57:31

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Jesus, garden, Christ, sin, Father, agony, distressed, cross, Peter, pray, God, Mark, verse, disciples, tells, death, prayer, flesh, olives, cup

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

1. The Agony in the Garden. - 2 -
2. The Prayer in the Garden.. - 5 -
3. The Failure in the Garden.. - 8 -
4. The Betrayer in the Garden.. - 10 -

Introduction

This morning, we continue in Mark chapter 14. We're going to be in verses 32 through 42. You can see the title of this sermon here this morning is "Trouble to Triumph in the Garden." When the state puts a man on death row, they give him his final date of sentencing. And then they let him know at what hour he will be executed. Under the 24 states that still have the death penalty, the most popular method of execution is by injection. They want to make it as painless as possible, so that the man will essentially go to sleep and never wake up. And you think for a man who was put on death row it, it must be troubling and agonizing as they sit there and await their final sentence.

But a lethal injection is nothing compared to the agony of the cross and all that Christ went through for us. In our passage, this morning, we're going to see Jesus distressed and troubled, as He's preparing to go to the cross. In fact, in verse 34, it says this, His “soul was grieved to the point of death." (Mark 14:34) If you think about what kind of death He is about to face, He is not going to get an injection as He lays on a table. This is going to be a painful death as He hangs on across. And if we were to think about the kind of pain and suffering that Jesus went through, as He was beaten, and whipped and nailed to a cross, we might think that that would cause a lot of distress, and trouble and grief in our lives as well. But as we're going to see, although Jesus was distressed, and troubled and grieving, He wasn't grieving because of the pain that He was about to endure on the cross. His grief was caused by something much greater than that, much more pressing, much deeper than that. His grief was caused by the anticipation of becoming the sacrifice for sin. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:21. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21)

Christ -- who knew no sin, who was perfect, sinless, spotless, sin was foreign to Him -- He would take upon Himself the sin of all of those who would believe on Him. And He would bear the punishment for that sin, as the Father then poured out His wrath upon His Son on that cross. And Christ knew that that was coming. And it was that anticipation that caused His soul to be grieved in the garden. So, as we look at our passage here, this morning, and in the account of Christ there in the garden, we're going to break it down into four points.

We're going to see first The Agony in the Garden. Second, we'll see The Prayer in the Garden. Third, we'll see The Failure in the Garden. And finally, we will see The Betrayer in the Garden. The Agony, The Prayer, The Failure and The Betrayer.

1.     The Agony in the Garden.

So, let's look at our first point here this morning, The Agony in the Garden. Look at verse 32 of Mark 14. It says this “They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”  (Mark 14:32)

See Map of Jerusalem and Mount of Olives and see Timeline view

Now, if you remember from last week, they have just finished the Passover meal in Jerusalem there in the upper room, where they have rented out a room from a man. It's around midnight because we know that they had to finish the Passover by midnight. You had to be done with the Passover meal by that time. And so, it's around midnight. And then they make their way out of Jerusalem out of the city, which is where they had to celebrate the Passover meal. They make their way out of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley over to the Mount of Olives. It was along the way there as they're walking over to the Mount of Olives that Jesus then tells them that every one of them is going to scatter. They're going to deny Jesus, and they're all going to scatter. Every one of them is going to leave Jesus' side. But as we saw, Peter insists, he opens his mouth and he says, I won't leave you, Jesus! I'll go with you to death! Oh, Peter, Oh Peter. Peter, then gets this response from Jesus where Jesus then says, No Peter, “you will deny me three times before the rooster crows." (Mark 14:30) Which means this is going to happen within the next three hours. Peter is going to deny Him three times within the next three hours; since the rooster crow would be the time from midnight to 3am. Jesus is telling him here, within the next three hours, Peter, you are going to deny Me not just once, but three times.

And then they arrive to the Mount of Olives. They come to a garden. And Mark tells us here that this place is named Gethsemane. This place was outside of Jerusalem because Jerusalem didn't have enough room for people to have a garden in the city. Jerusalem was packed full of people, especially at this time with the Passover, you had pilgrims who were coming from all over, as they would filter into Jerusalem to come and celebrate the Passover time. But there wasn't enough room in the city for them to have gardens and so gardens were then put on the outside of the city on the hillsides. This garden Gethsemane is there on the Mount of Olives -- on the hillside of the Mount of Olives. It would have had an owner of this garden, who would have allowed Jesus and His disciples access to it. In fact, this is the place that Jesus often went to meet with His disciples. It was a place of escape, to get away from the crowds -- to get away so that Jesus could spend time with the Twelve.

How do we know that Jesus often took them there? Well listen to John 18:2, it says this, "Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.” (John 18:2) The Garden of Gethsemane was familiar to these guys. There was a place that Jesus went to meet with them. Jesus knew the owner of this garden, and this guy allowed Him to go and meet with them there in this olive garden. It was an olive garden. How do we know that it was an olive garden? Well, the word Gethsemane means "press of oils", "press of oils", and it was the place where they would press or crush oil out of olives. It was an olive press that was there. And so, we know that this is an olive garden, obviously on the Mount of Olives. Jesus is there in Gethsemane, meaning press of oils... pressure. What a fitting name. Press of oils -- as Christ is going to be pressed with the agony of the cross there in that garden.

Now this this garden was located near the base of the Mount of Olives across the brook of Kidron, or the ravine of the Kidron. John 18:1 tells us, “When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples.” (John 18:1)

And as they they arrive in this garden, called Gethsemane, notice what Jesus tells the eleven. (Judas, remember is not with them at this point. He has gone to betray Jesus.) But notice what Jesus then tells the eleven, "He said to His disciples sit here until I have prayed." (Mark 14:32) He tells all of the eleven to sit there outside of the garden, right at the entrance, going into Gethsemane there. They were to stay right there at the entrance until Jesus has prayed. In the Greek there, this is a command. Jesus tells them, notice what He says. He says, sit here, not sleep here. Sit right here, guys -- until I have prayed. And then Jesus goes into the garden. But when He goes into the garden, He doesn't go alone. Look at what it says in verse 33 there, "And He took with Him Peter, and James and John, and began to be very distressed, and troubled." (Mark 14:33)

What does Jesus do here? He selects the inner circle, Peter, James, and John -- these three guys who are closest to Jesus. He takes them with Him, and He begins then to go and walk into the garden. And as they walk into the garden, what happens to Jesus? Notice what it says there, He “began to be very distressed and troubled.” (Mark 14:33) Now, think about this for these guys. These three, especially Peter, James, and John -- have they ever seen Jesus distressed or troubled? Never, never. When Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees and the Sadducees, do you think Jesus was distressed or troubled by their questions as they're trying to pin something on Him?  Do you think He was there distressed and troubled as they're trying to get the crowd to turn upon Him? Do you think He was distressed and troubled by them? Of course not.

In fact, when they're on the Sea of Galilee, caught in a big storm (in Mark chapter 4), the disciples are distressed and troubled -- they're in fear, because the storm is raging around them. But what was Jesus doing? He's asleep in the boat. Do you think Jesus was distressed and troubled? He wasn't. Now they did see Him weep at the death of Lazarus. But this is the first time as they have been walking with Christ for three years, the first time in their ministry, where they now have seen Christ, they see Him distressed and in trouble. In fact, that word distressed there means "to be moved to a relatively intense emotional state because of something causing great surprise or perplexity." And He was in great distress at this time. The word trouble there means "to be in anxiety, or to be in extreme anguish."  These are strong terms that are used here to describe Christ. And this would have been very noticeable to Peter, James and John.  There's the Messiah, we know that He is the Messiah, and look at Him. We've never seen Him like this before.

Now what caused Jesus to act like this? Well, as Jesus walks into that garden, Jesus now understands, and He knows what He is about to experience. He knows the pain and the sorrow that will come upon Him, not just in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. He knows that He's about to take upon Himself the wrath of the Father. He's going to be alienated from the Father, whom He's been in fellowship with for all of eternity. That's why He cries out on the cross in Mark 15:34, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Mark 15:34) Jesus knows what is coming. He knows that He is about to be made sin, so that sin could be punished. Not that He would be made a sinner. Jesus was never a sinner, but He is going to be made sin, as the punishment for sin -- for our sin, every sin that you and I have committed. It was all put there upon Christ on that cross, and He knew I am going to take it for them.

And for a brief moment there on that cross as He cries out, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Mark 15:34) Jesus knows for a brief moment that He will be separated from the Father. In fact, speaking of Mark 15:34, one commentator says, "it is the only time of which we have recorded that Jesus did not address God as Father." How did He address Him? As God. “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” Because the Son had taken sin upon Himself, the Father turned His back. In the secrets of divine sovereignty and omnipotence, the God-Man was separated from God for a brief time at Calvary, as the furious wrath of God was poured out on the sinless Son, who in matchless grace became sin for those who believe in Him. Jesus knows that this is coming. He knows the agony of the cross. And that He will bear the sins of the world to save sinners like us.

And it causes great distress and trouble in Him. It was grief and sorrow, like no other man has ever experienced in the history of humanity. Now think about that. If you have ever lost a loved one, you have gone through grief and agony. You have gone through pain; you've gone through sorrow. All of us who have lost a loved one have gone through that. But this was greater than any grief and sorrow that any one of us has ever gone through. No other person in the history of humanity has ever experienced this kind of grief and agony. The only other agony that will be worse than what Jesus experiences here in the garden, will be the agony on the cross when the Father finally turns His back on Him. This is great agony here. So much so that He tells Peter, James and John in verse 34, look at what He says there, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." (Mark 14:34)

His soul -- that is His inner man -- He was so deeply grieved that it almost killed Him. Think about this, Jesus has never ever experienced separation from the Father. He's never experienced sin. He has never experienced punishment, ever. And yet He was about to experience all of that. He would take upon Himself the punishment for sin. Even though He was completely perfect and deserved none of it. He was about to take punishment that He did not deserve. And He wouldn't just take it for one man, but He would take that punishment for all of those who would believe in Him -- for millions and millions of people who would believe upon Him. He is about to take the punishment for them, for us.

And notice what He tells these three to do at the end of verse 34. "Remain here and keep watch." (Mark 14:34) Luke tells us in his account, Luke 22:40, "pray that you may not enter into temptation." (Luke 22:40) Now remember Matthew 6 and Luke 11. What did Jesus teach these guys to pray? We call it the Lord's Prayer. Right? Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name right and it goes on. And what does Jesus teach them to pray there? He says, "And lead us not into..." What? "temptation" and lead us not into temptation. They were now they're in the garden with Jesus. The other eight are outside of the garden, right at the entrance of it. And Jesus tells them now to stay right where they are and begin to pray. Stay alert, keep watch. That's what that means there. Remain here and keep watch. Stay alert and pray. You guys need to pray.

Why? What were they about to experience? Temptation. They were about to be tempted, tested, right? And they're going to be tempted to do what? To deny Christ. Would they succumb to that temptation? They would. They did. Why? Why did they succumb to that temptation? Well, we'll see that answer in just a moment in our text. So that there is the Agony in the Garden.

2.     The Prayer in the Garden

Let's look at our second point, this morning, the Prayer in the Garden. Let’s look and see what Jesus prays. Look at verse 35, verse 35, "And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.” (Mark 14: 35) Jesus tells those three, Peter, James and John to remain where they were. And Jesus then goes a little further into the garden to pray alone with the Father. Luke tells us that He went “a stone's throw away.” (Luke 22:41). He was close enough where they could throw a stone at Him. Not too far. Jesus was, was close enough for them to hear Him pray. And He goes over into the garden and by Himself and notice what He does there. Notice what it says. And He fell to the ground. Matthew tells us that He fell on his face. (Matt 26:39) The distress and the trouble and the grief were so great that it brought Him to His knees as He collapsed and fell to the ground and began to pray to the Father.

What did He pray? Look at what it says there. He prays that "if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by." (Mark 14:35) Now, this prayer here wasn't some kind of whisper. It wasn't some kind of, of dinner prayer only loud enough for those around the dinner table to hear. This was a loud, an emotional prayer of Christ. In fact, Hebrews 5 says this, “In the days of His flesh,” (that is talking about here in the garden) “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death”, (Heb 5:7) Jesus is crying out to the Father, that if it were possible that salvation might come another way. Because He knows what is about to happen, as He's there on that cross -- as He's hanging on the cross. And the Father pours His wrath out upon Him, and the Father turns His back on Him. He knows that this is coming. And He says, Father, if there is another way, may that be.

One commentator says, "his petition was that if there were a possibility for Him to complete His messianic mission, without that sacrificial death, He desired that."  And of course, He would pray this. Right? Of course, He's going to pray this. Some might say, well, this shows weakness in Christ, such a weak man. But it doesn't. It doesn't show weakness. What does it show? Two things.

• First, it shows His humanity. It shows His humanity, humanly speaking, He is going to experience something worse than any man will ever experience in all of history. It shows that He is a man; that He understands grief and sorrow and pain like you and I go through.

• But second, it shows His deity because He had never been so close to sin, and death. This is the perfect God-Man who would become sin for us and bear the punishment of sin. And as the God-Man, we know that God hates sin, and He hates sin so much that He cannot be around it. In fact, Habakkuk 1:13 says "Your eyes are too pure to approve evil. And you cannot look on wickedness with favor." God cannot. He is totally separate from sin. This is showing the deity of Christ here. As God, He is so holy, He is the divine Savior. Then He says, if it were possible, don't let me take upon the punishment of sin. But the reality is that it cannot happen this way. He has to go and bear the punishment for sin.

Why? What is the whole sacrificial system been pointing to? The whole sacrificial system that we read about in the Old Testament, all of it is pointing to what? The ultimate sacrifice. The ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah who would come and be pierced for our transgressions. God says that salvation must come through a blood sacrifice. And listen, God cannot go back on His Word. This is the plan of the Father. Can God do whatever He wants to do? Yes, He can in one sense. But no, He can't in another sense. Let me explain.

Yes, God can do whatever He wants to do, because He is the Sovereign King of the universe. Psalm 115, verse 3 says, "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." So yes, God can do whatever He pleases. But there are some things that God cannot do.

• First, God cannot deny Himself. He cannot deny Himself, He is who He is, and He will never deny Himself. (2 Tim 2:13) That's why when God swears, God always swears by who? Himself, because He is the greatest, He is the ultimate, He is the supreme, He's the king overall. And so He cannot swear by anyone lesser than Him, because He swears by Himself because He's the greatest. And as He swears by Himself, He says, and I will never deny Myself. And so therefore, when He swears, and He makes a promise, and He swears by Himself, He's saying, and it will come to pass, I promise you that because I cannot deny Myself. God cannot deny Himself.

• Secondly, God cannot lie. He cannot lie. Hebrews 6:18 says, "It is impossible for God to lie." So, God does whatever He pleases. But God will never go back on His Word. And that is why Christ had to go to the cross. Because the Father said it will be through a sacrifice. The Father said, “He will be pierced for our transgressions.” (Isaiah 53:5).

That's how God planned it, and so Jesus has to go to the cross. Now notice what He says there. He says that "if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by." (Mark 14:35) What is He talking about...this hour? What's He referring to here when He says, "this hour?" Well, this is the appointed time where He will be on the cross and die. That's what He's referring to there. But it's the Father's plan for this to happen, right? This is what is going to happen and so Christ must go to the cross.

Now in verse 36, we get a more detailed account of what He said in His prayer. Look at what it says there in verse 36. “And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36) Notice how He talks to the Father there. What does He call Him? He calls Him Abba. That's a term of endearment. It's like Him saying Daddy. As a child would say that to their father. A term of endearment. Daddy, Father. This is how close He is with the Father.

And again, He says there, "all things are possible for You. (Mark 14:36) He knows this truth that the Father can do whatever He pleases. And so, look at what He says there, "remove this cup from me", remove this cup from me. What is this cup that He's talking about here? It's the cup of God's wrath that is poured out on sinners. That's the cup.

The Old Testament tells us of this, we see this in Psalm 11. And in Isaiah 51. The cup is the cup of God's anger, and God's wrath that is due to every single sinner because we have sinned against a holy and righteous God. And included in this cup is not only the physical suffering, but even spiritual suffering, and death. And Jesus here, being sinless, bore God's judgment upon that cross. And He endured the agony of being made sin for us.

Here's the picture, let me give you a picture of this. It's as if the Father holds a cup of wrath out for each one of us to drink because we all deserve it. Every one of us deserves to drink that cup, because we have sinned against the Father. But here's the picture. Jesus comes along and He says, Stop, don't drink that cup. I will take it for you. And He takes every one of our cups, and He drinks them to the end, so that we could be saved from the wrath of God. That's what Christ did on the cross. And that was His prayer.

Father, "remove this cup from Me." (Mark 14:36) He was in such agony during this time that Luke tells us that He began to sweat drops of blood. This is a condition called Hematidrosis. If someone is in extreme anguish, they can begin to start perspiring blood. And that was Jesus. As He's praying to the Father, He begins to sweat droplets of blood. But here's the amazing thing about this prayer of Christ. It didn't stop there. It didn't stop with just asking the Father to take the cup. What does Jesus say? Look at what He says there. Here's the key, He says, "yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36) He was completely submitted to the Father's will. Total and complete submission to the Father. And whatever the Father's plan was, the Son says, I will do it.

He was completely and totally obedient to the Father. In fact, Philippians 2 says that "He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:8) Whatever the Father wanted Him to do, He did it. And that was His prayer. That He would do the Father's will. Whatever it was, He will do it in complete obedience to the Father.

And that should be our prayer as well. Right? We should pray this prayer.... Father, not My will, but Your will be done. And it should have been the disciples' prayer. But it wasn't. Which leads to our third point here.

3.     The Failure in the Garden

The Failure in the Garden. The Failure in the Garden, look at verse 37. "And He" (Jesus) "came and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, Simon, are you sleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:37-38) Notice what Jesus calls Peter here. He calls them what, Simon. Why? Because Peter is acting like his old self. Remember, Jesus was the one who changed his name to Peter, which means rock or stone. Peter wasn't acting like a rock here; He was acting like his old self. So, Jesus calls him Simon.

Notice that all three of them are asleep. But who does Jesus call out? He calls out Peter. Why? Because Peter's the leader of the bunch. They all look to him. Peter was their leader. Peter was the one who kept on saying that he would not deny Christ, right? And all the rest of them followed along with Peter. That's right. We'll never deny you Jesus! And if he's asleep, what do you think the other guys are going to do? They're all going to sleep too. If Peter’s out, we're going too, he's our leader.

Now, Luke tells us that they fell asleep because of -- listen -- because of sorrow. Think about this, as these guys are there in the garden, they are watching the Man who has just poured His life into theirs for three years. And He's the Messiah, the One who calmed the sea, the One who healed sicknesses, the One who brought people back to life...the dead back to life. And what is Jesus doing here in the garden? He's in agony. And they couldn't take it anymore. As they watched Christ go through this agony, they couldn't take it anymore. And they were so sorrowful that they did what? They went to sleep.

You ever been there before? Where you're so sorrowful. You're so sad that you just go to sleep. It's what they did. And instead obeying Christ, and doing what He told them to do, which is to stay awake and pray that you be not led into temptation. What do they do? They succumb to the flesh. And they give in and they fall asleep.

How long had Jesus been praying away from them? Notice what it says there in verse 37. Jesus comes and asks them, "could you not keep watch for one hour?" (Mark 14:37) It was an hour, Jesus spent an hour away from them, praying with the Father. And they couldn't even stay awake for one hour. Notice Jesus says then, in verse 38, "keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation." (Mark 14:38) Jesus commands them here to watch and to pray, stay awake and pray, just as Jesus did. What did He do when He went into the garden? He stayed awake, and He prayed to the Father. And He is saying, guys, you must do this as well... stay awake and pray. And what was their prayer to be? Lead us not into temptation. I taught you guys how to pray. That's what you must pray! Because their temptation was coming quick.

And they were about to be tested. And how would they do when they were tested? Were they victorious? No. They failed, every one of them. And you know why they failed? Because they relied upon the flesh. And this right here is a preview of that. They can't even obey Christ and stay awake for one hour to pray, let alone stay with Him through His arrest and trial. They would all fail because they relied upon the flesh.

But I love what Jesus says here. How He offers them some comfort. Notice what He says. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is what? Weak. Jesus knew that their spirit was willing. But He knew how weak the flesh was. And this is all of our flesh, church. Your flesh is weak. You cannot obey God on your own. It is impossible. And if you try and obey God on your own, you will fail every time just as the disciples did. We must rely upon the Spirit of God. We must be those who walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Yes, our spirit is willing. But unless you rely upon the divine power, the power of God, you will fail every time.

That's what happened to these guys. Peter thought that he could stand by his own strength. He thought that he could do it. I won't deny you Jesus. No, not me. I'll go to death with you. Because I am strong, Jesus. And Jesus said, Oh, Peter, you are so weak. You don't even understand. And Peter fell. And not just once, but how many times? Three times. Three times he fell.

But what did Jesus do with Peter after Peter fell? He restored him. Jesus restored him. In John 21, three times Jesus asked Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me, Peter? What does Peter finally say? Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. And what does Jesus then say to Peter? Then go and tend my sheep. Go and lead them. Peter. (John 21:15-17) As you rely upon Me, you are going to be used in a great and mighty way in the kingdom of God. Go Peter. He restored him. Peter learned his lesson.

He learned his lesson not to rely upon his own flesh, which is exactly what he did while He was praying. This just didn't happen once. But three times he fell asleep. Look at verse 39. And again, He went away, that is Jesus, went away and prayed saying the same words, praying the same thing. Father, remove this cup from me, but not My will, but Your will be done. And then in verse 40. “Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 41 And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? (Mark 14:39-41)

Jesus goes back into the garden to go and pray, and what do these guys do? They fall asleep. Again, relying upon their own flesh. They fall asleep. And I love what happens in verse 40. Look at what it says there. You can picture this. Jesus wakes them up a second time. And as He wakes them up, they've got to be just groggy at this time, and they get caught. And notice what it says, "they did not know what to answer Him." (Mark 14:40) 

They wake up and they see Jesus. And it's like, they're so embarrassed. They don't know what to say. Ah, you caught us again, Jesus, asleep. So, Jesus goes back a third time to go and pray. Guys stay awake and pray. I'm going to pray to the Father. And He goes to pray to the Father and He comes back and now does He find them again? Asleep again. And He said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? What can they say now? Absolutely nothing. Yep, you caught us again, Jesus. They aren't relying on divine power at this point in their life. They are fully given into their flesh.

But here's the amazing thing through all of this. Here's the amazing thing. Who is in the most agonizing pain and sorrow there in that garden? Jesus was. Jesus was. In fact, Luke tells us that Jesus was in such agony that an angel appeared to Him from heaven and strengthened Him. (Luke 22:43) He needed help from above, because He was in such agony to the point of death. But what was Jesus doing the whole time? He's praying to the Father. Isn't it good to know that our Savior is strong enough to not give into the flesh, but is powerful enough to overcome temptation? You've got three guys over here in the garden, who are all asleep, who have given into the flesh. And there is Jesus who will not give into the flesh. But He relies upon the power of God. And He prays because He's powerful enough to overcome all temptation. The disciples couldn't overcome it. But listen, Jesus always overcomes. He was fixed on the will of the Father, and He stayed awake the whole time.

And now as He's there in the garden with these guys, the sorrow subsides. And Christ is now ready to face the cross. Now, listen, just as a side note, did Satan want Jesus on that cross? He didn't. He didn't. Satan did not want Jesus to go to the cross. Satan wanted Christ, not to give into the will of the Father. He wanted Christ to bypass the cross because if there is no cross, then there is no forgiveness of sins. And Satan would have won. But Christ came out of that garden, victorious, fully submitted to the will of the Father and ready to face the cross. Which is why Jesus says in the second half of verse 41, notice what it says there, “It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Mark 14:41)

He says to these guys, it is enough probably referring to their sleep that is, wake up, get up off the ground. It's now the time. Notice what He says there, the hour has come. Now notice this, what did He ask the Father for in His prayer? He asked that if it's possible that the hour would pass Him by. That  He wouldn't have to go through the hour. But what does Jesus say now? He says the hour has come. He's accepted the will of the Father. And Jesus at this point is ready to drink the cup. He's triumphant. He's victorious in the garden. And He's ready to face the cross, as He will be betrayed into the hands of the Sanhedrin and the Roman guards who would have been led there by none other than Judas. The plan is all in place. Judas is coming. And that leads to our final point here this morning.

4.     The Betrayer in the Garden

The Betrayer in the Garden. Look at verse 42. Jesus says to them, "Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!” (Mark 14:42) He tells these guys to get off the ground where they're sleeping because the betrayer is at hand. And who was that? It's Judas. It's Judas. They could hear the crowd of the Sanhedrin and the guards coming across the Kidron Valley. They're up the mountainside to that garden. Judas knew exactly where to find Jesus. If He wasn't there in the upper room. I know where He's at. He always took us to the Garden of Gethsemane to teach us and to pray. We spent a lot of time there. Let's go guys. We'll find him there.

And Judas leads them to come and arrest Jesus. And now the plan...God's perfect plan to save us from our sins... is all set in motion. And while it may seem like Christ came out of that garden defeated, He actually came out, triumphant. Do you know why? Because He was doing the will of the Father. He was triumphant there.

And what gave Him the power and the strength to do this? Turn over to Hebrews chapter 5 with me. Hebrews chapter 5. I read this for you earlier, but I want to show you this. In Hebrews chapter 5:7 the author of Hebrews gives us some insight of what was going on there in the garden. Look at what it says. Hebrews chapter 5:7 it says this, “In the days of His flesh He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears” (notice this) “to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.” (Heb 5:7) What did Christ believe in that moment? There in that garden? He knew that the Father would do what? Raise Him from the dead.

Look at that -- "loud crying and tears to the one able to save Him from." (What?) "from death."  Jesus knew that the end was not death. But the end was what? Resurrection. The end is resurrection! His death would make the payment, but His resurrection would give life! He knew that He was going to be victorious in resurrection, that He would rise again, that He would burst forth from the grave. That's the key to Christianity. Listen, Christians, that is the key to Christianity. Do you know that? Do you understand that? The key is resurrection. That's our hope. That's our victory is the resurrection!

That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:13. "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. And your faith is also in vain." (1 Cor 15:13) Then in verse 16, he says, "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, and you are still in your sins." (1 Cor 15:16) Then in verse 22, he says, "For as in Adam, all die, so also in Christ, all will be made alive. Those who believe in Christ will be made alive, just as Christ was made alive." (1 Cor 15:22) 

And He knew that there in the garden, as He was there, in agony and pain and suffering, He knew, oh, the Father will see Me through all of this. And I will die on that cross as the payment for sins, but I will burst forth three days later. I will be resurrected. And all those who believe in Me, I will raise at the last day. That's our hope! That's our victory!

That's why Paul says in (continuing on in 1 Corinthians 15) he says, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us…” (listen, that's us) “the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:54-56) Christ went through the agony and the pain and all of that suffering, not only so that He would be victorious, but so that you and I would be victorious with Him.

But listen, the only way that you can be victorious is if you have been saved of your sin. Some of you are here this morning and you have not received the gift of salvation. You have not been saved from your sin. Christ offers you forgiveness today. And He calls you to come to Him to repent of your sin and put your faith in Him. And if you do that, He will give you eternal life and He will raise you up again at the last day. And you can be victorious with Him. Not in your own strength, not in your own will. Not in your own power, but because of His divine power. Because He is our victorious Savior!

Father, we thank You for Christ and the victory that He won for us. As He said, not My will, but Your will be done. And Father, we know that He did Your will. And He went to the cross to be the payment for our sins. And He drank the cup that every one of us deserves. Father, we thank You for such an amazing, magnificent Savior. We thank You that through His blood our sins have been paid for. We thank You that He died on that cross for our sins, so that we could be victorious. We thank You that He did not stay dead, but that He rose again on the third day. And He lives at Your right hand. Today. He sits there having all authority in heaven and on earth. Lord, help us to submit to His authority. Help us to be those who submit to Your will. Father, may we live in light of this glorious and magnificent truth. Understanding and knowing that our hope is not in this world, our hope is not in the things of this world. But our hope is in You. Our hope is in Christ who will return again. And when He returns, He will take us to be with You. All the dead will be raised. The dead in Christ will be raised. And we will receive a glorified body and we will be with You forever. Oh Father, we thank You for this magnificent truth. And we thank You that it was accomplished through Your Son Jesus Christ, who submitted to Your will. Father, may we leave this place this morning changed by this truth and see Christ in a fresh way in love with Him, submitted to Him so that we would live for Your glory and Your glory alone. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.