I invite you to turn this morning to Matthew chapter 26, Matthew chapter 26, page 989. As we continue our study in the Gospel of Matthew, we are working through this book, and it's good timing as today in the sort of practice of the church is a celebration of Palm Sunday. And then this Friday, what we call Good Friday, we will have a service and able to celebrate the work of Christ for us and then come back and celebrate the resurrection on Sunday. Beginning at verse 36 this morning, this is the word of the Lord. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch with me." And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed. "My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." And again, he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying, the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand. And the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand." While he was still speaking, Judas came out, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, "The one I kiss is the man. Seize him." And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Greetings, Rabbi." And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you came to do." They came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?" At that hour, Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day, I sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me but all this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word.
Well, along the way uh in the Gospels, Jesus asked a really important question as the disciples were struggling with their own greatness. He asked the question, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" It's a fascinating study in the Gospels of looking at human nature and looking at the disciples, looking at their weakness and looking at their sin and their failure. It's a really good mirror for us to understand why we need the Gospel, why we need salvation, why Christianity is so important. You remember, not only did they purpose in their own greatness, thinking they could achieve that, but Peter, a leader among them, as we're going to see today, thought he had the power to fight off the Romans. Thought he could take up the sword against the Romans. I'll come back to that. When asked this question, "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?" Remember their answer. "We are. We can do this. We can drink that cup." Crucial study in the whole of the Christian gospel. Are we able? Are we able? And that's the entire purpose for which Jesus came to save us and deliver us. But this was a hard concept for the disciples to accept. This was a hard concept for us to this day to accept. The disciples were blown out of their minds when one of the best figures that had ever come up to them in the course of this ministry with Jesus, this moral man, this good man, they thought, this rich young ruler, by the time Jesus had spoken the law, the man had departed. And then they asked the question, "If he can't be saved, who then can be saved?" And remember Jesus' answer? "It's impossible for man to do that. It is absolutely impossible for you to save yourself. No matter of good works, no matter how much you think you've done in this life, if you think your good has outweighed the bad, you cannot save yourself. Can you drink this cup that I'm going to drink?" You know what the cup is. The cup is symbolic of the wrath of God. Jesus is asking the question, "Are you able to take the cup of God's wrath to the neck?" "We are." Okay, let's hold that thought. "We are." That was back, a ways back earlier in Matthew.
Nothing brings greater offense in the Christian ministry and Christian gospel than this. This is the offense of the gospel right here. This is the offense. You cannot save yourself and there's nothing you can do to make yourself right with God. You don't have the ability, as we looked at last week, to hold your own even for a moment. Now, you can see how important that is for my two brothers this morning who profess faith. And this becomes front and center here in this text. That's why studying the passion narratives of the Gospels are so important. And you don't, this is why I love the calendar. I don't mind doing the Good Friday and Easter. But you just get one little dose. So I'm going to keep going back. You're going to get a whole repeat of this. We're going to keep going, and then we're going to come back to the resurrection.
Jesus is saying, "It's time." And remember, Jesus said, "They all will stumble on account of him this night." And the reason for such a providential stumbling is precisely because he has to drink this cup alone. Nobody else can drink this cup with him. He has to do it alone. But why does he have to do it alone? And is he able to do it? Now this is where we left off. Peter said to him, "When he said you will deny he said, even if all are made to stumble, I will not. I will not stumble. I will not deny you. I'm sure if you asked Andrew and Zayden today, "Will you ever stumble? Will you ever deny be a pretty bold assertion to say, "I will not. I will not." But isn't it a right one Jesus now says, "This night before the rooster crows, you'll have done it three times." And he speaks strong here. "If I have to die with you, Peter, I will not deny you. I will die for you. I will die for you." Now Jesus takes them to the garden of Gethsemane, makes them sit down, and he takes Peter, James, and John farther so that he can go and pray. All of the sudden, he begins to experience what we commonly call the passion of Christ, his intense sufferings. And anyone who might be new to Christianity or anyone doesn't understand Christianity might say, "Why do they believe this passion and death of Christ is so important?" Well, here you go. Why is he doing this? Why would anyone do this? The the scriptures make clear at this point in the garden that he begins to be deeply distressed and sorrowful. Something different, something more, is happening to him right now. Even though it was an entire life of suffering as we confess, something has happened now in the garden of Gethsemane. The passion is inaugurated, if you will. We talk about his active obedience and living a life for us and keeping the law, and then his passive obedience. And now we come to hear the passion of Christ, and Jesus is beginning to face intense suffering that he has not faced to this degree. The judgment is beginning to be poured out. This is what the Heidelberg teaches us: that he begins to face unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul. And he says that. He says, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. Stay and watch with me." We know from Luke that the sweat became like giant drops of blood, extreme anguish, physical strain. This is actually something that can happen when it's this bad. The blood vessels dilate and burst, mixing sweat and blood. But that's just in body. How do you describe what's going on in soul? We have anxieties, don't we? Everyone has anxieties in life. None of us have faced a sorrow like this. I can hardly preach it. It kind of shows how serious Christianity is, isn't it? I have no idea to describe what we confess that he is suffering the wrath of God in body and in soul.
As this is happening, what does Jesus say? "Watch. Watch." This was his great exhortation in the Olivet Discourse, wasn't it? "Watch. Be ready. Watch. Be alert. Be awake in this life." He goes away a little farther, falls on his face and prays, "Oh, my Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." Again, the cup here is throughout the Old Testament, Jeremiah is signifying the full And intense judgment of God, the wrath of God. And Jesus is, in his humanity, horrified in what he's facing. He winces at this. He recoils at this. Prays sure that the cup might be removed. And asks, we know from the Gospels, is there any other way?" Now that's accommodation to help us understand this is awful. In complete submission to the will of God, his Father, he doesn't waver. What endurance. What? There is no failure here. There is no failure. He prays, "Not my will, but your will be done," just as he taught us to pray. He was expressing the great aversion and horror of what he had to undergo. The prayers are captured in the Psalms of Jesus. The Psalms are about Jesus.
Psalm 102: "For my days pass away like smoke. My bones burn like a furnace. My heart is struck down like grass and is withered. I forget to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning, my bones cling to my flesh. I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl, a pelican of the waste places. I lie awake. I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop." Or as we will sing in a minute, Psalm 22: "Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt, and my tongue clings to my jaws. You brought me to the dust of death."
It's extremely moving to me that Christ wants his close friends with him. I think he needed to see him in his humanity. He needed to see his reward. He's looking at the reason he's doing this. You know, they're his reward. you are his reward They represent us. But now think about what's revealed to us here. Think about what's shown to us here. Twice he went and prays, and each time he comes back, and they're asleep. And something really important is being shown in the midst of this: that they can't even pray very long without falling asleep. He knew that soon he's going to be crucified. He knows what's coming, and that he would say, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Now listen, Jesus asked them to do. In these narratives you'll notice one thing as he goes to the cross. He asked them to do in all these narratives He asked them to do one thing: pray. Just pray with me. Both times he comes back and they're asleep. And notice that he responds really here to Peter, the one who had said, "I won't deny you." Three times they're asleep. And I think the whole thing captures important reason that Jesus came to make the case for why Jesus had to come. One of the reasons.
"I'll never deny you," Jesus says. "Three times you will." And already three times they can't even pray before the denial. And the stunning question of Jesus comes out here, doesn't it? "What? Could you not watch with me for one hour? One, just one. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. For the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Jesus here speaks to the whole church. What a moment! Let me ask you in all seriousness. You just heard the Olivet Discourse: the Lord could come. Did you spend at least one hour in prayer last week? One? Jesus is fully aware of your weakness. He knows you better than you know yourself. He made you. He is fully aware of your sin. He's fully aware of all your failures. You see, we tend to think Christianity is just this, or that Jesus' view is just this: "I wish they would just be so much better." And that's the gospel. That's the moral of the story. "I just wish these people would be better." Watch and pray. See, that is not coming out of surprise by Jesus when he comes back. It's out of deep concern for you. He is here to atone for sin. He is also fully aware that such sleeping through this life as we do. I mean, it's remarkable in our day we still get people to get up to come to church. He is fully aware that such sleeping through this life will result in you and all kinds of misunderstanding, all kinds of coming failures, and all kinds of discouragements. Oh, he knows this. He knows. This is not good for you. But here's the point: none of these failures remove or are the basis upon which he's doing what he's doing. He's serious. Denial of him doesn't just start in the moment. Failure doesn't just start when you do the sin. Let's say you have some besetting sin in your life, something you're doing you know is wrong, or you're faced with some major pressure or worry or burden. Jesus here knows that such failure that's coming in the lives of his disciples began earlier. This is why there's so many verses in the New Testament by the apostles saying, "Wake up, be alert. Now's the high time to be awake for your salvation is nearer than when you first believe. Awake sleepers." The way to face temptation that leads to sin is with vigilance and prayer. But what are the disciples doing? Failing already. Even though the Spirit's willing. This is such a beautiful statement: "Your flesh is that weak. You are that weak in this life." But there's another means, a secondary means, as we say, and that's prayer. For the Spirit is willing to help. The failures we have in this life are not the beginning of the problem, but the end of one, because you don't appropriate the means you need. The Spirit.
Now I have to confess, even as a pastor, I'm sick of my own prayers. I think they're weak. I think they're cold often. I think they're kind of pathetic. I think my watching is weak. I know you're discouraged by it all. I know you are. It's just the reality. I know at times you're so determined to be a good Christian and disgusted. For just the moment you try to become a better Christian, it seems you fall. I know you're watching and your praying feels powerless. And I know you sleep. I know your understandings are often muddied. I know you don't listen very well. That was kind of proven earlier. Jesus was faithful for you.
We don't want to miss the message of Christianity here. What is Jesus doing in our weaknesses? in all of our weaknesses Even though they were asleep, he loved them. They belong to him in body and soul. He was the one praying, "Not my will, but your will be done," and he had come to fulfill the will of God and he is doing it. He is doing it! Can't you hear John 17 here in the high priestly prayer, that none of those given to him would be lost? So the weakness of a prayer life is not the basis upon which you're justified. He is praying because he's about to take the cup of wrath for them, even for the sin of denial. And coming back now to the third time, he says, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, our betrayer is at hand."
So three failures right here in this section think about it all put together. No ability in themselves to do what they will; they fail at watching and praying; prayer life's not that good; their devotions aren't that good. And finally, in complete ignorance, now comes another great failure before the denial. As he was speaking, Judas comes with a great multitude. They have swords and clubs. All the authorities have come. Judas, Judas, betrays him with a kiss. Don't miss the sorrow of that. Psalm 41: "Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me." Read in verse 45: "As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi, and kissed him, the kiss of betrayal. And they lay their hands on him and they took him. He has just become visibly what we call the penal substitute, the substitute. The Lamb of God has stepped into our place, into their place. And now he's being hauled off to Golgotha, the place of judgment, the place of the skull, under a judge, condemned. Jesus looks around and there's a whole Roman cohort around them with billy clubs and swords. What had he done? "I was daily in the temple. What did I do? I daily taught. I do what rabbis do. You didn't seize me then." And Jesus makes really clear what's happening. So under the control of God, the sovereignty of God, the providence of God, none of this is happening by chance. He is doing this to fulfill Scripture. He is willingly laying down his life. And in the providence of God, all of this is orchestrated. He's fulfilling his word. What a word it is!
Here's the failure. You'll notice what happens. But one of them, who do you think this is? You'll notice in verse 51: "And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear." It's Peter. What an amazing thing. He just got up from his nap and he's bold. He's rested. He's ready to take the kingdom for Jesus. He's ready to stop the Romans from this horrible thing that's happening. He's ready to die with him. How sincere. How really sincere he is. He is. "I'll never deny you, even if I have to not to die with No understanding of what's happening. Isn't it something? You could walk with Jesus this long, where he's explained the Gospel, he said what's going to happen, he's predicted it three times, and still no understanding of what this is all about. You know that can be here right now people can be here and that's been true the whole life. You've walked this and you still don't understand the Gospel. No understanding, and you fight, still hating the offense of the cross that you can't do this. He is actually trying to prevent his own deliverance. So he takes out a sword. Now this guy's a fisherman. This is like Pastor Gordon trying to be a combat warrior. I'm not that. I'd like to be. And we know this: I remember Steve Boss said, "You know that he's not a warrior by just the way that he strikes here?" Nobody in that world took a sword and goes like this. That's embarrassing. It's like telling a martial artist how to fight. "You dug like this." Dr. Ball made that. He's done all the reading on this. It's not how you strike. He doesn't know what he's doing, and he doesn't know how to fight. And he thinks he's going to stop the Romans? A lot of that today. A lot of guys think they're going to stop. They're going to stop and save America from all this stuff. They don't know how to fight. Jesus says, "You take up the sword, you'll die by the sword. Not how the kingdom comes." Peter would have Judaized Rome right there. He's trying to stop the path of the cross. They gave all they could to not deny him, to watch and to pray, to remain loyal. And the scene ends today with Jesus, of course, putting back the year. We know. Who's the loyal one? Who's the one watching and praying? Who's the one willingly allowing himself to be taken away to judgment as they scatter from him? at the end of this scene. A Savior, beloved, who came to save people from sins.
If you have any sort of concept of what you've done in this life, you have any concept of what justice is and that there is justice built in even to the framework of society and that things should be punished, then why would we think God shouldn't punish sin? Doesn't this prove the greater message of Christianity? That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us? And he loved us. Two options here throughout history, really, when it comes down to this. You've got two options. Let's just say you say Jesus is real and you believe, okay? All these Christians have believed this thing about Jesus and this person, Jesus. Two options, really, then you have. Why did he come? Who is he and why did he come? He can't just be a mere man because nobody could endure this wrath. So he has to be truly God to bear it. But he has to be truly one of us to accomplish it, because God's justice demands it. So you have two options here. That, one: number one, he just came to be a good moral example for us. Does that make any sense? And that's been believed, why in large? Does that make any sense in this context? That you are just supposed to be better than the first Adam and Jesus teaches you how? Somebody once said, "Imagine sitting safely on a pier in a deck chair. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a man flings himself into the ocean and drowns. You later learn that he did that because he loved you. You'd think that man's a lunatic. Why did he do that? To teach you how to dive into the ocean and save yourself from drowning?" But if, on the other hand, you yourself were drowning in the ocean and a man came out and dove in to save you and succeeds and gives his life doing it, you'd say, "That's love." Jesus is willingly laying down his life. If that is entirely his mission, the disciples prove they need saved. They're the ones dying in the ocean.
Jesus is fully aware of your sin. Jesus is not surprised by you. He knows everything you've done. He's fully aware of what you've done. Failure, sin. We tend to think that he just, as I said earlier, wishes that we'd be so much better, and that's the moral of the story. And that's why you guys, we struggle with confidence. Oh, no, no, no. Did he just jump on a cross for no reason? Did he just jump on a cross for no reason to teach us how to jump on a cross and go through this? No, no. He's going to the cross because we're under the judgment ourselves and we cannot save ourselves. When he says, "Watch and pray," that's coming out of great concern for you. He's here to atone for sin. He is fully aware of your weakness. He is fully aware that you're sleeping often through life, and that's going to result in all kinds of misunderstanding, failure and discouragement. He knows that's not good for you, but none of those failures remove what he came to accomplish. He's stepping into your place. He's in full obedience to the will of his Father. There is no denial on his part. He takes the hits. He prays for you. And he continues to do so. And he fulfills all righteousness. And he takes the arrest that should have been put on you and handcuffed out and taken to judgment, and he gets the cuffs put on him and is hauled off to the judgment seat. And he fulfills righteousness and becomes the curse and steps into our place as the substitute to set you free. That's the Gospel, beloved. So that you would have joy and peace. Why does the Creed add, "He descended into hell"? "In my greatest sorrows and temptations, that I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his unspeakable anguish, pain, and 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 why we preach grace. You don't deserve this, but he freely gives it to you. So you have to ask: who's the fool who turns his back on Jesus? He's the only way. You will not escape without him. You need a mediator. And he now is led as the lamb to the slaughter.
When you understand who you are and how easily you stumble, what you carry around, sinful nature, see how wonderful it is. God gave his only begotten Son. He's announced to the world that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So what's holding you back from believing? There's no good reason. Praise God for his indescribable gift. Amen.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the message of the cross. Thank you for such a gift. Grant us all faith. Let us be a believing people, a trusting people. And then, oh Lord, as we see this accomplished so that we have joy, would we be a watching people and a praying people? Help us in our weakness. And thank you for the deliverance, full and free. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.