Have you noticed how the Passion movie has generated an unprecedented amount of TV specials, magazine cover stories, and a continuous cultural conversation about Christ? Im thankful for that. I do want to give a word of warning, however. Much of what has been published or broadcast in response to the film is actually a thinly veiled attack on Christianity.
The current issue of U.S. News & World Report has a cover story entitled, The Real Jesus: Searching for the truth between Mel Gibson and the Gospels (3/8/04). Thats a pretty intriguing title. Unfortunately, the article states that Gibsons portrayal of the events leading up to and including Christs crucifixion is an exploitation and sensationalistic distortion of the story. The article goes on to say that we all need a corrective curriculum in order to understand what really happened over two thousand years ago. I beg to differ. We dont need liberal scholars to tell us what happened; we need to go back and read the Book! I encourage you to read all four gospels in the next month leading up to Easter.
Let me add that while Mel Gibson has done a great job presenting the passion of Christ, and most of what he depicts is directly from the Bible, there are some additions and there are some things that he leaves out. During this series, I will do my best to address these, and answer some of the questions that this movie may have raised in your mind. First of all, let me define passion. This word comes from a Latin word meaning to submit to suffering and generally refers to the last twelve hours of Jesus life, beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane. Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 26:36-46.
After the bonding experience of the Upper Room where He celebrated the Passover meal and instituted the ordinance of the Lords Supper, Jesus led His disciples to a place of prayer. Please follow along as I read: Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, Sit here while I go over there and pray. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? he asked Peter. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. He went away a second time and prayed, My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!
Lets look at why Jesus was drawn to this garden. As we better understand why He came to this place of prayer, well see a pattern that we can follow in our own prayers.
1. A Place of Support. We see in verse 36 that Jesus wanted his disciples to be with Him so He took them to an Olive Garden called Gethsemane, which means, oil-press. Scholars believe that the olives were crushed at this place to get oil. Luke 22:39 indicates that He spent a lot of time here: Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. John 18:2 tells us that when Judas came looking for Jesus; he knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
Its interesting to me that as the suffering of our Savior begins; He wants to be with his friends. We dont think much about this, do we? Jesus had a need for fellowship. Notice that eight of the disciples are told to sit down while Jesus takes three others deeper into the grove. Peter, James and John had also been given the privilege of seeing the glory of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and were witnesses of His power when He raised a little girl from the dead (Matthew 17:1-2; Mark 5:37). And now they were about to see something they had never seen before the sorrow of the Savior.
2. A Place of Sorrow. Verse 37 tells us that Jesus was sorrowful and troubled. This means that His holy heart was heavy. The word itself means to be distracted to the point of separation from others. Hebrews 5:7 says that Jesus offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death Have you ever had so much sorrow that you felt no one else could enter it with you? His anguish was so intense that He could hardly think of anything else. In verse 38, Jesus put words to what was happening, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. This is sorrow in the highest degree. To be overwhelmed means to be encircled with grief. Grief had so gripped Him that He felt like He was dying. In the midst of this sorrow, Jesus wanted support as He asked the three to stay here and keep watch with me.
3. A Place of Solitude. Heres the picture. The eight disciples are somewhere near the entrance to the garden, the three are allowed to go deeper, but then Jesus leaves them and verse 39 says that He went a little farther and fell with his face to the ground. Luke adds that it was a stones throw away. Jesus is now alone as the King of Kings falls on His face in reverence and awe before His heavenly Father. Spurgeon writes: Be much in solitary prayerit is the key to open heaven, so it is the key to shut the gates of hell. The Bible mentions a number of different postures for prayer, so there is no right way to do it. Having said that, when someone was serious about seeking God, they often dropped to the ground in prayer. Numbers 16:22 shows how intense Moses and Aaron were when they interceded on behalf of their people: But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out 2 Chronicles 20:18: Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground
W.A. Criswell tells of the first time he met Billy Graham. Billy said, I feel Gods call on me to be an evangelist. Dr. Criswell encouraged him and said, Lets pray about his matter. After he led in prayer, Dr. Criswell said, When I opened my eyes, there was Billy Graham flat on the floor, with his face on the carpet in prayer. And Criswell said, I knew right then that God was going to use that young man in a special way.
4. A Place of Struggle. The second half of verse 39 reveals His struggle: My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. In the midst of all that Jesus is going through, I love how He addresses God in prayer, My Father. That reminds me of how Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father. We can call out to Him as Father in times of great struggle. Spurgeon says that we should plead our adoption in the day of trial because nothing can forfeit a childs right to a fathers protection. In Mark 14:36, we read that Jesus actually prayed, Abba, Father. Hes literally saying something very tender, Daddy, Father. Jesus then asked that the cup might be taken from Him. The word cup in the Bible was figurative for Gods blessings (Psalm 23:5) and was also used to describe His wrath (Psalm 75:8). As Jesus looked into this cup, what did He see? Why did He want it taken away?
Pastor C. Matthews from Hollywood Baptist Church suggests that there were at least five things that He saw in the cup (www.sermoncentral.com).
Sin. As Jesus is moving toward the cross, He realizes that the punishment for all the sins of the world is about to be poured out on Him. This was something we cant even imagine. Isaiah 53:6: and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that the sinless and spotless Lamb of God actually became sin for us: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This week I had a conversation with someone who told me that she was so moved by the Passion movie that she doesnt want to ever sin again. Ray Pritchard captures this well when he writes: The greatest Christians have always had the most profound sensitivity to sin. The closer you come to Jesus, the more clearly you see your own sin (The Man Who Killed Jesus, 2/29/04, www.calvarymemorial.com).
Suffering. Jesus certainly knew that He was about to suffer, but in the Garden it suddenly became very real. He had already told the disciples what would happen to Him in Luke 9:22: The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Even though He knew what was coming, the anticipation of the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain was almost unbearable. Jesus knew exactly what faced Him in the hours ahead. He had seen crucifixion many times. But I think He agonized most about the fact that all the sins of the world were going to be heaped upon Him. He had never experienced that.
In the place of the olive press, Jesus was feeling the squeeze from Satans pressure. By the way, while the Passion of the Christ movie has Satan appearing in the Garden of Gethsemane; the Bible is silent on this. But without a doubt, Jesus is being tempted to not go through with the Fathers plan.
In his agony, Luke 22:44 says, And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. I checked with a doctor this week about this occurrence and he said that this is something he has never seen in clinical practice and suggests that it may have been supernatural or a super-physiologic body response to the intense anguish of the bitterness in the cup. In his new book called, The Case For Easter, Lee Strobel quotes a medical expert who says, What happens is that severe anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in the sweat glands. As a result, theres a small amount of bleeding into these glands, and the sweat comes out tinged with blood (page 15). I have never prayed with that kind of intensity. Most of my prayers are pretty perfunctory compared to that.
Sacrifice. As He looks deeper into the cup, He sees beyond the sin and the suffering as He recognizes His role as final sacrifice. John 18:1 says that when they went to Gethsemane, they crossed over the Kidron valley. The Brook Kidron was the drainage ditch from the temple. During the Passover, commentator William Barclay estimates that as many as 250,000 lambs were slain. And the blood of those lambs would drain down through this brook into the Jordan River. On Passover night, when Jesus was going to Gethsemane, He stepped over that brook, and He could see it polluted with the blood of lambs. He knew that in a few hours, He was going to be slain as the final sacrificial Lamb of God, His blood satisfying the righteous demands of Gods justice. 1 John 2:2: He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Separation. As He continued to look into the cup, Jesus saw something that caused Him to shudder in horror. He had never experienced this before. He would face separation from His Father when all the sins of world were heaped upon Him. We see this in Matthew 27:46: About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?- which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This cup was filled with bitterness and was almost unbearable. But there was more. In the bottom of the cup, was something sweet.
Salvation. Ultimately, Jesus knew that He had to drink the cup in order to save us from our sins. This is why He came. Mark 10:45: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Let me come back to the Passion movie for a moment. In the opening scene, as Jesus is praying in the Garden, a snake slithers over to Him while He is flat on His face seeking the Father. Jesus calmly stands, looks up to heaven, takes His heel and crushes the snake. This is a beautiful fulfillment of the first prophecy found in Genesis 3:15 spoken to the serpent about the coming Messiah: He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. These words spoken by God contain the earliest promise of redemption in the Bible. When Jesus died on the cross, he delivered a crushing blow to Satan. No one survives a crushed head.
Now, as Jesus struggled with what was in the cup, the disciples snoozed. Look at verses 40-41: Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? he asked Peter. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. I wonder how Peter felt when Jesus singled him out. Peter had just declared that he would never deny Christ, and now he was drooling and wiping sleepies from his eyes. In fairness, the disciples were under emotional strain too. They couldnt keep up with Jesus. They had eaten a big meal. Now it was maybe one or two oclock in the morning. And they wanted to stay awake, but they just couldnt. Have you ever tried to pray and you went to sleep? Or have you ever had a hard time staying awake in church? I cant imagine that ever happening here! Charles Swindoll tells of a man that was snoozing in a service, and his wife nudged him to wake him up. The man stood up and pronounced the benediction right in the middle of the sermon!
I have some sympathy for these disciples who went to sleep in Gethsemane. They knew it was such a serious time, and they tried to pray, but they just couldnt do it. And Jesus said, Oh, couldnt you watch with Me an hour, I need you so badly. But He understood. Thats what I love about Jesus. In His time of stress, He gave grace. He said, The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The second time He came back in verses 43-44, He didnt even wake them up. A tangible byproduct of prayer should be patience with people. If you are irritable with others, always on edge, maybe its an indication that you need to spend some time with the Lord because the Spirit of God produces patience.
5. A Place of Submission. Jesus is beginning to surrender to the cup of sin, suffering, sacrifice, separation and salvation in the last part of verse 39: Yet not as I will, but as you will. I want you to notice carefully that His prayer is slightly different the second time in verse 42: My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. The first time He prayed, If it is possible, and now He prays, If it is not possible. In his first request he longs for the cup to be taken from Him; now He mentions drinking it. In the first plea, He says, Yet not as I will and in the second He declares, May your will be done. Hendriksen adds, The main clause is no longer, Let this cup be spared me, but Thy will be done (The Gospel of Matthew, page 919). Warren Wiersbe writes, Jesus was not wrestling with Gods will or resisting Gods will, He was yielding Himself to Gods will.
There are two elements to Jesus prayer that should be instructional for us.
HE EXPRESSED HIS OWN DESIRE. This is what I want! I want to escape the cross.
HE SUBMITTED HIS DESIRES TO THE FATHER. Not My will, but Your will be done.
Prayer is simply expressing our thoughts and our desires to the Heavenly Father, and then submitting our will to His direction. I like how Spurgeon puts it: Let it be as God wills, and God will will that it shall be for the best.
6. A Place of Strength. We can see that Jesus has been strengthened in verse 46: Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer. Something really special happened during this three-hour prayer time. Jesus had gone into the garden very sorrowful and now emerges strengthened. Before He finished His prayer, we know that the Father sent a heavenly messenger to His Son. Luke 22:43 says, An angel from Heaven appeared and strengthened Him. What did that angel do?
Did he sit and talk with Jesus?
Did he put an arm around His shoulder and sketch out the Resurrection?
Maybe the angel prayed with Him.
Perhaps the angel had a towel and wiped His brow.
Were not told, but when Jesus got up from this place of prayer, He had a spirit of resolve and assurance that He was ready to go to the cross. Lucado adds, When you do Gods will, God will give you the strength needed to complete it.
Lets trace the next few verses to see how the Savior exhibited strength.
Jesus was strong in the face of Judas betrayal. Look at Verse 47: While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. It is estimated that probably 60 soldiers, armed with swords and clubs, came along with the crowd. This is more than was depicted in the Passion movie in fact, John 18:3 says, that Judas came with a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. Verse 48: Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: The one I kiss is the man; arrest him. In verse 49, Judas runs up to Jesus and says, Greetings, Rabbi! and then he kissed him. Have you ever been knifed in the back, verbally, by a family member, a close friend, or a church member? That really hurts. And your first reaction is to get even, to retaliate. But Jesus had just spent three hours with the Father, and He has a marvelous response to Judas in verse 50: Friend, do what you came for. What composure Jesus displayed in the wake of Judas betrayal! I would want to punch his lights out but Jesus calls him, friend.
ยท Jesus was strong in the face of Peters attack. Look at verse 51: One of Jesus companions [we know this is Peter from the other gospel accounts] reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Now, you have to love Simon Peter. He is impulsive, yet inconsistent; courageous, yet cocky. He was carrying a concealed weapon that night. Because he said he would die with Jesus earlier in the night, he took a swing with his sword. He was a great fisherman, but a lousy swordsman. The guy ducked, and Peters sword swished through the air and just clipped off his ear.
Lukes Gospel records that Jesus did an amazing thing. He performed one last miracle before He went to the Cross. After Peter was restrained, and the situation was under control, Jesus went over to the man, who was holding his head in pain and touched the mans ear, and healed him. Is that not incredible? And we know he was the servant of the High Priest who had ordered his arrest! Actually, if Jesus had not healed this man, there may have been four crosses on Calvary.
Jesus was strong in the face of arrest. Jesus takes advantage of a teachable moment and concludes that what was about to happen was prophesied in the Scriptures. Look at verse 56: This has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Jesus could have called down thousands of angels, or they could have taken one of the many escape routes out of the garden. But He didnt because He was now ready to offer His life. John 10:17-18: The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. Theres an interesting sidelight recorded in the Gospel of John. These armed men, who obviously felt like they were in control of the situation, actually hit the ground when Jesus identified himself. John 18:6: When Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Thats similar to the response I heard from a friend after he saw the Passion. He said when he was walking out of the theater all he wanted to do was kneel on the floor because he felt so unworthy.
Lessons From the Garden
I see at least four lessons from the Garden.
1. Follow the model of the Master when youre facing a trial.
Look for support from others.
Pour out your sorrow
Find some solitude
Struggle with God openly
Submit to His will
Then you will find strength
2. Emergency prayer should be preceded by daily prayer. Jesus didnt wait until He was under the shadow of the cross before He started praying. Luke 21:37: Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives.
3. Prayer strengthens us for difficulty more than it changes circumstances.
Sometimes prayer changes circumstances. But God uses prayer more often, not to exempt us from difficulty, but to strengthen us to endure it. You can certainly ask God to give you a pass from cancer, accidents, grief, pain, and financial pressure. But perhaps it is Gods will not to excuse you, but to give you strength and maturity through the trial.
An unknown Confederate soldier wrote this prayer,
I prayed for strength that I might achieve, I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things, I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men, I was given weakness that I might feel the need for God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life, I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for, yet everything that I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed.
4. The ultimate issue is whether or not I will trust God. Will it be the sword or the cup? Will I fight for my way or will I surrender to His way? In his book called, Jesus Among Other Gods, Ravi Zacharias develops the idea of three different gardens (pages 165-188). Because Ravi sometimes is over my head, I asked Pastor Jeff to distill it down for me.
In the Garden of Eden, God asks, Will you trust me? Satan deceives and humans refuse to trust. The Garden of Life becomes a Garden of Death.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, God asks, Will you trust me? Jesus surrenders to His will. The Garden of Despair becomes the Garden of Determination.
In the Garden of the Empty Tomb, death reigns and hope seems lost. God speaks, Will you trust me? Jesus is alive and the Garden of Death becomes the Garden of Eternal Life.
God still speaks today. And through your pain, even your doubts, He whispers, Will you trust me? Will you trust me? Will you trust me?
As we prepare for communion, listen to these words from Max Lucado from his book, When the Angels Were Silent.
The battle is won. You may have thought it was won on Golgotha. It wasnt. You may have thought the sign of victory is the empty tomb. It isnt. The final battle was won in Gethsemane. And the sign of conquest is Jesus at peace in the Olive trees. For it was in the Garden that He made His decisionHe would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
