Series Introduction:

This morning we will continue our sermon series called “Journey to the Cross” in which we will focus on some of the major events that occurred during the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection, which we will be celebrating on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. To recap what has unfolded so far, on Sunday, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to fulfill the Messianic prophecy in Zechariah. The people shouted praise to Jesus as He rode in as King of Israel. On Monday, Jesus drove the moneylenders out of the temple, using a fig tree without fruit as a living parable about those who look good from the outside, but are not bearing the fruit of the spirit that marks the life of a true believer.  On Tuesday and Wednesday , Jesus spent time speaking in parables and responding to questions from the religious leaders about His authority. During this time Judas agreed to betray Jesus. On Thursday, Jesus and His disciples participated in the Last Supper. Jesus washed His disciples feet, taught some final lessons, and ushered in the New Covenant through “The Lord’s Supper”. Today we pick up on Thursday night following the Passover meal. The disciples do not realize it, but this is the last night they would spend with Jesus. 

Scripture Reading:

Mark 14:26-50: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “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 he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And 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 taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled.

James 1:12-15: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Opening Prayer:

Father God, as we prepare to hear your word preached, I pray that you would open up hearts and minds to receive your word. I pray that you would give me words to speak and that the message you desire to be heard, would reach those who need to hear it. Bless us during this time of preaching Lord, we ask and pray all these things in your Sons’ holy and precious name. Amen. 

Introduction:

Ever since the fall of humanity back in Genesis 3, one thing has remained constant for every descendant of Adam and Eve. Human beings sin. We all “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, ESV) in that we give into sin and temptation. The passage from James that we read in our scripture reading this morning tells us some important truths about sin and temptation.

The first important truth is that “God cannot be tempted with evil, [and] he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13, ESV). We are tempted to sin when the desires of our hearts are not in line with God’s will, which creates a temptation to choose our will over God’s will. God cannot go against his own will, and he does not work against his own will by tempting others to disobey him. Therefore any temptation that we might have towards sin does not come from God, who does not desire that anyone fall into sin. The passage goes on to say that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14, ESV).

The second important truth is that “desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15, ESV). What this means is that to be tempted to sin is not the same as sinning. As the author of Hebrews wrote of Jesus, “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” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV). Jesus knew what it was to feel weak. He knew what it was to be tempted. In fact the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus himself experienced temptation, and yet he never once allowed his desire to give way into sinful word, thought, or action. Jesus was fully God, but also fully man, and so in his darkest moments of temptation we see an exemplar of how we too might overcome the temptations that manifest in our own lives.

A Troublesome Prophecy:

Our passage this morning begins with Jesus concluding the passover meal with the singing of a hymn. Afterwards Jesus led his disciples to the Mount of Olives. It had only been maybe a few hours since Jesus had revealed to his disciples that one of the twelve would betray them, and so I imagine the disciples were still thinking about what Jesus had told them. I am sure they were still gravely concerned about this coming betrayal that their Lord had prophesied. 

Jesus then told his disciples: 

“You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” – Mark 14:27-28, ESV

It is worth noting that the passage Jesus quoted in verse 27 when he said “I will strike the shepherd” is a quote taken from Zecharaih 13:17. The person speaking in this passage is God, and so Jesus was making it clear that what was about to happen was God’s will and God’s desire. 

In fact, after the cross, the resurrection, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter himself would declare: 

“Jesus, [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” – Acts 2:23-24, ESV

Which is to say that while sinful men crucified Jesus, God had foreordained this to happen as a part of his plan to free us from the chains of sin and death!  Jesus also made it clear that death would not be the end. “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee” (Mark 14:28, ESV) is a reminder not only that after death comes the resurrection, but also that even though the disciples were going to abandon him, he was not going to reject or abandon them. He would return to them, and would carry on his mission through them! 

The disciples did not yet understand all of this, and were troubled by the thought that they would abandon Jesus in his moment of need. Peter, who always seems to be the first to speak up, tells Jesus: 

“Even though they all fall away, I will not.” – Mark 14:29, ESV

Peter’s pride is wounded, and so he elevates himself above all the other disciples by saying he alone would defend Jesus. To which Jesus prophecies: 

“Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” -Mark 14:30, ESV

Now you would think by now that the disciples, and especially Peter, would learn to stop trying to correct Jesus. And yet Peter and the rest of the disciples double down by saying:

“If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” – Mark 14:31, ESV

Obviously it is foolish to try to tell Jesus that he is wrong, but at the same time a part of me understands where they are coming from. They had been Jesus’ most loyal followers, and it was painful for them to hear that they would abandon Jesus in his moment of need. I believe that they believed it when they said “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” I think most of us in this room would make a similar claim, but sadly we often fall short of our noble intentions. 

One of the hardest parts of following Christ is confronting our own weaknesses and all the ways we fall short of God’s calling on our lives. As we learned last week, spiritual maturity is not reaching a point where you have no temptations or weaknesses. Spiritual maturity is being aware of your weaknesses, and trusting in God’s strength to carry you through temptation. 

Jesus Overcomes Through Prayer:

As the night drew on, Jesus withdrew to a Garden called Gethsemane. Jesus knew that his betrayal was coming soon, when he would be turned over to blind religious leaders, false kings, and pagan governors to be beaten, flogged, spat upon, and mocked. He knew that he would be paraded around and cursed by the people he came to save, only to be nailed to a cross where he would carry the sins of the world and endure the wrath of God on our behalf. There are no words that could ever do justice to the horror of the cross of Christ. It was the darkest moment in human history. 

Jesus knew all of this was imminent and so he asked his disciples to sit and to pray for him. He then went off to be alone, taking Peter, James, and John – the same disciples who had been with him at his transfiguration – and asked them to keep watch over him while he prayed. 

Jesus’ agony was so great that he fell to the ground to pray. We are told that he “prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him” (Mark 14:35, ESV). Then we are told the exact words of his prayer “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36, ESV).

When Jesus prayed that “the hour might pass from him” or that God would “remove this cup from me” he was praying for any way to save the world without the cross. If you remember from last week, “the cup” of the Lord’s Supper symbolized the blood of Christ that was shed for us. It was a moment where we see the limits of Jesus’ humanity, it is a moment that makes many people feel uncomfortable. We are not used to seeing Jesus weak and struggling. We are not used to seeing Jesus wrestling with God’s will. 

Remember what we learned from our passage in James. Temptation and desire are not sinful, but it is only when those temptations and desires are acted upon that they become sin. Jesus is doing what every Christian ought to do when they find themselves in fear, in weakness, in temptation. Jesus is taking it to the Father. 

There are three parts to this simple prayer, but they are convey powerful truths about how we should approach God in prayer during our moments of need and desperation: 

First, Jesus addresses God the Father as “Abba, Father.” That is the language of a child, akin to how we might use the word “Daddy” or “Papa” today. It is the language of intimacy and love. This is followed by reaffirming Jesus’ faith, “all things are possible for you.” Jesus does not doubt the Father’s love or his ability, both of which are realities we need to remind ourselves of during our times of distress.

Second, Jesus makes his request known without hesitation, “remove this cup from me.” Matthew’s account records Jesus saying “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39, ESV) and Luke’s account records it as “If you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42, ESV). We too should not hesitate to make our request known to God. It does not show a lack of faith to tell God that you do not like what is happening, that you want to be taken out of this situation, or that you do not feel strong enough to do what he has called you to do. Again, spiritual maturity does not deny our weaknesses and temptations – it acknowledges them and leans on God for strength.

And lastly, and most importantly, after expressing his love for the Father, his faith in the Father, and making his request known to the Father, Jesus surrenders it all to the will of the Father by saying, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” This is the hardest part of prayer, but also the most necessary part to a healthy prayer life. It is easy to make the mistake of thinking that prayer is ultimately about making our requests known to God, and while that is a part of prayer, ultimately prayer is about submitting ourselves to God’s will for our lives. We pray not just to be heard by God, but to hear from God. It was through prayer, and ultimately through submission, that Jesus found the strength to endure the cross on our behalf.

The Disciples Scatter:

But what about the disciples? Those that were called to watch over Jesus and to pray for him in his hour of need were found sleeping, not once, not twice, but three times during the night. 

And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Mark 14:37-38, ESV

Jesus warns them to stay awake and to stay vigilant in prayer “that you may not enter into temptation.” Just as Jesus needed to be strengthened by prayer, he knew that his disciples would also need strength from the Lord to face the temptations that they would soon encounter themselves. He reminds them that “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38, ESV). The disciples had resolved never to abandon Christ, even unto the point of death, and yet even the idea of staying awake one hour to keep watch and pray was proving too difficult for these men.

Jesus returned to pray only to find a second time they had fallen asleep. Again he awoke them and asked them for prayer only for them to fall asleep. By the time they had awoken for the third time this night, the hour had already come. As Jesus told his disciples:

“The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” – Mark 14:41-42, ESV

Notice Jesus’ full acceptance and submission to the will of the Father. Jesus willingly gave himself into the hands of sinners, even rising to meet his own betrayer. 

And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. – Mark 14:43-46, ESV

Last week week focused a portion of our sermon on Judas the betrayer, and I do not want to restate too much, but one of the twelve disciples who had seemed most faithful during the ministry of Christ was now leading an assembly of Christ’s enemies and betraying the Lord with a kiss. In a way nearly every disciple would forsake and abandon Christ during these last hours, but while the others were passively reacting to what was happening around them, Judas chose to actively work against Christ. 

Sometimes we are externally tempted to sin by the situations unfolding around us, and other times we are internally tempted to sin by our own sinful desires. Judas’ sin was a willful and active disobedience, whereas the other eleven were guilty of a passive disobedience that originated from weakness and fear.

We are told that one of the disciples, realizing what had happened, decided to take matters into his own hands. 

But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. – Mark 14:47, ESV

This is one of those passages where you have to read all four gospels to really piece together what happened. For example, John tells us that it was Peter who drew the sword (John 18:10). Matthew tells us that Jesus rebuked his disciple by saying, 

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” – Matthew 26:52-54, ESV

And Luke’s account tells us that Jesus even went so far as to heal the man’s ear (Luke 22:51, ESV) showing love even to those who had come to betray him. 

Lastly, Jesus points out the hypocrisy of what was unfolding to the religious leaders who had come to arrest him, saying “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled” (Mark 14:48-49, ESV).

He knew that the religious leaders were coming to him at night because they were too cowardly to arrest him in the day as he taught in the temple. They feared man and men’s opinions of them more than they feared God, and so they resorted to betrayal, bribery, and acting in the dark of night. Jesus called them out to their faces for this, and yet he acknowledged that this too must come to pass in order that the scriptures would be fulfilled. 

The disciples, who had just been told not to fight for Jesus, were unsure of what to do. They really only had two options. They could go with Jesus to his trial and his execution, or they could run away. Sadly we are told in verse 50, “And they all left him and fled.” Just as Jesus had warned them, quoting from the prophet Zecharaiah, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’” (Mark 14:27, ESV).

Conclusion: 

As we conclude our message this morning, I would like to try to end on a positive note. As we enter into the last half of the last week of Jesus’ ministry leading up to the cross and resurrection, the things we read will continue to feel heavier and darker until we reach the resurrection, but that does not mean there is no hope to be found even in these passages. While it is easy to look at the disciple’s failures, let us make sure we keep our focus first and foremost on Christ’s victory. 

Here we see Jesus who does not abandon his disciples, even though in their weakness they forsake him and fall short of their callings. Here we see Jesus who overcomes temptation through prayer and submission to the father, modeling for us a way to overcome even the greatest trials we will face in life. 

And here we see Jesus, who chose the cross for us. Jesus who willingly suffered to be betrayed, mocked, tortured, and rejected. Jesus who took our guilt, our shame, and the weight of God’s wrath upon his shoulders so that we could receive eternal life and true forgiveness for sins. Here we see the price of love that was paid for you, because even at your worst moments and most shameful state – when you had fallen so short and had become so unworthy – Jesus saw you, loved you, and took the cross on your behalf.  

If this morning you feel as though you need to make a decision for Christ I would love to talk to you during our time of decision, after the service, or any time this week that we could arrange to talk. Maybe you want to become a follower of Jesus and don’t know quite how to get started. Whatever your decision may be, I pray that today would be the day you decided to take that step of faith. Let us pray. 

Prayer of Dedication:

Father God, I thank you for your word and for the salvation that you have bought for us at such a cost. I thank you that in all the ways we fall short, you overcame, and that through you we have no need for fear, for guilt, or for shame. Bless us as we enter into this time of commitment. Amen.