Sermon Tone Analysis

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Theme: Praying thy will be done.

Theme: Praying thy will be done.

Jesus instruction for his followers in regard to prayers is found in the Lord’s Prayer.

Every part of this prayer assumes some significant knowledge about other teachings of the bible.

Tonight, I want us to look at the phrase “thy will be done” since the passage we’ve come to in Mark’s gospel has direct bearing on it.

Jesus instruction for his followers in regard to prayers is found in the Lord’s Prayer.

Every part of this prayer assumes some significant knowledge about other teachings of the bible.

Tonight, I want us to look at the phrase “thy will be done” since the passage we’ve come to in Mark’s gospel has direct bearing on it.

In Gethsemane, Jesus prays to the Father three times, thy will be done, just as he has taught his disciples to pray.

It’s a prayer that flies smack in the face of almost everything our society holds dear.

Americans, throughout our history have based their lives on three self-evident truths, 1) Choice is a good thing, 2) Authority is inherently suspect, and 3) No one should have the right to tell others how to think or how to behave.

The more free we are to decide what is right or wrong for ourselves, and have no one else tell us how to live our lives, the happier we will be.

This is the essence of American culture.

But Jesus tells us that every time we pray to God, thy will be done, it flies in the face of our culture.

To understand the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer, we need to look at Jesus’ own prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He prays that prayer in the midst of terrible agony.

I. THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS AGONY

I. THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS AGONY

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.

34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them.

“Stay here and keep watch.”

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.”

(, NIV84)

1. everything that Jesus has told the disciples about his crucifixion and death now hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks

like the proverbial ton of bricks

a. as Jesus begins to pray we’re told that he began to be deeply distressed — which literally means to be in agony

literally means to be in agony

b. he’s also troubled, which means to be horrified and shocked

2. he tells his disciples that the prospects of what is about to happen to him (though the Apostles are clueless as to what that is at the moment) have so overpowered him that his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death

Apostles are clueless as to what that is at the moment) have so overpowered him that his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death

a. Jesus is confessing to his disciples that he is ready to die then and there

3. the gravity of where is 3½ year ministry has led him now becomes like a weight upon his soul so dreadful that he is going to pray three times for to the Father to let the upcoming events just disappear

his soul so dreadful that he is going to pray three times for to the Father to let the upcoming events just disappear

ILLUS.

Throughout the centuries millions of Christians have gone to their deaths for claiming the name of Christ.

Many of them more heroically than we see Jesus going.

In Oxford, England there is the Martyr’s Memorial.

It marks the spot where, during the Protestant Reformation in England, men and women were burned at the stake for their faith.

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley being two of the most famous.

Latimer was a pastor, a professor at Cambridge, and chaplain to King Edward VI.

Ridley was also a pastor, the Bishop of London.

When the Catholic Queen Mary ascended the Throne of England she began to purge the nation of its Protestant leaders, burning at the stake 300 of them within a three-year period.

Latimer and Ridley were among the most famous because of their high positions within the church and the government.

As the flames began to grow higher around them Latimer told his friend, “Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”

claiming the name of Christ.

Many of them more heroically than we see Jesus going.

In Oxford, England there is the Martyr’s Memorial.

It marks the spot where, during the Protestant Reformation in England, men and women were burned at the stake for their faith.

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley being two of the most famous.

Latimer was a pastor, a professor at Cambridge, and chaplain to King Edward VI.

Ridley was also a pastor, the Bishop of London.

When the Catholic Queen Mary ascended the Throne of England she began to purge the nation of its Protestant leaders, burning at the stake 300 of them within a three-year period.

Latimer and Ridley were among the most famous because of their high positions within the church and the government.

As the flames began to grow higher around them Latimer told his friend, “Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”

a. many of Christ’s followers have face their martyrdom with faith and courage, having more inner peace and tranquility than we see Jesus having in the Garden

more inner peace and tranquility than we see Jesus having in the Garden

4. Jesus is not surprised at the idea that he is going to die

a. he has been repeatedly telling the disciple this is going to happen

“They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.

Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.

33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.

They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him.

Three days later he will rise.””

(, NIV84)

b. he knew that ... but now a new truth fully and forcefully reveals itself, and it forces him to fall face-first into the dust

him to fall face-first into the dust

c. none of Jesus’ followers, in the centuries to come, will ever face a death like his

5. what is so unique about our Lord’s death that it becomes agony to him?

a. the cup

“”Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you.

Take this cup from me.

Yet not what I will, but what you will.””

(, NIV84)

b. it’s not his death that alarms him, not even death by crucifixion

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (, NIV84)

c. Jesus wants the cup to pass him by

1) in ancient times the cup was often used as a metaphor that referred to judgment

2) in the Old Testament, whenever the Prophets refer to the cup they are referring to the judicial punishment of God because of sin and evil

to the judicial punishment of God because of sin and evil

“You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.

32 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup large and deep; it will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.

33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.”

(, NIV84)

• “Awake, awake!

Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger.”

(, NIV84)

“Awake, awake!

Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger.”

(, NIV84)

3) Jesus is going to experience something he’s never even remote felt before

a) not only will he experience the displeasure of the Father

b) not only will be experience the wrath of the Father

c) he’s going to experience the abandonment of the Father

d. the Garden of Gethsemane is a picture of Jesus beginning to stagger under the conscious weight of God’s redemptive plan

conscious weight of God’s redemptive plan

1) the judicial wrath of God on human evil is beginning to come down on him even now there in the Garden

now there in the Garden