Jesus Is In Agony "“ Part 1 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

The Bible tells us to remember the Lord's death until he comes. What Jesus did during those last fateful days was done for undeserving sinners. Today we begin a series simply called, For Us, to remind us how far God went that we might be redeemed. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is, Running to Win, with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, as you begin, take us to the Garden of Gethsemane where you and I once stood.

Here, Jesus was in agony. Dave, frequently I'm asked the question, What is your favorite place in Israel? Well, some people say it's the Sea of Galilee. Others talk about the Jordan River Valley, perhaps the Dead Sea even. But in my estimation, the most sacred place and the most blessed place is the Garden of Gethsemane. And yes, Dave, I do remember being there with you.

And as a matter of fact, I've been back a couple of times since then. But each time, it's a place of meditation. It's a place where I remember that Jesus Christ submitted to the will of God the Father, even though he was in great agony. There's so much that can be learned as we stand here with Christ. And of course, as we kneel with him, so to speak, as he goes through that agony. You know, for example, Jesus knew that upon him, the iniquity of the world, that is to say all those who believe on him, their iniquity would be upon him. He'd be separated in fellowship from God the Father.

Agony. The bottom line, not my will, but thine be done. Even as we listen today, I hope that that's the heart cry of our own hearts, our own desires. Lord, not my will, but thine be done. I personally want nothing in my life that God does not want me to have.

And I'm sure that that's true of you as well. And certainly as we go to Gethsemane and we think about what Jesus Christ did, we're reminded that he was on his way to the cross. Let's listen carefully. Would you just bow your head for a moment? Could I ask you to do that? I want you to pray a very simple prayer. Want you individually to pray to God and say, God, speak to me and change me. Father, you've heard the prayers that have been prayed and we ask now that you will answer in the life of your servant who speaks and in the life of all who listen in Jesus name.

Amen. Today I have the very happy privilege to preach on one of the greatest passages of scripture that you could ever read or contemplate. It's a passage that has much mystery. It's a passage that also is filled with holiness. You almost feel guilty reading it because you realize that you're listening in to a conversation that is taking place in Gethsemane by Jesus, the night he's going to be betrayed.

What a story. Today I begin a series of messages entitled For Us, What Jesus Did For Us. For us he is in agony. For us he is betrayed.

For us he is tried. And it leads to the cross today for us in agony. Why should this message change your life forever?

First of all, I hope it will give us a greater appreciation for what Jesus did. Surely at the end of this message, all of us need to fall on our knees and to say, Jesus, why do you love us so much? But there's another reason that I preach it and that is it will give us some insight into our trials and how we bear our burdens and our emotional distress. I speak to some of you today who struggle with depression. You struggle with panic attacks.

You struggle with emotional turbulence. And I look into the scripture and I say, Jesus did it too. And if you are struggling like that, you listen because God may change you because you've heard his word. It's the 14th chapter of the book of Mark, Mark chapter 14. And if you want to look on in a Bible that is there in the seats in front of you, it is page 851.

851 in the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark context. Jesus has just given the Last Supper. He just told the disciples that they were all going to flee and leave him. And Peter says, no, I won't. Verse 30, 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. It's a parenthesis, but you know that you do not know your heart nor do I know mine.

Peter spoke truly and sincerely, but he had no idea how spiritually weak he really was. Now, also Jesus in verse 32, he goes to a place called Gethsemane. Some of us have had the opportunity of being in Israel. And when people ask, you know, what is the site in Israel that you most love?

For me, it's always Gethsemane. We don't know exactly where the Garden of Gethsemane was. It's essentially where it is today on the slope of Mount of Olives.

It means olive press because there were many olive trees that were there. And so we read that Jesus, he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane where the disciples often gathered with him. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. Verse 33, and he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. The question is, why did Jesus ask these three to come with him? At this point, there were only 11 disciples. Judas had already gone off to betray Jesus. In fact, Judas is the topic for the next message in this series. And so there are 11, eight are allowed to come with him also, but they stand further back and he takes with him Peter, James and John.

Two reasons why he chose these. First of all, these are the disciples who bragged that they would be able to suffer with Jesus. We've already spoken about Peter. And if you were to take your Bible very quickly and turn back to Mark chapter 10, you'll notice that James and John, the sons of Zebedee in chapter 10 verse 35, they came to him and said, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

I get a bang out of the way that is, you know, agree that no matter what we ask, you're going to do. And Jesus said, what would you like me to do to you? Jesus didn't fall into that trap.

They said to him, grant us to set one on your right hand and the other at your left in your glory. Jesus said, you don't know what you're talking about. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with a baptism with which I am baptized?

And they said, we are able. Jesus said, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with a baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.

And then he says, but to sit on my right hand or my left is not mine to give it. All right. We are willing to be able to drink the cup along with you. Fine.

Come with me and watch with me for an hour while I go through this agony. Eventually, they will drink a cup, not the same one Jesus drank, but all three of these will be martyrs. But on this particular occasion, they don't do very well. But Jesus allowed them close up to see his agony and his cup. There's another reason why he invited them. And that is, I think he wanted them to be with him during his time of agony. And that's why he says, watch with me. But they are sleeping and they sleep because the prediction of Jesus had to be fulfilled that he's going to have to go through his agony alone. And he alone is going to be able to drink the cup that the father has given him. Well, that by way of intro. Now let's look at the passage and let us move through the sequence of what happens here in Gethsemane.

Figuratively speaking, let us take the shoes from off our feet because we are on very holy ground. First of all, the sorrow of Jesus, the sorrow of Jesus. Mark uses two terms that are very vivid and very gripping. He says, my soul is troubled. And you'll notice it says he began to be greatly distressed. That's the first phrase, greatly distressed and troubled.

Wow. Jesus here is going through what can best be termed emotional turbulence. As a matter of fact, it says that as he began to go in verse 35, going a little farther, he fell on the ground.

Matthew says that he fell on his face. The agony that he was going through was so great. It was so it was like convulsions within him emotionally.

How could we describe it? Fear? Yes, fear, but something deeper than fear that we could call dread. There was anxiety.

There was a sense of distress that you and I can never even imagine. And Jesus falls down because it is so great. What is the cup that he needs to drink? Well, we continue reading the text and we notice that he falls 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. What is the cup? In order to understand that, you need to realize that in the Old Testament especially, the cup always refers to the wrath of God. Sometimes the cup may have good contents in a different context, but usually it is a time of God's wrath. For example, in Isaiah 51, it says, Wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord, the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs, the bowl, the cup of staggering. What the cup was that Jesus was about to drink is the wrath of God leashed upon him because of your sin and because of mine.

He was going to take the hit. He was going to endure what rightfully would be coming to us were he not to throw himself between us and God as a shield and take it for us. Let's jump into the deep end of the pool theologically for a moment. When the Bible talks about the death of Jesus, who was responsible for the death of Jesus? Well, the Jews crucified him. The Romans crucified him. You and I crucified him because we're all guilty and it is because he laid down his life for sheep like us that he died.

But to that list, we should add God. The Bible says that it pleased the Lord to crush him and to put him to grief. Now, God didn't do the evil of crucifying Jesus.

Wicked men did that. But Jesus died within the providence of God, the providential plan of God, because this was God's way to bring about redemption. And God said, when wicked hands crucify my son on him will be laid the iniquity of all who trust him and believe him.

What a statement. Jesus had no sin in him because he wasn't a sinner, but he did have sin laid on him. He was declared to be a sinner because our sin legally was transferred onto his shoulders and he, as the holy son of God, came in contact with evil and with impurity and with our sin.

I speak to you candidly. You and I have no idea what contact with sin meant to the sinless spotless son of God. You have no idea what it meant for Jesus Christ to be made sin and then break fellowship with his heavenly father because of the iniquity that was laid upon his shoulders. And in those three hours of suffering, the first three hours on the cross, Jesus is suffering under the hands of men. The last three hours he suffers under the hands of God.

Think about this. In those three hours was condensed all of the wrath and all of the suffering that you and I would endure in an eternity of hell. Jesus absorbed it all in a three hour period when he drank that cup. You should not think that God is the vengeful God and Jesus is the wonderful member of the Trinity who's loving. Don't ever put the Trinity up against one another in that way.

The father also is loving. God loved the world that he gave, the Bible says, so the father also loves. This was a plan that was arranged. The Bible teaches before the worlds began, before creation, God had a plan of redemption and the plan was that the son would pay to the father the penalty of sin for those who trust Christ and therefore having done that, redemption would be accomplished for those who believe and receive it. This was the plan of God and that was the cup. You and I cannot imagine it.

We can talk about it, but it's difficult for us to understand it. So much for the sorrow of Jesus. Now what about the plea of Jesus? Notice the text, your Bible is open, you need to see this. Verse 36 and he said, Abba Father.

Abba is a term of endearment. Sometimes it's like daddy. It shows you the intimacy of Jesus and his father. He says Abba Father, the fellowship is still there. The father's presence still surrounds him.

He still knows and has contact with the father. And by the way, on the cross, he uses the word father twice. The very first time when he says, father, forgive them. And the very last time when he says, father into thy hands, I commit my spirit. But during those moments when he became sin for us, he did not use the word father. He cried out and said, Oh my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Because the relationship with the father had now been interrupted when he was made sin for us. But he comes now.

The fellowship is still there. He says Abba Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me. And the Greek text would indicate that Jesus is expecting that if it is possible, the father would do it. Was it possible?

Well looked at from the standpoint of power, of course it was possible. Jesus at any point could have called 12 legions of angels and they'd have come to deliver him. The father could have taken Jesus right out of Gethsemane and taken him straight to heaven. Of course it was possible in the sense of God's strength. What made it impossible is that if that prayer had been answered in the sense that God says, okay, let's end it here.

You and I would die in our sins and the whole plan of redemption would collapse because this was the only way. Jesus is saying, is there any other way? And the answer is no, there is no other way.

It's not possible. And here you have evangelicals today wondering whether or not there is some other way, wondering whether or not some other teachers, some other guru might be able to save people. When clearly Jesus and the father answered that question in Gethsemane, when Jesus realized that if it were possible, the father would do it, but it wasn't possible and have us redeemed. So he said, not my will, but thine be done. And what Jesus was really saying here is that I am willing to submit. And that's the plea that Jesus gives. And now we come to the submission of the son to the father.

Here we have a conflict of wills. Here we see Jesus most clearly in his humanity. He was both God and man, but sometimes we see his humanity very clearly.

And this possibly is one of the clearest places in all the Bible where we can see his human ness. You'll notice he says, father, if it is possible for you, remove this cup from me yet. Not what I will, but what you will father humanly, humanly. I don't want to do this humanly. I cannot even imagine what it is like for my holy nature to be in contact with sin directly and to be accused of having committed all those sins legally humanly.

I can't grasp it. If there is some other way do it, but not my will, but your will. You say, well, how can the will of the son and the will of the father be out of harmony? Well, in this particular instance, as you can see, Jesus in his humanness is asking that question, but it is exactly here that the will of the son and the will of the father come together in harmony when he says, not my will, but thine be done. My friend, doing the will of God often involves a conflict of desires. We live in a culture today that basically says, you know, you can follow God and kind of do whatever you like and your desires somehow just fall in line.

No, no, no, no, no. There are times when our desires are in one direction and the euphoria of following that direction is so powerful and overwhelming, but the will of the father is greater. And what we must do is to be like Jesus who simply said, not my will, but thine be done.

Well, my friend, this is pastor Lutzer. And each time I meditate on this passage of scripture, I'm reminded of the conflict that I just spoke about. Desires go in one direction.

This goes in another direction. And we will be eternally grateful that Jesus Christ overcame his emotional desires and simply bowed his head and said, thy will be done. And it is because of that, that you and I are redeemed. What is it like to glorify God in our lives? Well, I'll tell you simply. It means this. It is a joyful acceptance of what God leads us into and what God provides and plans for us.

Now, there's a lot in that statement that can be unpacked, but the simple fact is this. We have to remember that Jesus in his humanness is a great example for us. I've written a devotional entitled For Us, 30 Days for Meditation. Thinking about the cross of Jesus Christ, thinking about Gethsemane, the betrayal of Judas, all of the steps that are necessary, that were necessary for Jesus Christ to go all the way to the cross. And then, of course, following the cross, the resurrection.

For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. It's a wonderful devotional that I believe will be a great blessing for you. And of course, during this time, as we anticipate Easter, what better way to prepare our hearts than to linger at Calvary and the events that surrounded it? As a matter of fact, this devotional also includes a prayer at the end.

It's a reminder that we should always begin with Jesus on our mind. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Right now, you can go to rtwoffer.com. The title of the devotional, For Us. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Erwin Lutzer introducing a series he's calling For Us, marking the events of the last week of Jesus' life on earth. Next time, more of What Happened in Gethsemane. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.