Alone and Abandoned

You may be seated. This morning's sermon is going to come from Mark chapter 14, verses 26 through 52. Mark chapter 14, beginning at verse 26. You're using the New King James Pew Bible provided for you. You can find that on page 899. Mark chapter 14, beginning at verse 26. Brothers and sisters, this is God's perfect Word. It's a familiar story. Try to hear it for the first time. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter said to him, Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be. Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he spoke more vehemently, If I have to die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said likewise.

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be troubled and deeply distressed. And he said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death, Stay here and watch. He went a little further and 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. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will. Then he came and he found them sleeping and said to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch for one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."

Again, he went away and prayed and spoke the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again. And their eyes were heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. Then he came the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being 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, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him and lead him away safely. As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi! And he kissed him. Then they laid their hands on him and took him. And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled. Then they all forsook him and fled. Now a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young man laid hold on him, and he left the linen cloth and fled away from them naked."

Prayer for Illumination

Well, in this portion of the reading of God's Word there, let's pray. Father, we need your help this morning to teach us. Please, God, give us wisdom. Give us knowledge, give us insight. Lord, we pray that your spirit would work in our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to tell you a very intimate and personal story right now that I don't often tell. I never plan to tell this story publicly, but I think it's important for illustrating the main applications of today's sermon.

Sermon

When I was in middle school, Somewhere in middle school, I don't remember exactly, but pretty young. There was a boy, a neighbor in the back behind our house, kind of back and one house over. And in between our houses, there was a wall. Actually, we had a wall and they had a wall. And in between was a space of a couple feet, just enough where, you know, you can sit and use it as a hideout.

And there this boy from the neighborhood showed me a magazine he had taken from his father. You can imagine the type of magazine he showed. And there was a dopamine hit like I had never felt before, a thrill, a rush, a sense of shame that I shouldn't be looking at something like this, and yet, I couldn't stop. And an uninhibited kind of chain reaction started in my heart and in my mind that ran into a red-hot lust that would last for a decade. And when I became a Christian, I knew it had to stop.

But I didn't know how. I think if I just mustered up enough resolve, I could finally put this sin to death. I thought if I could just put the right internet blockers on things, if I just put up a 10 foot high wall around me, I'd live in my fortress of security and protection and I'd be safe. But it failed. I would promise God I would be stronger than I was last time, and again I would fail. I thought I could be virtuous, I could be strong if I just tried and tried and tried hard enough. But inevitably, I would fail my Lord time and time again.

Then one day, things changed. Olivia and I were engaged, and it was a cold winter day in the Pittsburgh region. And smartphones were brand new then and I went to a familiar website for the first time on that phone and the page started loading. And as the page loaded, I watched my relationship with my Lord and with my future wife erode. I threw that phone across the room and I cried out to God. For the first time, God truly ruined me.

See, I had been saved just a few years before, but I didn't know that I wasn't virtuous. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't muster up enough courage. I couldn't do that. And I pleaded with God for the first time that day with the true humility of what a Christian heart says. And I told God I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't do this.

And I needed Him. I needed Him to do a radical work in me. I called Olivia and I confessed. I talked to her father and I confessed. Fifteen years of freedom later from that specific addiction, I've asked myself multiple times, what changed? There were years of trying before that, nothing changed. So what happened?

And as I've reflected on this and thought about other guys I've worked through with this, the thing I've come to is I've seen men who have reality of victory over specific sins. It's kind of an irony. The guys I see who have a victory over this type of sin are the guys who finally admit they're not strong enough to do it themselves. Are the type of people who realize they're not the hero of the story.

I had to see myself for who I was and for who God really was. I couldn't look to myself for strength. I couldn't look to myself for courage. That had to come from the Lord. To be honest with you, as I was writing this introduction, even this morning, I was wondering, should I really say this story to you all? One, it's sensitive. Two, it's personal. And three, heed you who think you stand lest you fall.

But I'm convinced this is the same way in which the Lord gives us victory over all sorts of sin and something that Peter didn't understand when Jesus was with him in that garden. Your besetting sin may be different and that easily entangles you or ensnares you than mine was. But how will you escape the snare of anger or of rage? of malice, or gluttony, or slander, or filthy language, or of greed. If any one of these sins of the flesh so easily entangle you, how will you free yourself from it?

Our call this morning is to recognize that our life must be hidden in Christ, and we must look to Jesus alone as our victorious and virtuous Savior. It is Jesus alone in the Christian life who is both virtuous and victorious. We need a hero who is truly virtuous and victorious, because if we're honest with ourselves, it certainly isn't us. So first, we look at Jesus and Peter's confidence and how they're contrasted.

Look with me at verses 26-31. where they're going up the Mount of Olives. It's like the scene is panning from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. It's late at night. It's like 10, 11 o'clock at night. Remember, they just ate the Passover. Meals would take a long time. It's dark out. There's very little light. They're heading up the path to the Mount of Olives.

And Jesus predicts His abandonment and His resurrection. All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."

Notice where Jesus' confidence is. It's in God's Word and God's work. He knew what His Father said, He knew His Father's plan, and He knew that His Father would make it good. But notice how Peter responds. Peter said to him in verse 29, even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be. Just to make sure we understand Jesus' omniscience, and we understand Jesus' confidence in His Father's plan, Jesus points out to him again in verse 30. Very specifically towards Peter.

Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. If it happened the next night, Jesus was a liar. If the rooster didn't crow, Jesus was fake. If it was John instead of Peter who denied Him three times, Jesus was wrong.

But Jesus is very clear here with His prophetic voice that this is going to happen specifically with Peter. But Peter's pride only increases. But He, being Peter, verse 31, but He spoke more vehemently. vehemently for children, that's like, he said it even more like, no, I'm not going to do it!

Right, he resolved in his heart, he said, no, I'm not going to die, I'm not going to die, you Lord, it's not going to be me, even if I have to die, I won't deny you. And in his pride, in his own self-confidence, he pulled all the other disciples along with him.

Did you notice that? The last part of verse 31, and they all said likewise. They took their eyes off the hero Jesus, and they put their eyes in their own resolve, their own confidence, instead of listening to Jesus and taking seriously what He had just told them. What's going on here?

Jesus knows what needs to happen. Jesus knows the Scriptures need to be revealed, or must be fulfilled. Jesus knows who He is and He knows the Father's plan and what will happen to Him. But for us, there's an application. We're not to trust in our own reasoning of what we think is best. And only God knows what's going to happen. Peter and the disciples didn't believe Jesus knew their hearts or the right path forward. They thought they would fight to the death for Jesus. How often in our own lives do we think that we know the path that God should choose for our lives?

We boldly follow our own plans, sure of our own integrity, sure of our own devotions, absolutely certain in our motivations. But when God in His all-wise providence changes the plan, what happens to us? Man, when things don't go my way, I often turn bitter, mad, resentful, disappointed.

It's easy to wake up in the morning and say, I'm going to obey my... Right, children? It's easy to wake up in the morning and say, I'm going to obey my mom and dad. I'm not going to get in any fights with my brothers and sisters. This is going to be a great day.

And then by the time dinner happens, you're like, what happened here? Somebody to eat your favorite cereal. Somebody takes your thing. Somebody messes up your space. Someone has a bad attitude towards you. And before you know it, you've acted out an anger, harsh word, impatience, or buried it down in your heart with hatred, envy, or bitterness. If you think I'm just talking to children here, just put yourself as thinking this is you and your spouse.

You woke up thinking you would conquer the world, but when things don't go according to your plan, all bets are off. If only God knew how selfish and wicked the other people were, maybe He would understand. Faith's easy when things are going the way we expect them to go. But what Peter has to find out here is things aren't going to go the way he expects them to go. God calls us to trust in Him, even when we see things going in a direction that we think might be wrong or evil. If there's anything we learn from the stories of Job and Esther and Joseph and from Jesus, the Lord loves to turn things on its head. We think things are going a wrong way, going even a disastrous way, but the Lord knows his plans. Do we trust his plans or do we trust our confidence and our ability to make his will happen?

Second Point

But Jesus doesn't respond to them here in verse 31. He lets the disciples think so highly of themselves and they keep on walking. He lets them have their resolve as they enter the Garden of Gethsemane and we enter into our second point. Jesus and Peter's strength are contrasted in verses 32 through 42. The scene changes. The story gets a little darker as they enter into the trees. The narrow lens comes on, and we see less and less people and focus here. Jesus leads the majority, at least eight of the disciples, in the outer part of the Mount of Olives, and He takes three of them in. He tells the three to sit here while I pray. And in the first garden scene, we find the inner three going in with Jesus. And he took Peter, James, and John, verse 33, with him, and he began to be troubled and deeply distressed.

Then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch. He went a little further and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Ah, but Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.

Then He came and He found them sleeping. Found them sleeping. We find Jesus in one of the darkest hours of His life when He finds Himself thinking He has disciples out there and three of His closest friends near Him. He goes a little bit further and now Jesus is the only character in the story. He falls down on His face.

It's summarized for us that He pleads with God. that the hour might pass from Him, and then we get to hear His actual words. Abba, Father. Normally people don't talk about God that way in Jewish communities. Speaking of God as Abba, they might refer to Him as Heavenly Father, but not as Abba Father. All things are possible for you. Jesus submits Himself to the Lord's will, even though He cries out in His humanity. for God to let this cup pass from him. He turns back and he finds them sleeping. And he confronts them. Right? Are you sleeping, Simon? What happened to your resolve just a few minutes ago? You couldn't even stay awake for an hour. Watch and pray lest you enter temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.

Jesus goes alone again. Second guard unseen and to pray by himself in verse 38. Says the same words and he comes back in verse 40. And what are the disciples doing again? They failed him. He told them to stay awake, keep guard, watch, pray. He found them asleep again with their eyes heavy. And this time they don't have anything to say to him. Jesus goes again, and he prays, and he comes back a third time, and he finds him sleeping and resting again, and now he says, alright, it's done. It's over. The hour's at hand, and my betrayer is here. Get up. You know, this isn't the first garden scene in the Bible. It's almost like we're back to the Garden of Eden. God had walked in a garden before. The One who had created these trees through His power was walking in them.

Jesus would now face the biggest trial of His earthly life. And the question we have is, is Jesus really going to go through with what He's saying is about to happen? Where would Jesus get His strength? Where would Jesus find His confidence? How would Jesus endure what was going to happen?

Notice Jesus is no stoic. Jesus doesn't just swallow it down. Jesus doesn't just bite His bottom lip and put down His shoulders and say, I'm just going to get through this. I have the resolve to do it. No. God is very merciful in letting us know. that Jesus, and my only sense here is that it's in His humanity, cries out to His Father, and He says, God, please, if there's any way possible, let this cup pass from me. Jesus doesn't harden His heart.

He doesn't rely on Himself. He knew His Heavenly Father sent Him for this very hour, and He says, Your will be done. Imagine how hard this must have been for Jesus. Three closest friends, We would die for you. Can't stand watch for an hour with him. Jesus is on death row. He's eaten his last meal. He's commanded them to stay and to watch. He hasn't even hid from them the turmoil of his soul. He's expressed to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. He's alone by himself. pleading with God.

And as he's in this garden again, I wonder if what was running through his mind was the first Adam who failed in a garden, the test that the Lord had set for him there. Would he rise up and be a true second Adam? Satan had tried to tempt him before in his life. Just bow down to me and I'll give you all the kingdoms.

Would Jesus endure this test? Knowing He had to go at it alone? Knowing the cup of His Father's wrath was poured out? Would Jesus continue knowing that keeping His Father's will would literally destroy Him and His body? We should not take lightly the phrase which Jesus says, Not what I will, but what you will. This is Jesus submitting Himself to His righteous Father in Heaven. The price of redemption had to be paid. The Passover Lamb had to be slain. The Only Begotten One had to suffer.

So what does this mean for your life? How does this apply to you? We must not look to our own selves, for Jesus Christ, for strength. I'm of the opinion that if any single one of us were to be there in Jesus' shoes, not a single one of us would have followed through. We're more like Peter than we want to acknowledge. If you don't think that when you read this story, some of us are like, yeah, yeah, I'm on team Jesus, I'm on team Jesus.

But when we come to this passage, I need to ask you, how many times have you failed in your resolve when you've been reading your Bible and fallen asleep? How many times have you thought, I'm going to be strong in prayer, I'm going to do this. And yet, you get a few minutes into prayer and your mind is already wandering off onto what's going to be for lunch. How many times have you thought, I'm going to love God today, I'm going to do this well, and yet you find yourself eyes heavy, head bobbing, doing touch and goes, even during worship.

The point is, we're not the hero of the story. God requires us to look to Jesus for our strength because we're Peter in this scenario. We are not to trust our own ability to withstand temptation. When the heat of temptation comes, let me ask you, what do you rely on? Do you rely on your own strength? Or do you rely on your relationship to Jesus Christ?

When lust tugs at your eyes, where do you go for strength? When anger fills your heart, where do you go to put out that fire? When the seed of bitterness takes root, are you strong enough to pull it out? When gluttony tempts you, how will you resist those delicious treats on that forbidden table downstairs? When you're with your friends and the gossip starts again, when people's reputations and families are talked about, how will you keep from joining in? Where do you go?

We go to Jesus Christ. God does not require you to muster up the courage and human strength, but to be filled by the power of His Holy Spirit. The flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak. Your body is susceptible to exhaustion and weakness. You need to understand that, recognize it, be okay with it. You're not strong enough. I'm not strong enough. No one is strong enough. It was only Jesus who could accomplish this. You cannot possibly fight Satan and your own inclination towards evil on your own. I promise you, if you go toe-to-toe with the devil by your own strength, you will be outgunned and you will lose.

The Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts. So that we can fight this fight from a position of strength and Jesus died that you might receive that Holy Spirit. This application starts before temptation comes. And it's also there when temptation is hot upon you.

Your natural default position, if you're anything like me or the people I talk to, your natural default position will be to just go back to your own resolve or your own strength. You need to do the unnatural thing and flee to God in heaven and plead with Him to lead you not into temptation, but deliver you from evil. Let me just give you a practical application, right? This is one that I need to eat myself.

Next time you're in a fight with your spouse, stop and pray with and for each other. Next time you find yourself caught in the heat of anger or the throes of some ungodly thinking, stop and ask God to lead you not into temptation, but deliver you from the evil one.

You're not strong enough. I'm not strong enough. The devil's too smart. Pray with and for others that God will not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. But just as midnight is coming, there's one last transition in the scene. Praying wasn't enough.

Jesus had to actually walk. Verses 43 through 52, and we're almost done here. The glowing amber lights from torches begin to light up the scene. They're coming up from the hill below as you hear a voice, a voice of united people walking up the hill. It's dark. The disciples are still trying to rub the sleep out of their eyes and Jesus tells them, it's time. And we have the final scene in the garden. Judas arrives with his band of thugs. And we're given the details of the betrayal.

The worst of which is he made a prearranged sign. He premeditated this out. He would walk up to Jesus in the dark of the night. They couldn't search all throughout the hill of the Mount of Olives. He was going to lead them directly with pinpoint accuracy to the leader of this group. He would call them out by name. Teacher, teacher, rabbi, rabbi.

And with a sign that was supposed to show of endearment and respect and love, Judas kissed Jesus. So there was no mistaking for the guards who it was they were looking for. And then we find out in John's gospel, it's Peter himself who takes out his sword. and cuts off the right ear of the high priest, the servant named Malchus. And Jesus' prophecy is fulfilled.

As soon as he tells them, this isn't going to be an armed resistance. I was teaching this in the synagogues. Are you coming out here? I'm not some type of common thief or robber. What are you doing, guys? The disciples realize what's about to go on and they flee. One of them is so scared, he literally runs away naked when somebody tries to grab onto his clothes. The applications of this sermon of looking to Jesus Christ as our hero is rooted in the grace that God has shown us in Jesus' actions in this garden.

We don't look to our own strength, we don't look to our own courage, we don't look to our own reasoning, we don't look to ourselves. We are not by nature virtuous, but Jesus is. We have proved time and time again that we are not victorious by ourselves over sin, but Jesus is. He was tempted in every way as you are, yet never sinned.

We look to Jesus, who with perfect reasoning knew why He was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. We look to Jesus because Though he knew what was coming and even pleading with God through tears for another possible way, it is Jesus who courageously fulfills the role of the victorious and virtuous hero that we needed. How do you get the strength that Jesus displays here?

By trusting in Him, confessing who you are like Peter, and having the Holy Spirit poured out in your heart. When we recognize who we are, the path to strength looks clear. Because we recognize we need to be in Christ Jesus. We believe that Jesus is the vine and that we are the branches. If we're disconnected from Him, relying on ourselves, relying on our own strength, you're going to wither and die and the Father will come and prune you away. But we maintain vitality. We maintain vitality. in an amazing and ordinary way.

This is probably the biggest letdown of the entire sermon, I'm just letting you know. How did Jesus find His strength? How did Jesus find His strength to fulfill His office as our vicarious sacrifice and Messiah? The ordinary means of grace are all here. Word, sacrament, prayer. Jesus has just celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples. He instituted the first sacrament, the Lord's Supper. Jesus had God's Word in His mind. He looked through Zechariah chapter 13 and knew that tonight was the night. He knew God's Word and it strengthened Him in His resolve. And Jesus went to His Father in prayer.

I know that sounds simplistic. It almost sounds so easy as if, like, you could just brush it off. Because it's so mundane. But you will not find the courage to stand up to the throes of temptation if you ignore the ordinary means of grace. We go to God to the sacraments and we're strengthened in our faith. We go to the Lord in prayer because it strengthens us in our faith. We go to the Lord in His word because we are reminded of who He is and what His promises are and we receive strength. Do you want to be strengthened, brothers and sisters in Christ? Then I hope you'll behave like Jesus and partake of the ordinary means of grace. If it was good enough to strengthen Jesus, maybe it'd be good enough for us.

Jesus is our virtuous victor. As we wrap up this very long sermon, there's just one point. There's only one hero in the story. His name is Jesus Christ. He was willing to suffer and endure all these things. and had the courage and the strength because He is our virtuous and victorious hero.

Closing Prayer

So look to Jesus Christ. Find your life in Him and find strength through the power of the Holy Spirit that He promises to give to you. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for Jesus Christ. Lord, there are many things that in here just seem so simple and easy, and yet we know by experience it is hard So we plead with you that by your spirit you would take these many foolish words that the world would cast off and father we pray that what is good and what is gold would be left in our hearts that you would strengthen us not in and of ourselves but by the power of your spirit that we might abide in jesus christ and bear much good fruit in keeping with repentance we pray in jesus's name amen let's stand together we'll sing psalm 20