Getting ready for what was ahead, Jesus retreats to His usual place of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. If you’ve seen this holy site in Jerusalem, it’s at the location (across the Kidron Valley from the Temple Mount) of the “Church of All Nations,” built over the site where Jesus would have flung himself to the ground for those final prayers before his arrest…
I want you to know today that the name Gethsemane is a sign in itself. The word ‘Gethsemane’ is synonymous with “tribulation,” meaning “press,” connoting the stomping of the grape to squeeze out the blood of the vine. (Both grapes and olives were pressed in this location throughout its history.) For Jesus, this place was a sign of things to come, when his own life blood would be squeezed out on the cross…
Jesus expects Gethsemane to be a time of final communion with His Father in preparation for the Cross. Even though he’s predicted that all the disciples will deny him, he still takes his inner circle of Peter, James, and John with Him to the place of prayer, hoping that their entry into a time of denial/betrayal will be delayed until the very last moment. In other words, Jesus counts on both … communion with God and fellowship with friends to get him through this most difficult time of his life! He doesn’t expect His friends to continue with Him beyond this point in the garden, but his Heavenly Father is different. Surely he’ll stay beside him through this ordeal which no man had ever suffered before, and no one would ever suffer again…
Well, our experiences don’t allow us to even come close to understanding the depths of Jesus’ emotions in the Garden of Gethsemane. And even Jesus, at this particular time, is not fully prepared for the shock of reality that overwhelms him in the Garden. Mark’s Gospel says it this way: “He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony” (v. 33b, MSG). There’s not one English translation that I’ve found that’s strong enough to carry the full impact of Jesus’ feelings at this time. A more literal translation would be, “He began to be terrified and disoriented.” Sheer terror strikes his soul as—for the first time—he faces the reality of unbridled evil…
As I was preparing for this message today, I couldn’t help but think to myself that none of us have ever experienced a world in which God wasn’t present. But, even if just for a short time, Jesus did. He’d just gone through 3 years of full-time and grueling ministry. He was now near Jerusalem, the final destination of his life. And, folks, I can just imagine that in his human body, Jesus was a bit wore out … as he prepared himself for the cross that was ahead. Let’s read what happened on this leg of the journey…
They came to an area called Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him. He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony. 34 He told them, “I feel bad enough right now to die. Stay here and keep vigil with me.” 35 Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: 36 “Papa, Father, you can—can’t you?—get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want—what do you want?” 37 He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? 38 Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” 39 He then went back and prayed the same prayer. 40 Returning, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t have a plausible excuse. – Mark 14:32-40 (MSG)
When we tire on the journey, it is those times that we’re most susceptible to temptation in our lives. And that’s our mile-marker for today: Temptation. So, the question is—using Jesus as our example, how can we stay true to the path God has us on even when we tire from the journey? How can we safely refuel while on the journey? Very simply, here’s what I’ve learned from this part of Jesus’ journey…
PERSONAL PRAYER (Communion with God) IS A GREAT WAY TO REFUEL! Again, when Jesus was tired from his journey, tempted to not continue on in the direction God had set for his life, he depended on communion with God. When we go to God we connect with our Life-Source—the One who knows us from the inside out and can help in ways no other can. The temptation however, when the journey has worn us out—when we are absolutely on our last ounce of energy … is to run from God…
I don’t know if you’ve ever witnessed this phenomenon or not, but as a pastor I see it all too often. I watch as people get into tough situations in their lives … really in over their heads—in a variety of ways—and when they’re just plain wore out, and probably not thinking real clearly, the temptation is to run from God in their lives … instead of toward God! I really don’t understand it, except that when the going gets tough … we seem to revert back to what we’re most comfortable with. And for some, the most comfortable thing for them is to be in control of any given situation themselves…
But folks, when are we going to learn? When are we going to learn that … when we go to God we connect with our Life-Source—the One who knows us from the inside out and can help in ways no other can… (Can I stress that anymore?)
At the outside chance you don’t yet understand what I’m talking about, let me ask the question in a different way. When you get to a point in your life where you are just plain tuckered out, life is somewhat painful, and you’re tempted to ‘give up’ on your life’s direction (or God’s direction for your life): What kinds of pain-killers are you using instead of personal prayer? Here’re some examples we tend to drift toward:
Ungodly Relationships–those outside of our God-given covenant relationships (marriage); that’s a temptation for many…
Alcohol or other drugs (both prescribed & illegal)…
Excessive work (burying ourselves and our problems in the job)…
Pornography (or other ‘escapes’ involving fantasy)…
Gambling … whatever might seem to ease the pain…
The problem is, all of these ‘answers’ to those times when we’re at the end of our rope … are just temporary at best! We need to do what Jesus did during his greatest time of stress—turn to God … and stay close to him! Because it’s eternal, that relationship is the only one that will truly help us overcome the temptation to just give up. And, here’s the other thing Jesus did … and we need to be doing, too, when we’re just plain wore out on the journey: We need to know that…
CORPORATE PRAYER (Fellowship of Friends) IS A GREAT WAY TO REFUEL! Not only do we have the help of others to pray us through some situations, but we also find out we’re not alone! It is so important that we have friends who will stay awake during our times of hardship … which is why I hesitantly elaborate on this story:
Folks, Jesus desperately needed the fellowship of friends. Leaving Peter, James, and John behind to keep watch, Jesus goes a short distance, falls on His face and pleads like a little child before His Father for release from the cards that’ve been dealt him. And to pray “Papa (Abba), Father” (v. 36), as a desperate child … is in line with his helplessness…
No longer is Jesus the self-sufficient adult, teacher, and miracle-worker…
He who teaches that we must become as a little child to inherit the kingdom finds His words coming full circle…
At the end of His reliance on human and supernatural resources, Jesus falls back into the love of the Father—what he is most familiar with and trusts…
Jesus also falls back onto the will of God as the only way he can accept the misery that lies ahead…
Reason has no answer…
Experience is not sufficient…
Feeling is out of control…
And his human will lacks the strength to “tough it out”…
Piece by piece, every layer of Jesus’ self-reliance is peeled off until nothing remains except an unshakable desire to do the will of God at all costs, “But please, not what I want—what do you want?” (v. 36). Now, the whole Gethsemane thing comes to life … as Jesus begins to be crushed in the “press”—his blood beginning to flow…
He desperately needs the fellowship of friends, but what happens? Jesus comes back to check on his ‘friends’ who are there with him. What does he find?
They’ve fallen asleep, perhaps victims of exhaustion themselves…
Returning from prayer, in pretty good control of His mind, emotions, and will, Jesus finds the disciples ‘resting their eyes’ … and he breaks the gloom of the Garden with a bit of wry humor, “Simon, you went to sleep on me?” (v. 37). (Of course, he’s sleeping. It’s kind of like the person who calls you on the telephone in the middle of the night and asks, “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you asleep?” If the mind is quick enough, the best answer is, “No, no problem. I had to get up and answer the phone anyway.”) Peter has no answer; as one who pledged to die for Him, he can’t even stay awake for Him now…
And this scene repeats itself two more times before Jesus is arrested…
Folks, on this night of Jesus’ greatest need, not only did he need communion with the Father, but he also needed the fellowship of friends! So, what’s the moral of this story? Choose your friends wisely—those who will stay awake for you when you need them the most…
Seriously, on the third time Jesus returns from prayer and finds His disciples in a sleepy stupor, he knows that the hour of his betrayal has come. Prayer is in the past. His mind is clear. His emotions are strong. His will is set. With the dignity and valor of a king who goes to his death with honor, Jesus commands His disciples, “Get up. Let’s get going. My betrayer has arrived” (v. 42).
Folks, again with Jesus as the example for our journeys in life, where do we turn when we get so tired out from the journey that we’re not even thinking straight anymore—to a point where our temptation is to give up, to exit the journey God has us on and look for another? What do we need?
What we need today, as we contemplate those times in our lives, is an emergency contact plan. (You didn’t expect that, did you?) You know what an emergency contact plan is, don’t you? Especially when you travel, who needs to be contacted in case of an emergency? That’s what this plan does for us…
In times where we’re facing today’s mile-marker head-on—temptation, we need to know who to turn to—who to contact immediately (and, just for the record, it’s not ourselves):
God is at the very top of this list; isn’t that what Jesus did?
Next on the list should be ‘faith friends’ or your pastor—friends that will be there for you at your time of greatest need…
And, folks, know this about your #1 Emergency Contact: God’s calling plan has unlimited minutes… So, let this be my final word today:
Get busy calling God (prayer), especially when you’re tempted to give up on something along the way!
Increase your prayer life in number of minutes (since these are unlimited in God’s plan)…
And increase the depth of your conversation!
God’s always there for you … and I’ll just bet your friends are, too!