Preparing for Suffering: Christ's Example of Prayer and Submission

Jesus saying okay remember when you went out and Everyone Cared for you and they took care of you and everything was provided for they yeah yeah yeah he goes well guess what times have changed now you know how in the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter chapter 53 how it prophesies that I'm going to be counted as a criminal I I'm going to I'm going to die between two criminals I'm going to be counted among the the transgressors the villains that's the way people are going to look at me from here on out that time which the Old Testament scriptures prophesied is about to be fulfilled they're about to arrest me now they're going to take me down and that means they're going to be against you as well so no more of this going into a home here or there if you've got your stuff it's every man for himself now this is going to be crazy it's no longer cordial so you better go if you're going to go on a mission and tell people about me you better have your stuff with you because people aren't going to be as friendly and and he makes that statement he says look if you've if if you don't have a sword sell your cloak and get one [00:03:04]

as we uh approach this subject of Christ's suffering and the time when the Old Testament scriptures are fulfilled and he's treated as a you know as this horrible man and and crucified dying for our sins you guys I I I just I was struggling last night you know I came to service and one of the elders in the church looked at me and said you know what's a matter you know are you okay and uh I I was just struggling because this is such a sacred topic the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and I don't ever want to be casual about it and and how in the world do you explain what God in heaven did for us on the cross how in the world do you put that in the words to where you don't just believe it intellectually but you get it you know you feel it and you just go wow you did that for me how in the world can I communicate that in in such a way that is sacred enough to the topic you know it's such a weighty issue and and I'd really like us just to take a moment right now if you would just bow your heads and pray for yourself just ask God to help you just really understand how much he loves you okay would you just bow your heads right now just and ask God help me understand how much Jesus suffered for me and how much he loves me [00:05:03]

father if you are willing take this cup from me yet not my will but yours be done an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him and being in anguish he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground go this may be for me personally the most touching scene in the whole sequence um because you see what's going on here after Jesus tells his disciples what's going to happen he goes away finds his place in the Mount of Olives and and and he just leaves his disciples there he just he goes you guys stay here and pray and he goes and he starts praying to the father see Jesus knows what he's about to go through that night he knows what what the next day is going to bring you know we a lot of us have seen the movie The Passion you know of the Mel Gibson's and and you just think wow you know everything that he went through Jesus knows this is about to take place and so here's the the few moments before that where he's in the garden and and and and uh the Bible says that he's on his knees and he just keeps on praying Matthew says he fell on his face and he's praying to God and he begs God he says father can you take this away from me can you take this cup the cup the idea of what I'm about to drink what I'm about to go through what I'm supposed to experience can you take that away from me do I have to go through what I'm about to go through tomorrow man the the beatings the nailing to the Cross you looking at me as all the sins of the world are upon me is there any way you can take this away from me [00:10:59]

and and the Bible says you know God sends an angel to strengthen him and that just gets him to pray even more passionately and he begs it's so much so that it says that that Blood starts dripping out of his body he starts sweating like drops of blood and and you know there actually is a a medical condition um that's called um hemato hydrosis the whole idea is that there is a time when your body can can be in so much anguish and this Happ happens still it's a rare thing but but your your blood vessels that surround your sweat glands they they form like this netlike you know uh conglomeration and and and if there if you're under enough stress or anguish the blood vessels will actually constrict dilate and then burst and and move into your sweat glands and then as you sweat profusely the blood comes out with your sweat but but you know I I think of times when I've cried out to God or been in so much anguish I mean I I think that most of us have experienced times where we just think gosh I was in so much pain so much Agony but but I've never come close to sweating blood and that's where Jesus watch you got to remember this is the Son of God he comes down on the earth he knows he's about to be crucified and he is dreading it so much that he's screaming out to the father is there any other way is there any way you can take this away from me I don't want to go through this this is there any other way and he's begging so badly that he's dripping blood and he's doing that for me that he went through that for me when I think about someone going through that much anguish for me because he knew how much pain he was going to suffer Jesus wasn't going to the Cross as some you know super human like a this isn't going to hurt me a whole lot I mean the intensity of knowing what he was going to go through he didn't want this not in the sense of oh I'm really going to find pleasure in this and yet he prays goes Lord but it's not my will I understand that you've got a bigger picture it's more important your will be done I'm just telling you my desires this isn't exactly what I feel like doing over the next 24 hours but but your will is more important than mine [00:16:33]

why are you sleeping he asked them get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation okay Jesus after praying this intense prayer you know wiping the blood off comes over over sees his disciples and they're asleep but the Bible says they're exhausted from sorrow because that's understandable you your your best friend has just told you that he's about to die you've gone through this whole period of time with him you're blown away he's going to be betrayed everything else and you're just absolutely wiped out you ever have a time like that when you've just been balling your eyes out you're just wiped out all the pain from the day everything else and when you hit your pillow you just crash you're just so not just physically but emotionally exhausted that's where the disciples were and so you would think if they had an excuse to be sleeping this would be it yet Jesus says hey there's no excuse for this what are you guys doing I know you're exhausted but do you understand how important prayer is you need to get up and pray right now so that you don't end up falling into your Temptation gosh again you know remember Jesus prayed for Peter and said you know what Satan's going to try to destroy you but I've prayed for you and now he's telling his disciples pray that you don't fall into temptation they fall asleep goes wake up what are you doing I said pray this is so important there's no excuse for not praying for yourself you've got to beg for it you know I I had I had two different people this week asked me hey how do you stay consistent in your walk with God they said it seems like I'll I'll walk with God for a few days I'll do real well or maybe a few weeks sometimes even a few few months but it seems like eventually I always go back to my sin I always get grabbed back you know H how do you just stay consistent all the time and you guys there's no secret to that man all of us struggle and and and it's exactly what Jesus is saying here is you got to pray you got to beg God because all of us myself include all of us we're this close to falling and and if you do not regularly just beg God for your own Purity for your own Holiness you're going to fall I mean how seriously do you take prayer do you literally wake up every morning and just beg God to keep you on the right path man and if that's not enough do you pray every hour saying God okay this hour just get me through this hour focused on you because I know Satan wants to destroy me I know the Temptation is coming my way but I'm begging you God right now just just keep me pure so I tell you if if you don't have a healthy prayer life you will fall there's no secret it's not like well once you're a Christian for 20s something years then you can back off no no Jesus is saying listen in fact in Matthew he tells them look your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak so you better pray very important phrase your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak so pray see I'm willing to bet that that that 95% of you you're in this room because your spirit is willing in other words inside you want want to live the way God wants you to live right that's why you come to church it's like okay God I want to be cuz I know that's the best way to live life I've experienced it before I've had that Joy with you before I know when I'm walking the way you want me to everything seems to just fall into place and I want that and I want to be holy I want to be pure and you have that in your spirit but the Bible says even though your spirit is willing this flesh this body you live in is very weak and and and so many people nowadays you know depend on their willpower you you don't have any power you know you're so weak you know you think oh no no I can do it I'll discipline I'll this that he says you know what your spirit's willing but your flesh is weak you have to pray that's our only guard that's my only chance at making through this life living the way God wants me to is if other people pray for me and I'm praying for myself and when I pray you know you know what convicted me about this passage was the way that Jesus prayed I mean so intensely that he's sweating blood a lot of times when I pray I am so casual you know it's almost like honestly a lot of times when I pray I'm not even really praying it's more like I'm thinking out loud and I'll just kind of casually throw some thoughts out and I know this because sometimes I as I'm throwing them out I'll start drifting my mind will start day dream dreaming about different things and pretty soon I'm in a whole another world and forgot that I was even praying see that's not the way Jesus prayed when Jesus prayed he was locked in he was saying Dad this is what I got to have and he's focused on him see there's a difference between throwing a bunch of words up in the air and connecting with God you know what I mean we do that sometimes when we sing right sometimes we'll just sing a song here in church other times you're connected with God and you're saying no Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord Open the Eyes you know when you're you're actually speaking to him connecting with him we we do this even in our conversations with people sometimes we'll just kind of talk and tell a story other times man we lock in and we connect and we know who we're speaking to we're really listening to their thoughts their feelings their concerns man I'll get in that mode up here where I'll just kind of throw out a sermon then other times I'll see faces and connect and really think no I really I really want this person to understand the love of God you know we we got to get this you got to understand how important prayer is you really have to understand every single person in this room will fall away unless they pray you're going to be tempted Satan is so after you you think that the prayer time is just another thing to do in the church no I believe in that time you know when I ask you to pray for one another it's not just so you make new friends it's because you know what we got to start depending on this cuz it's our only chance it's our only hope do you believe that are you connected with God begging him for your own Purity like Jesus was anyways it goes on in in verse 47 and it says while he was still speaking a crowd came up and the man who was called Judas one of the 12 was leading them and he approached Jesus to to kiss him but Jesus asked him Judas are you betraying the son of man with a kiss and when jesus' followers saw what was going to happen they said Lord should we strike with our swords and one of them which John explains as Peter struck the servant of the high priest cutting off his right ear but Jesus answered no more of this and he touched the man's ear and healed him okay so so here comes the band of people to arrest Jesus and Judas is leading them but he comes up to Jesus and starts to kiss him on the cheek now why he does that possibly it's so that you know just like when he snuck into the Lord's supper and pretend he was one of the crew that he was still playing that same game and just kind of casually oh Jesus I love you and Jesus looks at him he goes you're going to betray me with a kiss I know what you're doing you're going to fake this token of friendship and we meanwhile you're you're you're handing me over to these guys Peter sees the crowd going oh Jesus told us to get swords so he pulls his sword out and he just starts going for it okay you guys distract him you know and he's uh and he goes and he cuts off one of the guard's ears and that and again this is why I'm saying Jesus wasn't literally telling them to fight that was a figure of speech getting them ready for for the the attacks that were coming because as Peter goes and does that what does Jesus do he stops him that's not what I'm talking about then he puts his hand on that that guard's ear and the ear grows back the ear just miraculously heals because look if I wanted to fight I could fight I don't need you look I just put his ear back you know you really think I need you running around with a sword you know I I I think there's just so much said in that statement you know and and and and he he he says in in in verse 52 he says then Jesus says to the chief priest the officers of the temple guard the elders who had come from him he goes am I leading a rebellion here am I leading a rebellion that you have to come with swords and clubs he goes every day I was with you in the temple courts and you didn't lay a hand on me but this is your hour when darkness rains he says look why are you guys coming with me you know with all these swords all these men in fact John says that there was a Roman cohort with him and a cohort is actually 600 men 600 soldiers now whether it was the whole cohort I mean that's what the scriptures say seems to imply but picture this Army of men coming to arrest Jesus and Jesus goes what are you guys doing I've been standing in the temple with no weapons just kind of teaching why don't you just pull me aside and arrest me and the obvious answer was because that would have started a ride and everything else but after what Jesus just does this miracle he says look I'm not here to lead a rebellion he goes you know why I'm going with you because this is your hour this is a dark dark time this was a time that was prophesied I just told my disciples about that this it's just time and I'm going with you and uh oh what a what a heavy heavy time in the life of Our Lord this is where it all starts and um I I just want to I want us to do justice to this I want us to remember what he did for us um it's not just an outline for prayer I want us to remember what Jesus did on that cross and really what he did in the garden man don't forget that picture don't forget a picture of a son begging his daddy in the garden to take a cup away from him and to beg so intensely that he's sweating blood because he so badly doesn't want this and don't forget the picture of a father watching all of this and loving you so much that he was willing to watch his son go through that for you so he can have a relationship with you I want to give you some time to respond um just in prayer maybe communion what whatever the Lord leads you to do but this isn't one of those messages you just kind of walk out the doors okay Jesus died for me now I I want you to just connect really connect with God right now and tell him how thankful you are think about who you're speaking to and literally speak to him and thank him for what he went through for you for [00:21:09]

I want us to remember what he did for us um it's not just an outline for prayer I want us to remember what Jesus did on that cross and really what he did in the garden man don't forget that picture don't forget a picture of a son begging his daddy in the garden to take a cup away from him and to beg so intensely that he's sweating blood because he so badly doesn't want this and don't forget the picture of a father watching all of this and loving you so much that he was willing to watch his son go through that for you so he can have a relationship with you I want to give you some time to respond um just in prayer maybe communion what whatever the Lord leads you to do but this isn't one of those messages you just kind of walk out the doors okay Jesus died for me now I I want you to just connect really connect with God right now and tell him how thankful you are think about who you're speaking to and literally speak to him and thank him for what he went through for you for [00:30:43]