for you and rely on His work in your stead. Then there is confidence. But He would not have said the Spirit is willing if you were not able by His Spirit within you. He’s with these three friends, but you can see that they are so overwhelmed with emotion that they can’t even keep their eyes awake. He’s alone, and He will continue to be alone all the way to the cross. The only thing He has are the Father’s promises. You, my dear brothers and sisters, and I will never know that kind of aloneness. We will not be that alone when we die. Only He was that alone. At this time in the garden and all the way to his death on the cross. Abandoned. Removed. His death was never meant to be easy. So that you could die the easy death in peace. Just like I can die the easy death in peace. It’s impossible to intellectually grasp this agony for us and our benefit. But it is true. Because of our self-centeredness, we wish sometimes to think that we’re the only ones going through it. This is what terror and agony looks and sounds like and only Jesus knows it. Well, other than all the unbelievers in hell, but you’ll never know it. Never. So at the very end, he has this final statement and says, Rise, let us be going. He’s going to the cross for you and for me. Where are you going? Where we always go. We go to our fears, don’t we? And then we go back to His comfort. The only place where fears are removed. When we said in that psalm, Search me and know me, O Lord. Test my thoughts and try me. Brace yourself for such a prayer. Because He will. But He will give you the comfort as He lays open the infection that’s within all of us. He will bring balm and healing. In the name of Jesus, amen. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
