"Jesus' Willingness, Suffering,
& Confidence In Prayer"
Sermon on Luke 22:39-46
Saint Mark's, Watertown
Pastor Karl Walther
March 4, 1998
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Amen.
The Word of the Lord for this second set of services in our Lenten Midweek series is Luke chapter twenty-two, verses thirty-nine through forty-six. It is Luke's account of Jesus' temptation and petition on the Mount of Olives:
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "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.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."
This is God's Spirit-inspired Word of Jesus Christ.
Introduction: Jesus' Procession To the Mount Of Olives
Dear fellow Christians-- for whom Jesus displayed willingness, suffering, and confidence in prayer:
Last week we left Jesus in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. That city was -- nineteen hundred and sixty-eight years ago or so -- the capital city of Israel and its largest city as well. Jerusalem was home to maybe fifty thousand people in only about one square mile. Jesus himself had been in a house, likely along the southwest edge of the city. The Upper Room was above that house proper, with no entrances or exits to itself, furnished probably with couches and a low table.
There in the Upper Room, Jesus had already washed his disciples' feet, picturing their forgiveness and giving them an example always to forgive one another. Jesus had already predicted his imminent betrayal at the hands of Judas. He had also warned Peter against his upcoming denial. Finally, amid other considerable conversation, Jesus had instituted Lord's Supper.
Now it was already getting to be the middle of the evening. Jesus exits the house with his eleven disciples following him. They make their way in the darkness that block or two south to the city gate. And then, in even deeper darkness, they take the road along the south edge of Jerusalem. The better part of a mile, and maybe the better part of a half hour, they follow that road to the east and then to the north, crossing the gurgling Kidron Creek.
They reach the Mount of Olives. Its slopes began to rise a scant few blocks east of the temple complex-- with the Kidron Valley in between. At its peak the Mount of Olives towered another hundred feet over the already tall city of Jerusalem. To the west a person had an unparalleled view of all of Jerusalem; to the east a person had an unparalleled view of the Judean wilderness and the Dead Sea. On the slopes of the Mount of Olives, thousands of pilgrims to the Passover festival were camping out.
But Jesus and his disciples retreat to a quieter place: Gethsemane. It is a garden or enclosure of some sort, likely tucked away in an orchard, on the slope of the Mount of Olives. In it likely stands an oil press for the manufacture of olive oil-- because the word "Gethsemane" means "oil press" in Aramaic. In our day ancient olive trees still stand there and bear their olives among the churches that have been built on the spot.
Theme: Jesus' Willingness, Suffering, & Confidence In Prayer
This is the setting. It is then and there that we observe JESUS' WILLINGNESS, SUFFERING, AND CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER today. Jesus' Willingness, Jesus' Suffering, Jesus' Confidence In Prayer -- as we shall see -- first of all HAD HIM ACCOMPLISHING OUR SALVATION, and secondly HAD HIM EXEMPLIFYING OUR PETITIONS.
Scripture: Jesus' Temptation & Petition On the Mount Of Olives
Today's account begins: Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives. Obviously prayer in this quiet place was nothing unusual for our Savior. And we read: His disciples followed him. Jesus was very much alone in the lead here, because the salvation he was about to bring about was something only he could accomplish.
On reaching the place, Jesus said to his disciples, "Pray -- not for me, as important as my work is -- but Pray that you will not fall into temptation." Jesus' loving concern was for his disciples, whom he knew that night would be scattered. Jesus' loving concern was for his disciples: that they would not fall from faith or bring regrettable disrepute to their Lord.
Now though, the focus turns for awhile completely to Jesus. He withdrew -- literally, it's even that he dragged himself away (he knew the suffering he was soon to undergo). He dragged himself away about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed. Now kneeling down was not the usual posture for prayer. Usually the Jewish people stood up and reached out to the God of heaven. But Jesus was humbly falling before his Father and humbly submitting to his Father. One of the other accounts even has his face on the ground here.
And Jesus prayed: "Father...." Before the time of Christ, God's people only rarely addressed the Lord as Father. But now Christ's work on our behalf powerfully declares God to be our Father. "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me"-- this cup of suffering: a suffering, by the way, to which the cup of Lord's Supper connects us. Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, and then Jesus repeats the thought: "Yet not my will, but yours be done." It is an utter willingness on the part of Jesus Christ that God his Father would have his way.
Into the scene, we read: An angel from heaven -- sent from God -- appeared to him -- although of course, other sleepier eyes missed the view. And the angel strengthened him-- as angels will do.
And we read: being in anguish -- the Greek here is "agonia": he was in agony -- he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. This is the second and last mention of sweat in the Bible. The first is in Genesis three, after the fall into sin, where God says to Adam: By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground. So here in the Garden of Gethsemane, we have God's Child sweating-- eventually to reverse the sweating of us who are Adam's children, a sweating promised in the Garden of Eden. And Jesus' sweat was like drops of blood-- thick, dark, and pointing ahead to blood that would soon encircle his thorn-crowned brow.
Then we read: Jesus rose from prayer. The word for rose here is the common word for resurrection-- prayer resurrected Jesus: it gave him new life in the face of death; and of course, his prayer gives us new life in view of his death.
Now back to the disciples. When Jesus rose from prayer, he went back those twenty-five yards to the disciples-- at a distance from which they might have heard Jesus praying, but not the exact content of Jesus' prayer. Alas: Jesus found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them in a searching, caring way. And he repeats his previous exhortation: "Get up -- again, the word for resurrection -- "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."
Application One: Jesus' Prayer Had Him Accomplishing Our Salvation
And that's it: Luke's account of Jesus' temptation and petition on the Mount of Olives. So, what does this mean to us?
Well, to begin with, Jesus' Willingness, Suffering, and Confidence In Prayer ... Had Him Accomplishing Our Salvation.
• First of all, Jesus displayed his willingness in prayer. Father, if you are willing, Jesus said, take this cup from me. And again: Yet not my will, but yours be done.
Friends, that's the willingness God demands from us. God wants us to want what he wants. If he wants us to live with sickness, he also wants us to want to live with sickness. If he wants us to live in poverty, he also wants us to want to live in poverty. If he wants us to live in turmoil, he also wants us to want to live in turmoil. After all, he taught us to pray: Thy name be hallowed; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done.
Friends, I don't have to tell you how short you have fallen from fulfilling this command of God. But Jesus' willingness in prayer -- right here -- has made up your shortfall. To God, in Jesus' name, you are sinless.
• Secondly, Jesus displayed his suffering in prayer. Being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Friends, that's the suffering God demands from us. God hates sin. God hates every sin. And God demands suffering for every sin. God demands suffering for the lukewarm nature of our love. God demands suffering for the sinful nature of our sadness. God demands suffering for the strife we produce. The Scriptures say: The soul that sins-- it shall die.
Friends, I know you'd pay any price to get out of the eternal death your soul deserves. But Jesus' suffering: suffering we see here in his prayer -- Jesus' suffering has paid that price. To God, in Jesus' name, your sins are paid for.
• Thirdly, Jesus displayed his confidence in prayer. He rose from prayer. Even more literally: He resurrected from prayer. It shows Jesus' confidence.
Friends, that's the confidence God demands from us. God wants us to trust him in sickness or in health. God wants us to trust him in poverty or in wealth. God wants us to trust him at war or at peace. God has said: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Friends, I don't have to tell you how short you have fallen from fulfilling all of that. But Jesus' confidence in prayer -- right here -- has made up your shortfall. To God, in Jesus' name, your trust in him is total.
Application Two: Jesus' Prayer Had Him Exemplifying Our Petitions
Okay: Jesus' Willingness, Suffering, and Confidence In Prayer -- primarily -- Had Him Accomplishing Our Salvation. But in view of that: Jesus' Willingness, Suffering, and Confidence In Prayer Had Him Exemplifying Our Petitions, too.
• Jesus displayed willingness in prayer. "Not my will, but yours be done," he said. And that's the attitude we want to take into prayer. When we pray regarding our health, we want to leave open the possibility that God may be glorified by our further sickness. When we pray regarding our wealth, we want to leave open the possibility that God may be glorified by our further poverty. When we pray regarding our relationships, we want to leave open the possibility that God may be glorified as we work through further difficulties.
• Secondly, Jesus displayed suffering in prayer. He prayed, it says here, earnestly. And that's the attitude we want to take into prayer. We want to place enough premium on prayer that we actually take time to do it; maybe that means that tomorrow you start your day: beginning a list of people for whom to pray, and taking ten minutes to do so. We want to place enough premium on prayer that we actually concentrate on doing it; maybe that means that tomorrow you start your day by going to your room, turning off the t.v., turning off the radio, turning off the computer, and simply talking to God.
• Finally, Jesus displayed confidence in prayer. He rose from prayer refreshed. And that's the attitude we want to take into prayer. When we pray regarding our pains, we leave them in the hands of God. And if we start to worry about them again, immediately we pray some more until our worry disappears. When we pray regarding our bills, we leave them in the hands of God. And if we start to worry about them again, immediately we pray some more until our worry disappears. When we pray regarding our relationships, we leave them in the hands of God. And if we start to worry about them again, immediately we pray some more until our worry disappears.
Conclusion: Our Lesson From Jesus On the Mount Of Olives
Now, there's one last -- and one very important -- lesson for our petitions from Jesus On the Mount Of Olives. And that comes from advice Jesus gives to his disciples twice: Pray that you will not fall into temptation.
Friends, those words remind us that as regularly as we pray regarding our sicknesses and those of others, that's how regularly we've got to pray to avoid the sickness of sin. And as regularly as we pray regarding our bills and those of others, that's how regularly we've got to pray to avoid the sins of selfishness and greed. And as regularly as we pray regarding our relationships and those of others, that's how regularly we've got to pray for our relationship to the Lord through Jesus Christ-- and that same relationship on the part of others.
Finally, those are the prayers that will matter eternally: just like Jesus' prayer on the Mount of Olives did....
Amen.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Amen.