Sermon Tone Analysis

It is good to be back from Uganda.

My heart is full and I feel like I could preach until Wednesday, telling stories of what God is doing out there in Africa.

I can’t do that now, you’ll have to come to our evening gathering at the end of the month to hear from Hans and I as we’ll discuss the trip in more detail.

I will say that I brought our greetings to the Kubamitwe Community Bible Church, and that they are a thriving body of believers in a rural village in Uganda.

And now I bring you greetings from the church in Uganda, from the missionaries at Sufficiency of Scripture Ministries, and I report back that Jesus is alive, and he is redeeming people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.

Mark 14.

This morning we are going to look at Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane.

I confess that I feel an overwhelming sense of inadequacy before this passage.

It is so deep, so mysterious, so lofty, so wonderful, so incredible, that I despair to try and adequately present it.

I found myself regularly traveling to the boundaries of my vocabulary to find words to express the wonder of this event.

But I am confident that the Lord wants us to look at him, there in the dark garden, the night of his betrayal, and to contemplate the wonderful mystery of his suffering.

It has been the prayer of Christians throughout the centuries that we could come to a deeper and fuller grasp of the love of Christ.

It has been the subject of songs and poems.

One such hymn is called O Make Me Understand It.

The refrain goes: “O make me understand it, help me to take it in, what it meant to thee, the Holy One, to take away my sin.”

That has been my prayer this week.

This passage is too wonderful for me.

O make me understand it, help me take it in.

What it meant to thee, the Holy One, to take away my sin.

And I trust that God will hear our prayers.

Let’s read Mark 14:32-42.

Let’s get some context.

It’s Thursday evening of the last week of Jesus’ life.

It’s the night of his betrayal.

He had just eaten the passover meal with his disciples, predicting one who would betray him.

In verse 27 he predicted that at the time of his death all his disciples would fall away.

And if you remember, Peter was appalled at such a thought, and in verse 29 said, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

In verse 31, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.”

And now Jesus takes them to Gethsemane.

It was a gardened area, there would have been olive trees all around him, and at this point, after the passover meal, it’s late, probably past midnight, and they’ve had an exhausting week of teaching in the temple.

In the Mediterranean climate the night was probably cool, maybe in the mid 60s.

There are no streetlights or lamposts; the place would be dark and quiet.

This is the setting of one of the most important events in the history of the world.

The fate of the world is on his shoulders.

Heaven and hell weigh upon him.

The fate of millions will be determined by how he fares this night.

In this way, we are reminded of an earlier garden, and an earlier Adam, and an earlier temptation, and we are reminded how the fate of the world was on his shoulders, and how the fate of millions would be determined by his decision, and how he failed and plunged the entire human race into sin and misery.

In this garden, the Second Adam comes to face a much greater temptation, and should he fail, all would be lost.

Here, Jesus begins to look into the abyss of suffering that awaits him.

It’s not that he didn’t know his suffering was going to come.

He knew.

He’s been predicting for a long time now.

But as the hour draws close, the reality of it all settles in.

Now, here, in this moment, the Son of God is tempted to swerve from God’s path and abort his Father’s plan for salvation.

I want to ask some questions to explore this text: 1) How did Jesus face this suffering?

2) What was Jesus experiencing?

3) What did Jesus ask God to do? 4) What kind of people did Jesus suffer for?

And 5) What does this mean for us?

First, how did Jesus face this suffering?

Simply, the answer is found at the end of verse 32: “Sit here while I pray.”

Imagine you are told that this very night you will be tortured, or that your child will be kidnapped, or that a loved one would die.

I’m sure your knowledge of the coming pain would cause your pulse to quicken.

Perhaps you’d panic.

Perhaps you’d try to escape.

Perhaps you’d curl up in your bed and put your head underneath your pillow.

Jesus prayed.

Remember in Mark 1, at the very beginning of his ministry, they didn’t know where Jesus went and they finally found him, and he was praying.

Remember in the middle of Jesus ministry, in Mark 6, just after feeding the 5,000, Jesus withdrew to the mountain to pray?

Now, as his life comes to a close, what is he compelled to do?

He wants to pray.

He prayed in the beginning, in the middle and here in the end.

We should bring everything to God in prayer.

Make it a practice to pray in the morning.

To pray in the middle of the day.

And to pray at night.

This is why we pray corporately as a church, and this is why it is common to see people praying with each other after church.

Because we want to be like Jesus, who brought all his burdens to the Father.

Do you realize that prayerless is functional atheism?

To be prayerless is to unsay with our lives all our theology about God, ourselves, Christ, and our mission.

How often do we pray last, when all other options have been sought after?

How sick are we, that our hands are full of needs, we do not run to our Father who would bear them with us!

“Oh what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

Observe Jesus.

“Sit here while I pray.”

This is the way Jesus faced suffering, and this is the way to live as a Christian.

This is why we pray together as a church every time we gather.

We honor him by going to him.

By speaking with him.

By laying our burdens at his feet.

How would you describe your prayer life?

Consistent.

Without ceasing.

Bold and confident?

Weak?

Inconsistent?

Only in the event of an emergency?

It truly is the measure of a man in a way nothing else is.

Jesus faced his suffering with prayer.

Our second question is this: what was Jesus experiencing?

Verse 33 says he took “with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.”

He separates himself from the rest of the disciples, bringing with him only three.

Why these three?

On one hand, they appear to be Jesus’ closest disciples.

He invited only them into the room where he healed Jairus’ daughter.

He invited only them up the Mount of Transfiguration.

Peter, James, and John were given invitations the other disciples did not receive.

But I think there’s another reason.

Back in Mark 10:35.

James and John ask Jesus, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

And Jesus replies, “What do you want me to do for you?”