This Cup
Matthew 26:31-46
Harry Stoliker
August 15, 2010 EBC
This Cup
Allow me to begin by telling your one of the major threads that holds
this section together. The threat or theme is this: Jesus went to and through
the Cross ALONE. No one else experienced the cross with
him, could endure the cross for him, nor embraced the cross as Jesus did. We just
love to hear the word ALONE! We are saved by grace ALONE;
through faith ALONE; in Christ ALONE. When Jesus absorbed
the holy wrath of God, he did it alone. There was no one
else on the Cross with him. Two thieves were next
to him on their own crosses, but their crosses were not the Cross
of the Sinless Jesus Christ.
The first section, V.31-35 tells us about the bravado of the disciples,
particularly Peter, before they came face to face with exactly how
horrific it was physically. When the time came to face the cross,
Jesus was alone, none of these brave disciples stood with him. The
second section V.36-46 shows us how Jesus nearly died as He prayed
ALONE in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Let's look at section #1: V.31-35 The Shepherd is struck and the
sheep are scattered. This is an OT reference from Zech. 13:7.
Jesus explains that He was the subject of the prophecy in Zechariah,
and that very night it would be initially fulfilled. It ultimately applied to Him.
He is the Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep as he said
in John 10. The "striking" or the Shepherd was the crucifixion.
The "scattering" of the sheep was when the disciples all deserted
the Lord for fear of their own lives when He was arrested
and crucified. He says in V.32 that he will rise from the dead,
and go ahead of them into Galilee. So, in the same breath,
Jesus tells them that they are going to miserably fail him,
and that he will forgive them and remain their leader.
We see this happen in Mt. 28:7 in one of Jesus' post resurrection
appearances the angel says to the women: "Go quickly and tell his disciples
that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him. See, I have told you." Yes, we fail the Lord many
times, but He forgives and calls us back on the path of following
Him.
V.33 "Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on
account of you, I never will." This is bold, brash
and self-confident. Someone said it well: "It's easy to be brave from a safe distance!"
We have seen all through this gospel that Peter is the one who speaks up
with this boldness, sometimes brashness, normally saying what all
the others are merely thinking. He was the de facto leader
of the apostles. Trace this through the gospel a little with me: 14:28;
15:15; 16:16; 16:22; 17:4; 18:21; 19:27. He doubly affirms his fragile loyalty
in V.35 "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."
We have to love his spirit! This is what we ought to say, feel, believe and live
out, isn't it! But there are too many "I"s in that sentence. Peter was
so sure of himself, so almost cocky about his level
of commitment to Jesus. Yet, it was Jesus who was omniscient, all
knowing of all events to come and knowing our deepest heart. We so often talk
a better game than we live. We verbally commit to know and
serve Christ, but when push comes to shove, we are
nowhere to be found. We too often become cowards when
the pressure gets great. We should speak like this:
"By God's mercy and grace, I will remain loyal to my Savior Jesus Christ! Not in
my own strength but only by the grace and strength of the Spirit alone will I fulfill
my commitments to Him." Peter said he would be loyal all the
way to death if necessary. Jesus said in V.34 – "…this very night,
before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!" Contrast
Peter's "my entire life" statement with Jesus' "this very night" statement.
This shows us how far the flesh will get us in serving Christ! We
should be very humble about our abilities to face trials and serve
the Lord.
So, in Chapter 26, we have gone from the betrayal of Judas (V.14-16)
to the desertion of the disciples (V.31) to the denial of Peter
(V.34). The point is that Jesus from here on in will be
left alone to face his enemies.
The second section V.36-46 shows us how Jesus nearly died as He
prayed ALONE in the Garden of Gethsemane.
V.36-46 The coming reality of His crucifixion evokes an extraordinary
emotional turmoil in Jesus far beyond our imagination! We watch him
wrestle with full submission and gain victory, not that
he would have ever rebelled against His Father's will. As a man he
went through the process of submission as the ultimate example for
our lives.
We see a profound contrast between Jesus and his disciples during
these brutal hours of prayer. Through agonizing prayer
Jesus is restored to his sense of purpose and his
authority in His mission for God, while the disciples, after an initial
futile attempt at resisting the flesh simply give up and abandon him
(France). Jesus comes out of Gethsemane with resolve, trust and
determination to accomplish God's redemptive plan. The
disciples come out of a sleepy stupor with confusion, violence, fear and cowardice.
That's what a lack of prayer will do for you when you face a crisis.
There is no way you can face the small trials you have if you don't
spend deep, long, serious time submitting your flesh
to the ultimate purpose and goal of God our Father for your life.
That is simply the truth. If you are tired, sleepy, and lazy in prayer,
you will be as confused, useless and cowardly as the disciples were
when the arresting party came to capture Jesus.
Let me highlight some glorious truths that come out of Gethsemane:
-
Gethsemane = "oil press" – Jesus was crushed in the process
of preparing his soul to embrace the cross. He was
fully human, yet fully God. He knew what was coming. He
saw the big stone that crushed the olives in the press rolling His
way. He was the sinless Son of God, yet he had to subdue
his humanness. His sorrow, troubled and over-whelmed spirit
shows that he was fully man in his incarnation. He was experiencing
a depth of emotional stress that no one has ever experienced. It was
a "vehemence" or "violence" of emotion. It might be paraphrased:
"I am so sorrowful I could die" or "so sorrowful it is killing me." "This
foreboding view of the Cross is killing me!"
If you and I are going to take up our cross and follow Jesus, we are
going to have to go through the oil press, the crushing of our humanness.
How much more since we are riddle with sin! Don't be surprised when
you find yourself in your own Gethsemane where you come face to face
with having to subdue your flesh in order to embrace God's will for
your life!
-
Jesus took his closest friends to be with him during his most
difficult trial, and they all failed him. Shows us that there are times
when all humans will fail us at our most needy moments and we need
to cast ourselves on God alone. Don't be surprised about
human weakness. It's God's design. Though these disciples had declared
their willingness and ability to share in Jesus' suffering and fate,
yet now, even before the crisis comes, their inability to simply
stay awake and pray makes them ineffective in the role
of providing moral support. (France) Jesus was left completely unsupported
by any human aid in his suffering. Our trust for strength has to ultimately rest
in the Holy Spirit and not people.
-
His submission to the Father's will shows us that he fully conquered
any human desires to avoid pain at all cost. He absorbed and conquered
everything He needed to in order to save us. First he says "If it is possible remove
this cup." He is exploring if another way could exist to glorify
the Father's holiness and redeem the elect at the
same time. The next time he says "If it is not possible… may your will
be done." He has accepted that there was no other way to save
His people than dying on the Cross; he had to be the substitute Lamb of God
and be slaughtered so that others might live.
He blazed the path of full surrender and full submission
for us to follow. He does not resist the arrest even though he could
have called down legions of angels to his defense. He offers no
defense at his trial even though he could have offered irrefutable defense
of his moral purity and innocence. When Jesus says
in V. 46 "Rise, let us go, Here comes my betrayer" – he wasn't saying,
"Let's get out of here and escape." He was saying, "Let's get ready to meet
this arresting party and embrace my Father's will!" No self-preservation
will every save anyone else!
-
He tells us the only way not to fall into the temptation, or under
the power of the tempter: to watch and pray. Our physical bodies
are all too often our anchor that drags us down. V.39 they
were in ear-shot of Jesus' prayers. Likely they heard him moaning,
yet fell asleep. At times our bodies need to be thrown into our supplication
as was Jesus as he 'fell to the ground.' Their temptation was
about to take place when the arresting party came to the garden. They
would be tempted with self-preservation as being more important than
suffering with Christ. Their loyalty to Jesus would be severely
tested and they would fail. The flesh= human weakness;
the spirit= the will to obey and honor God. Their initial enthusiasm
and unconditional promises of loyalty gave way to the natural impulses
of self-preservation of the flesh.
He teaches us by his 3 hours of prayer that there will be times when
only a very long extended time of prayer will prepare us for what
we face in doing God's will. V.41 When Jesus comes to the men and finds them
sleeping he tells them to stay awake and pray… not for Him, but
for themselves so that they won't enter temptation. He is
doing fine by himself! They are the ones that need help!
Mt. 6:13 he taught them to pray: "Lead us not into temptation but deliver
us from the evil one."
-
We learn the essence of hell in Jesus' prayer and crucifixion…he
drank down the Cup of God's holy wrath on sin and that
separated Him from His Father. Jesus did not want to go through that
separation. This was a bitter, deadly cup. This is the essence of hell: eternal
separation from the Glory of the Trinity!
Summary/Conclusion:
-
Each of us will face numerous times when we
will have to embrace the will of God through agonizing prayer and loneliness.
Yet Christ will be with us.
-
We will have to fight
off the weakness of the flesh for ease and self-preservation.
-
We will have to embrace God's means of glorifying
Himself, whatever that includes for us.
-
We will have
to resist getting angry at people who will certainly fail us, just
when we needed them most. Our closest friends will go
to sleep when we need them to fight through the night with us. That
is to show us that all human help fails and only God himself
can get us through that dark night of the soul. It may be a long
night that requires hours upon hours or days upon days of intense prayer.
-
It may require us to fall on the ground and lay prostrate
before God, weeping and crying out to Him.
In the end, we must measure success by whether or not
there is a sweet, gentle submission to Father's will flooding our hearts.
A submission that makes us go out to meet the 'arresting party' rather
than flee in escape.
Jesus had to go through Gethsemane to make it through Calvary. Do
you think you can get around Gethsemane and still make it to Calvary?
You won't endure Calvary unless you are crushed in Gethsemane.
Is this too symbolic for you to grasp? I hope not. If it is, you will
one day want to come back to this lesson. That day when you are
finally facing the trial that you think is going to kill you.
Then you will find the joy of Jesus Christ as he assures you that
you will make it through Gethsemane and through Calvary and on into Glory
where he awaits you – because He died on the Cross in your place
for your sin!
Let's pray.