Gethsemane

At Gethsemane we see a Jesus who has never before appeared in any of the Gospels. Kent Hughes calls it the Sanctus Sanctorum of Jesus' heart demanding of us a profound reverence, almost a reticence, lest we get it wrong. Up to this point, Jesus has been absolutely fearless...from his temptation in the wilderness, to the initiation of his public ministry in Nazareth where his hometown people tried to kill him, to his encounter with a screaming demoniac whom he silenced with two words, to his bold preaching where he pronounced six scorching woes on the religious leaders of his day which was followed by repeated confrontations with the religious and political authorities in the various synagogues and lastly his righteous cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. He could neither be intimidated nor matched theologically. He was always in control whether healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes or even calming a terrible storm. He fearlessly approached his own death from the Mount of Transfiguration where he told his disciples that "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men." [Luke 9:44] and then a short time later in v. 51 it is recorded that "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem...as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven." And just a few miles from the gates of the Holy City Jesus told his disciples "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again" [18:31-33]. Finally, he was eager to share the Last Supper with his own -- though he knew that he was the Passover lamb who would be devoured. Through all of this Jesus knew no fear!

Then, a few hours later in the Garden, everything changed. Jesus was overcome with a fearful dread of his upcoming death. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them [Mark 14:33, 34]. Jesus in his anguish prayed more earnestly and his sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground [22:43]. God sent an angel to comfort and strengthen His Son but He would not take away the cup Jesus was about to drink. Jesus body and soul were wracked to the very core with fearful anguish of his impending death. An overwhelming fear! Many men and women before and after have died brave, fearless deaths. Why such fear from Jesus?

Jesus knew that the "wages of sin is death" [Rom. 6:23] -- and he would pay those total wages in full. He also knew that death is the result of the judgment of God [Rom. 5:12] -- and he knew that he would bear that judgment. He knew that he would become sin [2 Cor. 5:21] and that death would bring on him the full wrath of God [1 Jn. 2:2] -- and that he would propitiate it to the full. That is why he was filled with such unremitting dread. That is why he was so fearful. Hughes makes the point that Jesus could well have died before the cross!

Jesus plea to "take this cup from me" was grounded in the fact of his absolute sinless purity, and the fact that the cup was filled with sin and wrath. Hughes describes the cup as "steaming with a brew that was so awful, so fearful, so dreadful, so unbearable, so appalling, so horrendous that Jesus' soul was both revulsed and convulsed." How could he drink such filth? How could he bear his father's wrath? Though in the Upper Room he had declared this cup "to be the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" [22:20] he now recoiled at the personal horror he was about to endure. Nevertheless, he asked not that his will but that the Father's will be done. And he did it with complete sincerity, unlike Peter's ignorant boast that he was ready to go to prison and even death for Jesus. Jesus knew what he was assenting to. "Your will be done!" ends up being the cry of a conqueror because "the man who does the will of God lives forever" [1 Jn. 2:17].

Of the very many things we should learn from this passage [Luke 22:39-46] five stand out in my mind:

1. Prayer is more than content--it is a process of relating to God. While it is true that we often get the things we ask for, more than that, prayer gives us God Himself. [see also Rom. 8:32]

2. We see how biblical submission is lived out. Jesus submits to the authority of His Father though they are equal. He said "I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do was pleases Him" [Jn. 8:28, 29]. Charles Williams noted that "within the Godhead, this is a particular means of joy." Our submission is our entrance into this sweet joy.

3. Prayerful waiting is the secret to not succumbing to temptation [see also 1 Cor. 10:13]. But so often we miss the "way out" that God provides us because we are asleep!

4. We see that real death is due to God's wrath for our sin. We see the very oneness of God assaulted by sin. As Martin Luther said of the cross, "Mystery of mystery, God deserts God."

5. There in the Garden we see God's Son agonizing and pleading for an alternative way, and there's no question that if there were any other way God would have done it. But since there was not, God willed His own Son's death.

-- What a blasphemous affront to God to think that sin does not matter!

-- What an outrage to imagine that we are good enough for God to accept us!

-- What a cosmic affront to hold that there is any other way apart from Jesus!

-- What a slur to say that God does not care about us!

-- We join the Apostle John in amazement: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God!" [1 Jn. 3:1]

As the late Paul Harvey used to say, "and now you know the rest of the story" ... in this case, the true story of "Christmas." Just what it means to have "God with us" -- Emmanuel! He is our "Christmas present" both now and for eternity!