Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

The word /devoted/ in todays society does not seem to have much meaning.

Especially when it comes to marriage.

Men and woman today are not devoted to one another as they ought to be. 

*/What kind of devotion should we have toward God?/*  We know that God and Moses talked face to face in the Tent of Meeting, just as friends do.

Why did Moses find such favor with God?

It certainly was not because he was perfect, gifted, or powerful.

Rather, it was because God chose Moses, and Moses in turn relied wholeheartedly on God's wisdom and direction.

Friendship with God was a true privilege for Moses, out of reach for the other Hebrews.

But it is not out of reach for us today.

Jesus called his disciples—and, by extension, all of his followers—his friends (John 15:15).

He has called you to be his friend.

Will you trust him as Moses did? 

 

 

!! A.                 A devotion to God (v.1-3).

!!! 1.                  “Jesus went forth with His disciples…”  (v.1a).

!!!! a)                  "Went forth" to prepare Himself spiritually (v.1a).

!!!!! (1)                 Jesus was facing the hour to which God had called Him, the hour of His death.

He knew that God’s will for Him, was to die for the sins of the world.

!!!!! (2)                 He also knew the aweful separation from God that sin causes.

He was feeling the pressure of God's coming judgment upon sin which was to be exercised upon Him.

He wanted to flee; He wanted another way to be chosen to save man:    

*Remember, Matthew says He *"fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44NASB95)

!!!!! (3)                 Yet, He /“was committed to God”…  “was totally devoted to His Father”…  “must do God’s will”/.

!!!!! (4)                 In order to do God’s will, He needed God’s help.

He had to pray and seek God, and I believe it is for this reason he went to the Garden.

He was seeking to be alone with the Father.

!!!!! (5)                 *Think about this:* Jesus knew everything that was going to come upon him, He could have turned away and insited that the cup pass from Him but HE DID NOT. 

!!!!! (6)                 He was totally devoted to God, so He /"went forth"/ deliberately—for the purpose of praying and seeking strength from God, for the strength to fulfill God's will.

!!!!! (7)                 *Side Note:* John’s gospel does not cover the actuall agony that Jesus went through while in prayer (Matt.2636-46).

John’s purpose is to show the devotion to God’s will.

!!! 2.                  “Jesus went to the Garden…with His disciples…”  (v.1b-3).

!!!! a)                  "Went forth" to prepare the scene for God's will (v.1b-3).

!!!!! (1)                 Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane probably to the very spot where He had often prayed and spent the night when in Jerusalem:

*Luke says that *"He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.”  (Luke 22:39, NASB95)

!!!!! (2)                 Is there a place that you often go to be alone with God?

*Jesus said *"when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

(Matthew 6:6, NASB95)

!!!!! (3)                 And notice that Luke said /“and the disciples also followed Him.”/   

!!!!!! (a)                 Jesus not only taught His disciples to pray as they requested *(Luke 11:1-13).*

!!!!!! (b)                Jesus taught them by example, here in the garden and on the cross *(Lk.23:34)*.

!!!! b)                  Went to a place known by Judas (v.2).

!!!!! (1)                 Remember, Jesus could have gone to any other place; however, he went to a place that Judas knew.

\\ !!!! c)                  Judas came forth with a large force to arrest Him (v.3).

!!!!! (1)                 Now Judas was approaching with a large armed mob sent by the chief priests and elders from the temple.

!!!!! (2)                 Matthew still refers to Judas as /“one of the twelve”/ probably to emphasize the sense of shock and betrayal they all felt when he turned out to be a traitor.

!!!!! (3)                 Judas’s facade of faithfulness to Christ makes his treachery particularly wicked.

!!!!!! (a)                 The wickedness of a close friend who /pretended loyalty /and love for Christ while betraying Him is far worse than if Christ had been handed over by someone known to be an enemy.

!!!!!! (b)                *Think about it:* we talking about devotion to Christ, but here is someone who pretendes to be devoted to Christ.

!!!!! (4)                 */Luke says the mob included members of the temple guard (Luke 22:52)/*.

!!!!!! (a)                 These were security officers who acted as policemen in the temple grounds and also had limited powers (sanctioned even by Rome) to arrest people for violations of the Jewish law (John 7:32).

!!!!!! (b)                *This is great: *On at least one prior occasion, the chief priests had ordered the captains of the temple to arrest Jesus, but when they heard Him teach, they were so confounded by the way He spoke with authority that they came back empty-handed (John 7:45–46).

!!!!! (5)                 */John notes that the mob also included a detachment of Roman soldiers (John 18:3)/*.

!!!!!! (a)                 None of the gospels gives a numerical estimate of the size of the mob, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke all agree that it was a great multitude (Mark 14:43; Luke 22:47).

!!!!!! (b)                Depending on the size of the detachment of soldiers (there were six hundred soldiers in a typical Roman cohort), the crowd could easily have numbered in the hundreds.

!!!!!! (c)                 The fact that the chief priests sent such a large crowd to make the arrest indicates the degree to which they were frightened of Jesus’ power.

!!!!! (6)                 *Our application:* /again, before all this took place, what did Jesus do?/ 

!!!!!! (a)                 He went to be alone with the Father in prayer, Prayer, prepared Jesus to do God’s will.

!!!!!! (b)                No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17)

 

 

!! B.                A willing determination (v.4-6).

!!! 1.                  “Jesus, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward…”  (v.4).

!!!! a)                  He "went forth"—voluntarily (v.4 /cf.

Matthew 26:37-38/).

!!!!! (1)                 */There was the mental, emotional and physicL agony:/*  the weight, pressure, anguish, sorrow, and excessive strain such as no man has ever experienced.

He was the Son of God, Maker of heaven and earth, yet images and thoughts were pressing ever so heavily in upon His spirit, the images and thoughts of... 

!!!!!! (a)                 the /unbelief/ of all men everywhere.

!!!!!! (b)                the /rejection/ of His own people, the Jews.

!!!!!! (c)                 the /malice/ of the world's leaders, both Jew and Gentile, religious and civil.

!!!!!! (d)                the /betrayal/ of one of His own, Judas.

!!!!!! (e)                 the /desertion/ of all His men.

!!!!!! (f)                  the /denial/ by the leader of His own men, Peter.

!!!!!! (g)                the /injustice and condemnation/ of His trial.

!!!!!! (h)                 The /ridicule and pain/ of being scourged, spit upon, slugged, cursed, mocked, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross and killed.

\\ !!!!! (2)                 */There was the spiritual experience of death while being the Son of Man:/* There is so much here, yet so little can ever be known…

!!!!!! (a)                 *First,*/ what is it like to be without sin?

/Christ, made in the image of man and being fully man, was sinless.

*It’s comforting to know that *"we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."

(Hebrews 4:15, NKJV)

*John says in his first epistle that *"you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin."

(1 John 3:5, NKJV)

*Hebrews says that *"though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him," (Hebrews 5:8-9, NKJV)

!!!!!! (b)                *Second,* /what is it like to bear the sins of the world?/

In some mysterious way, God took all the sins of the world and laid the whole body of sin upon Christ (2Cor.5:21).

*Paul said *"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV)

*This is something that really blows me away that* "Christ died for the ungodly."

(Rom.5:6)

*We read that *"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," (1 Corinthians 15:3, NKJV)

*Isaiah writes that *"the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all…  Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him." (Is.53:6, 10)

!!!!!! (c)                 *Third, */what is it like to bear all the judgment and condemnation of sin for all men?/

*Isaiah writes that *"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."

(Isaiah 53:5, NKJV)

*Christ became a curse for us *"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)," (Galatians 3:13, NKJV)

*Christ tasted death for everyone *"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”

(Hebrews 2:9, NKJV)

*He did it to bring us to God *"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit," (1 Peter 3:18, NKJV)

!!!!! (3)                 */His death was the supreme act of obedience (John 10:17-18)./*

Jesus said this "commandment" to die was of God.

This gives a higher meaning to the death of Jesus than just meeting man's need.

!!!!!! (a)                 It means that Jesus did not just die because of sin, but because He wished to glorify and honor God.

He wished above all else to show His love and adoration for God.