I invite you to turn tonight in the Bibles that are in front of you to Mark, the Gospel of Mark chapter 14, and I'll be reading at verses 27 through 50 of Mark chapter 14. You'll find that on page 1012 in the Bibles that are in front of you. Again, this is Mark chapter 14, and we'll be reading this section together. Let's give our attention tonight to the word of the Lord. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter said to him, even though they all fall away, I will not. 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, Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. And they went to the place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. and he said to them my soul is very sorrowful even to death remain here and watch and going a little farther he fell 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 yet not what I will but what you will and he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter Simon are you asleep could you not watch one hour watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and again he went away and prayed saying the same words and again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy and they did not know what to answer him and he came the third time and said to them are you still sleeping and taking your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And immediately while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, The one I kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard. And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, Rabbi, and he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day, I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me but let the scriptures be fulfilled and they all left him and fled and there will end tonight uh the reading of god's word well one of the things that i'm frequently asked in fact i recently heard of a discussion among christian parents over um the apostles creed and that little line in there that says he descended into hell. And this particular parent was really, really concerned about that line and said, I really don't think that's true. I think that's a false line. And of course, as Christians, there's been a lot of discussion about that little line, did Jesus descend into hell? And one of the things I think is important up front to say tonight is that we do not believe that Jesus uh descended into hell after his death um we're gonna uh on on Sunday hit a joyful triumphant note that he has he has overcome death and Jesus did not at that point go down as some people say and preach to people in prison so what do we believe about that little line he descended into hell is that a is that true is that something that the scriptures support and what do we mean by that and that's what i want to walk you through a little bit tonight as we look at this important passage in mark's gospel and to illustrate what we believe about what jesus did for us in stepping into our place that's what the gospel is all about that jesus has become a substitute that jesus has stepped into our place that's why i titled the message tonight christ in our place and what are the implications of that and what does that mean for the christian faith and for you tonight as we gather together and worship and come to the table of our lord well jesus is about to suffer and die in the passage that is in front of us and remember what he said to his disciples the whole time jesus has been saying that he will have to go through this and will have to face this the son of man will be delivered up to death and he will rise the third day. Jesus must face this judgment alone. And he is in the passage before us making a break with his disciples. They're desperately trying to hold on to him, aren't they? They are desperately trying to cling to him. They're giving all they have to hold on to Jesus. But I think what you'll see here in this particular passage is all the failures that are recorded one after another to make a very important point. They are trying to be faithful to Jesus. They are trying to be loyal to Jesus. And in the process, they actually end up trying to prevent the very cross that is intended to save them. So this passage is a marvel tonight to look at because it's showing us Christ stepping into our place and his strength and his power to overcome, but to understand what the gospel is really all about. That's what we're looking at tonight. Jesus has just instituted the supper. It is time for Jesus to go and to die. It is time for him to be betrayed. It is time, as Mark keeps saying, that the scriptures need to be fulfilled. Did you notice how many times it says that? And the emphasis there, the scriptures have to be fulfilled. It's in the midst of this that he gives them bread and wine. And he gave a distressing statement. One of you, you can imagine this tonight. We're going to have the supper. A great blessing is being given. One of you will betray me. One of you will betray me. And they, of course, hear those words and are absolutely distressed. Lord, is it I? Which you hear in their cry, which you hear in their response, the concern that they might do that, that they could do that. Jesus comforted them and Jesus answered that question by saying, eat, drink. It's a really wonderful moment to consider the supper that in the midst of this great announcement of betrayal is the giving of the institution of the supper. The death and the resurrection of Jesus is the power that can keep them. His life can hold them. His life can sustain them. And he wanted them to identify with that life, with his life. But now Jesus makes a painful prediction about them. Verse 27 says, Then Jesus said to them, All of you, you will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. All of you will be made to stumble. because of me tonight and then he says this important he had been saying elsewhere that after he had been raised he will go before them to galilee now this little prediction of what jesus had said was not new to them the disciples the entire time had heard it jesus had taught this they had never really accepted it and we'll look at sunday that they had not been able to comprehend it but at one point peter even rebuked him for it you'll remember and jesus would say get behind me satan so this has been a battle the whole time for jesus to express this and their response to this but at another at another point jesus asked an important question are you able to drink this cup are you able to drink the cup that i drink and they answered indeed we are so they're not getting much they're not understanding much the cup was symbolic of the wrath of god and drinking and facing the very wrath that we would have to endure for our sins had he not come it's it's it's just true isn't it that even to this day the gospel and i think what we're seeing here throughout the narratives of the scripture is the gospel is a hard concept for people. You ask people how they're going to stand before a holy God on judgment day. You ask people what they're doing with their sins. You ask people how they think they're going to make it into heaven. And almost universally, it's still said after all these years, you know, if the good outweighs the bad, I'm going to get there. Or I've generally been a good person, so I'm going to get there. This has been a fight to this day in the kingdom of God for people to understand the gospel. And this is how many people think. Well, isn't it interesting in the midst of this great and important moment in Jesus's life, the most important, that he makes this big announcement, you will fail me. You will fail me. How does Peter take to that? Well, verse 30 comes a pompous boast. Verse 29, even though they all fall away, see these other disciples? even though they fall away i'm telling you right now i will not i will not jesus says really peter before the rooster crows you will have done it three times you will have denied me three times and peter of course shoots back in verse 31 emphatically even if i must die with you i will not deny you and they all said the same so here's what i um want you to think about judas is gone at this point his was betrayal his was treachery he has no regard for who jesus is he has no regard for what jesus has come to do he doesn't believe he's a thief he's been stealing off the money purse the whole time they've been walking together. But Jesus here offsets the disciples' actions as denial, doesn't he? Every time the supper is spoken of in the scripture, it's always a marvel to me that it says, in the night in which he was betrayed. Not denied. Betrayed. What's different about denial? Well, denial is refusing something that I desire. It's a battle of the will, isn't it? I actually turn away from or I turn from something deep down that I desire in my heart. There's a sincere love for Christ by the disciples. They have made this commitment to follow Jesus. They have been committed to him. They have left all to follow him. and a prospect now in the heart of his afflictions of denying him, that's just out of the question. There's no way I would do that. It's your greatest determination in life to do and to be. I mean, the world says it all the time. Just set your heart on it. You can be it. Peter would later die as a martyr. But I think we come to an important moment in the Gospels that's capturing the gospel. They can't hold on to themselves for a moment. Do we understand that about the Christian life? This is a real struggle for us. Deep within our hearts, we desire, all of us here, if you're a true believer and you're a sincere believer, there is a sincere desire in your hearts to lead a blameless life. There is a great burning within the heart, a great will, a great desire to please the Lord, to love his law, to do what is right and what is holy and what is good. But we almost run up against exactly what Paul expressed in Romans 7 here, this warfare between this desire to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the inability to do it in this life. You realize that's what resurrection glory is for. You get to enjoy that in full. But it's an inward turmoil. It's an inward battle that we're all facing within our members. It feels at times like we're two people. It's hearts that are pulled this way and that way. And the moment we think we've just done well, that's the next moment we stumble into the same stupid sin. And we're shocked at what wicked hearts can do. I will follow you wherever I go. Tonight, you will deny me three times. Even if all deny you, I would never do that. I won't do that. There's the desire. It's deep. It's committed. Yet in just a few hours, the man will stand there warming himself with the enemies who punch Jesus in the face and then Jesus will turn around and I look right at Peter and Peter will run off bawling. What does that make you want to do? Give up. That's the resurrection event at the sea. Peter went back to fishing. He was done. He gave up. He's a failure. Here's the rock. Here's Peter. No matter how much you desire to love Jesus, to be loyal to him, in and of yourselves, you need to understand you don't have the power. Has that set in yet? You're always fighting it. And you've not really accepted it. I say that because I know I haven't. It's the fight. So what's being shown to you? Well, the entire gospel that's the best news given in the scriptures. It's not you're holding on to Jesus that makes the relationship, the faith, the Christian faith work. You understand that? It's not you're holding on to Jesus that makes this so. It never was. It never was from the beginning when you were carried up in baptism. You didn't have the ability. Jesus is holding on to the will of the Father. That's what the scriptures are showing us. That's what the scriptures keep saying. He's fulfilling scripture. He's fulfilling the will of the Father for you. That's the beautiful message tonight that's set in front of us. And you'll notice how much emphasis on the fact that he had to do this because the scriptures had to be fulfilled. This is what all the scriptures are about. This is what's been prophesied from Genesis 3.15 on. 16. Perfect obedience as a son to his father to go alone now and die and he can do it. Jesus is doing this alone for us. And now you see it in his submission. Notice this. In prayer, to the will of his father, as opposed to, they're sleeping. Jesus now takes his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. He makes them sit down, and he takes Peter, James, and John farther with him, so that he can go and pray. And all of a sudden, he begins to experience what is commonly, what we commonly call the passion of the Christ. This is the inauguration of it, if you will. Sure, he suffered his entire life, but something now has happened. We've entered into something. He begins to be, it says, sorrowful and deeply distressed. Something has happened. Jesus has now in the garden begun to experience and face the intense suffering of the wrath of God being poured out upon him. The wrath. He's beginning to experience unspeakable anguish. You can't really describe this, beloved. We can go into all the physical things, and that's what people have written books about to talk about the physical horrors of the cross. But keep in mind, there were other thieves that went through the same physical horrors. This was terror of soul. I think Calvin is absolutely right. after explaining what Christ endured in the sight of man, the creed appropriately adds the invisible and incomprehensible judgment which he endured before God to teach us that not only was the body of Christ given up as the price of redemption, but that there was a greater and more excellent price that he bore in his soul the tortures of a condemned and ruined man. Wow. Verse 34, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Would you stay here and watch with me? God's forsakenness had fallen. Luke records that his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. It's extreme anguish and physical strain of whatever's happening to his soul. What does Jesus want from them? Would you watch? Taught a lot on watching. How to overcome temptation by watching. Goes a little way further and he falls on his face and starts praying. Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass for me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Notice the submission to the will there. The cup is the full and intense wrath of God. Jesus is horrified at what he is facing and what he's going to face. He is recoiled and winced at the idea of drinking this cup. I mean, he's praying that it might be removed and then immediately to help us to understand that he is in full submission to the Father's will, he prays. I submit to it. It's a horror, isn't it? It's an aversion to it. I mean, you know, this is the hardest thing today. We don't talk about the judgment of God in the church anymore. And this is an awful thing, beloved. this is an awful thing. There is a day of judgment coming and people are going to a place of unending fire. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You've brought me to the dust of death, Psalm 22. It's moving to me. And he seems to want to see those for whom he's dying. It keeps coming back to him. His humanity seemed to need this. His eyes. To see and be with his closest friends in his time of anguish. I mean, who faces anguish alone? Who wants to in this life but this kind of anguish? Two times he went and prayed. and he comes back to see his disciples to look upon his sheep. Both times he returns and what does he find? Would you watch and pray with me? They're asleep. They're tired. I would never deny you. I will stand beside you. Just a little sleep he needed first, I guess. You know, we can barely pray when things are going well. You would think you would pray in the most distressing moments of life, right? And then to see your Savior who says pray. Here's the marvel. The Savior is caring for them. In the heart of his afflictions, He's coming back because he's concerned about them falling into temptation. What kind of a savior is this? And they're asleep. You couldn't watch with me for one hour, Peter? See, this is a response to Peter's boast. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Your spirits are willing, but the flesh is weak. That is the absolute way to fight temptation. That's how we watch. To face it with vigilance and prayer. They failed again. They failed again. And yet he's still more concerned for them. Are you seeing yet gospel? and our weakness even though they were asleep what's he doing he's praying for him he's praying that the will would be accomplished for them john 17 that none of those given to him from out of the world should be lost i'm sure that was on his lips it just was previous to this and now he's praying because he's about to take the cup of the wrath of god for them even for their sin of denial it's just it's overwhelming after coming a third time are you still sleeping are you still resting you getting your rest the hour's at hand behold the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners rise let us be going see my betrayer is at hand three failures of the disciples no ability in themselves to do what they will they fail at watching they fail at praying and finally in complete ignorance now comes the biggest failure as he was speaking judas comes with a great multitude he has swords and clubs and all the religious authorities are with him the temple police and everyone and and he comes and he betrays him with a kiss as soon as he had come And immediately he went up to him and said, Rabbi, Rabbi, and kissed him. And they laid hands on him and took him. Jesus had just visibly became their substitute, the Lamb of God, stepping into the place of judgment to be hauled off to Golgotha, the place of the skull, the place for them where he would pay for their sins and our sins. Jesus looks at all the Roman cohort and they've come with billy clubs and they've come with swords and he says to them, have you come out to me as a robber to take me? You know who I am. I was daily in your temple teaching and you did not seize me. But I want you to know that I'm doing this and this is happening just the way it's happening so that the scriptures would be fulfilled. Then one of those who stood by all of a sudden he gets really bold he draws his sword and he strikes off the ear of the high priest it's Peter, he woke up he's ready to fight now for Jesus probably frustrating with himself that he didn't stay awake he knows what he just said I'll never deny you here's his chance if I have to die with you then I'll die with you with no understanding of the gospel, with no understanding of what Jesus has stepped into, with no understanding of the scriptures at this point. Think about this. You see, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus is laying down his life and Peter is trying to stop the whole event. He is actually trying to stop the path of the cross. He's actually trying to prevent it. They gave all they could to not deny. And they couldn't watch and they couldn't pray and they fight to stop this. And the scene ends with Jesus remaining completely loyal to his heavenly father, watching, praying, willingly allowing himself to be taken to judgment that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Why this kind of narrative, beloved? Well, what an encouragement tonight. That's an understatement. It's the understatement of the century. I know you're discouraged. I know at times you've determined to be something that you don't feel like you are. I know that you're disgusted with progress. I know that your watching feels powerless and that your prayers are terrible. at least that's how you feel I know your understandings are often muddled and that we're making progress that seems really slow I know there's some here tonight that still don't understand the gospel it's not natural to us in fact you have to constantly have it set in front of you because it's an automatic reverting back to the do-it-yourself kind of mentality that we all live with I know your sins trouble you. I know you've run to them. I know you feel condemned. And I know you're sick with yourself. Do you see what Jesus is doing? He's stepping into your place. He is in full obedience to the will of the Father. No denial of his father while they're denying him. When he's faced with what he has to face with the horror of the wrath falling on him in body and soul, he steps up and goes right to the judgment and says the scriptures have to be fulfilled for them. And that should give you all the hope in the world. And before you tonight, what I just preached captured and there's a lot more to this all the way to the I thirst and it's finished. What it means that he descended into hell. Why is it added in the creed, says the Heidelberg, he descended into hell? Think about this answer tonight. In my greatest sorrows and temptations, in your greatest sorrows and temptations, I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ by His unspeakable anguish pain terror and agony which He endured throughout all His sufferings but especially on the cross has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. That's what this means. When you understand who you are and you see yourself just beginning to see yourself as God sees you as a sinner and what you carry around in your human nature, you see how wonderful it is that God would give his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life and be given in return the very righteousness of Jesus. He so loved the world that he did that and whoever believes in him has life. Everlasting life. That's, beloved, what makes this so good on Good Friday. And then on Sunday, we get to come back and hear he has risen indeed, that he triumphed over the grave so that we will never remain in death, eternal death, but rise to victory in him because of all that he endured for us. This is the gospel. This is what we celebrate. This is why we're here tonight. And then he says to you, I'll keep you. You want to know how I'll keep you? Believe me, and now I'll feed you with my body and blood. Let's come tonight with believing hearts. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us tonight. Thank you for a good message of hope and the overwhelming gift of your son. And we confess, Lord, our weakness. We confess our failures. We confess our sin. You take it very seriously. You hate it so much that this is what had to happen to release us. Let us not be dull. Let us be awake. Let us, Lord, trust you. We bless your holy name. Thank you, O Lord, for covering all our shame. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.