Sermon Tone Analysis

Mark 14:32-42

Cup of Agony

Well, if you have your Bibles, this morning I invite you to turn with me to Mark’s Gospel.

Mark’s Gospel 14 as we continue our series in Mark’s Gospel.

And I’d like to read you .

Where Mark writes:Mark 14:32-42.

Mark gives us a very straightforward – very clear recounting of Jesus time in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And yet the profundities of this passage & what was happening…we may never fully understand.

You will remember that Jesus has celebrated Passover with His disciples.

According to John’s Gospel 14 – 16 He gave them “a number” of instructions, encouraging them to pray, telling them about a comforter (the Holy Spirit) coming.

And then they sang a hymn & made their way out, the city walls, of Jerusalem.

And across a small valley to a garden located on the side of the Mount of Olives known as “Gethsemane.”

The name is very appropriate because it means “Olive Press” and it certainly pictures what was going to happen to Jesus.

Because just as olives are pressed, in order to extract the oil – Jesus would be crushed & pressed on the cross in order to secure our pardon.

tells us that Jesus went there often with His disciples to this garden.

It

· It was privately owned.

· It was a place that was loaned to Him by another one of the many friends of Jesus.

And His disciples knew it well & Judas did as well, which is why Judas was able to bring the soldier to arrest Jesus in this garden place.

As we look at this passage – what I want to do is I want to draw, if we could, 4-principles that I think can help us & motivate us - in our walk with the Lord.

Can help us to tap into His strength & His working in our lives.

And so, I hope you’re taking notes, but I want to give you four principles.

The first one seems really, simple, but it’s a great reminder for us.

And it’s this:

I. Jesus Prayed

It almost seems as if that would go without saying, but it merits our consideration.

In as much as, if the Son of God needed to pray, how much more do you & I need to pray?

That Jesus when He came to earth – purposed to set aside the prerogatives of deity & chose to live under the same power – with the same tools of walking with God that you & I live with.

Consequently, He was dependent upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

And He was dependent upon the strength & the power that would come to Him by means of praying & spending time with the Father.

I think it’s also important to note that here is Jesus and He’s praying at His hour of greatest trial, but this is not His first time to pray.

In other words, He didn’t wait until Gethsemane to pray.

You see, the value for you & I “developing” a prayer life is simply this:

– praying now - before you’re under the gun

– praying now – before that major trial

– pray now – before that great crisis.

So that when you go through that crisis you can enter that crisis knowing how to walk with God – knowing how to be in His presence – knowing how to draw on the strength that comes by a way of a prayer life that is fully developed.

Jesus prayed!

And prayer was the secret to His power.

In fact, when you read through the gospel record (over & over again) you have a record of how He prayed – where He prayed – when He prayed – and the results of that prayer.

You start His ministry in it tells us this -

So here He is at His baptism and He’s not just passively engaged even in that – but as He is being baptized, as He is coming out of the water – He’s communing with the Father – He’s praying to the Father.

And as He prays to the Father the Holy Spirit comes upon Him & empowers Him in that moment.

He prays & the Spirit comes upon Him.

So here He is at His baptism and He’s not just passively engaged even in that – but as He is being baptized, as He is coming out of the water – He’s communing with the Father – He’s praying to the Father.

And as He prays to the Father the Holy Spirit comes upon Him & empowers Him in that moment.

He prays & the Spirit comes upon Him.

Jesus prays, the Bible tells us, in , we get an example of how Jesus would – would have His prayer time.

It says this -

How early?

- And rising very early in the morning, (How early?) while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, (He goes to a place where there’s no distractions.

He goes to a place where there aren’t people who can interrupt Him.) and there he prayed.

He prays early in the morning.

In it says - And

So, He prays early in the morning.

There are also times when He prays all night.

What is it that’s prompting Him to pray all night?

He is facing a major decision.

He is getting ready to select 12-men to be His apostles.

And so, He spends the night praying.

He spends the night fellowshipping with the Father.

- That the father might guide him.

- That the father might direct him in the selection of those who would be His 12-disciples.

What does that tell us about prayer?

Before every big decision make sure that you pray.

– He’s fed the 5,000 – He’s got to be absolutely, exhausted – He’s heard that His cousin John the Baptist is dead – the crowds have come to Him – He’s ministered to them all day – He’s been healing – He’s been preaching.

And now He feeds the 5,000.

At the end of that they want to make Him a King.

And so, at the end of a big day – at the end of a big season – what is it that Jesus is going to do? He’s gonna send the crowds away – He’s gonna send the disciples away – He’s gonna pray!

So,

He prays at the start of the day.

He prays at the end of the day.

He prays in the middle of the night.

He prays before big decisions.

Here’s something else – prior to a breakthrough with the disciples understanding – He’s gonna pray for them.

He’s gonna reveal Himself to them.

They’ve spent a year & a half with Him.

And so, as they’ve spent this year & a half with Him – He’s been revealing His identity to them.

But now it’s time for them to declare who He is –

He understands that, that’s gonna take spiritual power.

He understands that, that’s gonna take a revelation of the Holy Spirit.

He understands that the natural man (Here’s what the Bible says: “Understandeth not the things of the Spirit, He cannot, for they are spiritually discerned.”)

That’s in .

You & I, on our own, cannot understand what God is doing.

We need the Spirit of God to reveal it to us.

Jesus prays that the disciples might have the revelation to understand who He is.

Look at it – it says: Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him.

And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

And they come up with the right answer.

Why?

Not because they’re smart.

Not because they’re so sensitive to the Spirit.

But because before, hand He prayed for them.

Listen, mom’s & dad’s, that’s a tremendous insight that it’s important for you & I as parents to pray for our children – to pray for our grand-children that they would have spiritual insight.

It’s important for us to pray for our spouse that they would have spiritual insight

– to pray for our parents

– to pray for our friends

– to pray for our co-workers

– to pray for the people we meet

– to pray for the people we’re witnessing to that God would open the eyes of their heart – that they might have the insight to understand what God is doing in a certain time & place & who He is.