Transcript

How to Go Through Gethsemane: Luke 22:39-46

In one of his Old Testament commentaries, Phillip Ryken told the true story of a young boy whose little sister needed a blood transfusion. They had both been born with the same disease, and the boy had survived two years earlier.

The doctor explained that her only chance of survival was to receive a blood transfusion from someone who had conquered this disease. Since the two children shared the same rare blood type, this little boy was the ideal donor.

The doctor, along with this boy's parents, eventually sat down with him and asked him if he’d be willing to give his blood to Mary, his little sister. His lower lip trembled at first, but then he took a deep breath and said, “For my sister, I sure will.”

Soon, they were wheeled into the hospital room – the little girl pale and thin, her brother robust and healthy. Neither one of them spoke, but as the transfusion began, he looked over at her and smiled.

When the ordeal was almost over, his voice somewhat shaky and fearful, he broke the silence by asking the doctor, “So, when am I going to die?”

Only then did the adults realize they hadn’t done a very good job explaining this procedure. And then they realized why he’d trembled when he agreed to donate his blood. He thought the doctor was asking for it all.

But here’s the remarkable thing – out of love, he had been willing to give it all. (Source: ^{Retold, by Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew (Crossway, 2013), p. 800)}

We’re about to arrive at a scene where the love of Christ for us is going to be revealed with that kind of resolve – only a billion times more – eternally more significant.

Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus didn’t confirm His decision to shed His blood when He arrived at Calvary? He had confirmed His decision in Gethsemane.

Where the first Adam – the founder of the human race – failed to do the will of God in a garden, Jesus, called in the New Testament the final Adam – the founder of new race – He will succeed in doing the will of God, in a garden. (Source: ^{Adapted from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Courageous (Victor Book, 1989), p. 119)}

Let’s watch it happen, as Luke records it in his gospel account, here in chapter 22.

Jesus has now left the upper room. He heads outside the walled city of Jerusalem with His eleven disciples; they walk down the valley and across the Kidron Brook, then up the hill to one of His favorite spots –

Now, let’s pick up where we left off in verse 39:

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. Luke 22:39

Jesus is heading there because he knows Judas will know exactly where to find Him. (Source: ^{David E. Garland, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke (Zondervan, 2011), p. 880)}

But He’s also going there because this has been His favorite place to rest and pray.

Now, inside Jerusalem – within the walls – there were no gardens. The city was crowded and there was this unique ordinance that the city’s soil was sacred and should not be polluted with manure. (Source: ^{William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark (Westminster Press, 1975), p. 343)}

Which I’m sure people appreciate for other reasons.

But there were wealthy people who possessed private gardens out across the valley on the Mount of Olives. (Source: _Ibid.)

The word “Gethsemane” means “oil press,” and an olive press was more than likely located among these groves of olive trees.

In fact, the olive press might have been located in a cave nearby, which has since been renovated into a little chapel where visitors like me can stand and contemplate what happened here.

Doug Bookman would say – “In this air space here – everything around us has changed, but we’re still in the same air space, where this scene took place.”

And let me tell you ahead of time—especially if you’re a new student of God’s word—this is a mysterious place.

We can’t fully appreciate the struggle that will take place as we watch Jesus, the man—fully God yet entirely human—struggling in prayer in this Garden.

Don’t expect to understand everything here – be prepared to take off your shoes, so to speak – this is holy ground.

Now verse 40:

And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed…” Luke 22:40-41

Mark’s gospel account adds these details:

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. Mark 14:32-33

So get this picture: They arrive at this particular garden—this grove of trees—and Jesus has them all sit there, but he invites Peter, James, and John to enter with him.

Why Peter, James, and John?

Well, it wasn’t for protection – we all know by now Peter isn’t very good with a sword.

It wasn’t for companionship – it wasn’t because these three disciples like to stay up all night – no, they’re all gonna fall asleep.

One reason Peter would be invited in is what Jesus says to him in verse 40: “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Jesus doesn’t mean that prayer keeps you from temptation, He means that prayer keeps you from entering temptation unprepared.

Prayerlessness produces powerlessness. The lack of spiritual communion sets the stage for spiritual collapse.

Even after the Lord invites Peter James and John to pray because temptation is coming, three different times, the other gospel accounts inform us, they fell asleep.

Jesus says to Peter three times – “Peter, you need to pray.” And three times, Peter effectively says, “Me? I don’t need to pray, what I need is some sleep.”

Peter isn’t going to collapse in the courtyard of the High Priest, Peter already collapsed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

You see, Peter is under the delusion that Jesus might need to pray, but not him. He’s ready for anything.

We have the same temporary delusion in life – until God brings us to a point where we realize we have nothing but prayer.

If you’re not praying, it isn’t because you don’t know how to, it’s because you think you don’t need to.

Until something happens that reminds you, you’d better start praying.

It reminds me of the story told by Vernon Janzen, who was the guest preacher one Sunday morning; a little boy was acting up during the service – he could see the parents attempting everything they could to keep him quiet. Finally, after the boy just refused to stay quiet, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly down the middle aisle on his way out. This kid was in trouble and he knew it. Just as they reached the doorway to the foyer, the little boy hollered out to the congregation, “Pray for me!”

Too late for prayer.

Corrie ten Boom used to ask this convicting question, “Is prayer your spare tire, or your steering wheel?”

Jesus didn’t invite these three men closer into the Garden for protection, or companionship, but for instruction.

He will indirectly teach them how to go through their own Gethsemane’s one day.

Maybe you’re going through one of your own visits to that personal garden today.

• Struggling with the will of God –
• With God’s design for your life –
• With what God has allowed to happen in your life –
• With what God has refused to give you in life –
• Some desire –
• Some dream –
• Even some apparent need.

How do you go through Gethsemane?

Well, let’s watch and learn how the Lord went through it. Let me make several observations that effectively answer that question.

First, I want you to notice:

1. The Lord’s intimacy with His Father

Again, Luke records here in verse 42 – the first word – notice how His prayer begins:

“Father…” Luke 22:42a

Mark records it this way:

“Abba, Father…” Mark 14:36

Don’t miss that term of endearment. In other words, even in His lonely distress, Jesus never lost the truth of His utter dependence and personal communion with God the Father.

Abba is an Aramaic term for possessive endearment.

Now, some have tried to translate it – or pray – “Daddy, Father,” which I find falls far short of its meaning.

“Daddy” is an American expression, but it isn’t necessarily endearing. Your children call you Daddy whether they’re playing with you or you just sent them to time-out.

And typically, when they get older, they might call you Dad, not because you’re any less close or they love you any less, but because Daddy just doesn’t seem to fit anymore.

Now, I’ve noticed that girls tend to keep calling their fathers Daddy. I think that’s because they want your money.

It works for me.

This Aramaic expression denotes intimacy because it is possessive, literally translated as “My Father.”

This is significant to observe because Gethsemane does not drive Jesus to ask, “Are you really my Father?” “Do you really care about me – and if you did, why am I going through this?”

Our Gethsemane experiences tend to bring us to the wrong conclusion – that God the Father has left us alone – sorrow and suffering must mean that God is absent.

Jesus shows us that in this time of great agony, God the Father was not absent, He was active – and we, like Christ, can cling to the truth of “My Father – I know You are mine – I know you have not left me alone.”

So, in this opening word, we see the Lord’s intimacy with His Father.

Secondly, we can observe here in Gethsemane:

2. The Lord’s honesty in His struggle

Verse 42 again:

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” Luke 22:42a

You notice how Jesus refers to everything related to the crucifixion as his “cup.”

This is prophetic fulfillment.

• In Isaiah 51 “the cup” represents the cup of God’s wrath against sin (Isaiah 51:17 & 22);
• In Jeremiah, the cup holds the wine of God’s wrath (Jeremiah 25:15-28).
• The prophets refer to evil nations like Edom and Babylonia drinking the cup due to their sin. (^{O’Donnell, p. 800)}

Listen, Jesus isn’t an actor trying to feel the part here – He’s not a robot trying to drum up the emotion of what it must be like to be human.

No, this is real. Jesus has a divine and a human nature; he was the God-man—100% deity and 100% humanity in the mystery of His incarnation.

Mark records Him saying, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.”

This cup He was about to drink:

• Included the pain of betrayal and the abandonment of friends
• It included the indignity of being sold for 30 pieces of silver, the price in those days for a crippled slave;
• It included the rejection of His own people, Israel, over whom He’d earlier swept tears
• It was mixed not only with their rejection but the ultimate insult as they would shout to Pilate, “We have no king but Caesar.”
• This cup was mixed with the distress overbearing our sin – He, the perfect, sinless man was about to die covered with our sins
• This cup was mixed with the physical horrors of the cross – the cruelest way to die.
• This cup is mixed with the coming separation from the Godhead – the loss of fellowship and intimacy He has known from eternity past.
• This cup is mixed with these and a million more sorrows we can never understand or imagine.

He will die for us – 

He will die instead of us –

He will die as us – saturated with our sin;

He will become sin for us, who knew no in (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The fact that Jesus is honestly struggling here only proves His humanity.

Ralph Davis wrote recently that if you understand something of the contents of this cup, then His desire to avoid it is proof of His perfection. [He recoils from sin. (Source: ^{Dale Ralph Davis, Luke: The Year of the Lord’s Favor (Christian Focus, 2021), p. 180)}

And that’s true. That would be like you, in a brand-new white dress, being compelled to wade through a muddy swamp. You would recoil from that.

Jesus' hesitation is a godly one. Something would be wrong with Him if He did not flinch – draw back – from this. (Source: ^Ibid)

So He agonizes over this now as He stands on the threshold of being covered with the mud and slime of every imaginable sin.

Now, you might have seen that famous painting of Jesus praying in the Garden. In it, He’s kneeling at a large stone, his hair is perfectly combed, his hands are neatly folded in prayer, and there’s even a little halo around his head as He looks up to heaven.

Now, if you have that picture, don’t take it down—the Lord may very well have prayed in that manner at another time.

But not here.

Mark’s gospel informs us that Jesus

“Going a little farther [into the garden], he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” Mark 14:35

Mark uses the imperfect verb tense to indicate that His falling and praying were continual and constant. (Source: ^{Charles R. Swindoll, Christ’s Agony and Ecstasy (Insight for Living, 1982), p. 8)}

In other words, He fell to the ground and prayed. Then he got up, went a little farther, felt down, and prayed; he picked himself back up, staggered a few more steps, fell again, and prayed.

Hebrews 5 refers to this same scene, and it says that Jesus prayed with loud crying and tears.

Look at your Savior – struggling with the plan of salvation He had designed: see Him now as a man, agonizing over all that it meant:

Falling / crying / praying / staggering / falling / praying / crying.

No wonder Luke adds here that an angel, verse 43:

And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. Luke 22:43

It wasn’t time to die. He was humanly pressed to a point where no human could survive.

In fact, the pressure was so great – greater than any other human experienced – Luke, the medical doctor, is the only gospel writer to add this verse – verse 44:

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:44

Luke uses the word “like” to suggest that the Lord’s sweat was so heavy that it fell like blood clots.

It’s quite possible, however, that Doctor Luke is trying to describe what the medical community today calls hematidrosis—the bursting of capillaries underneath the surface of the skin. The clotting blood mixes with the sweat of the person under such intense distress, emerging on the skin and drips off.

There’s little wonder an angel was dispatched to give him strength.

Beloved, this is where we see Him, as a human being, in all of His honest struggle, making up His mind to endure.

The first Adam sinned and was given the curse to work by the sweat of his brow; this second Adam, by the sweat of his brow, has decided to pay the penalty and remove the curse. (Source: ^{Adapted from Wiersbe, p. 120)}

This is the Lord’s intimacy with His Father.

This is the Lord’s honesty in His struggle.

Finally, we can observe here:

3. The Lord’s humility in His surrender

Jesus ends His prayer – back in verse 42 – by saying,

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

Have you ever thought about the fact, that your eternal salvation hinges on this moment – and this word – “nevertheless.”

Father, I don’t want to drink this cup and experience all its horrors and all that it means. Nevertheless, it is not my will, but yours be done!

Nevertheless!

And that will now give eternally new meaning to this cup – it isn’t just agony, it is victory!

Hallelujah, Jesus said, “Nevertheless”.

In my study, I realized that we use the word “cup” for a number of reasons.

We have the cup as a memorial, representing the Lord’s shed blood. And we observe that communion cup with joy and gratitude.

I found it interesting that around the world today, the cup represents victory. In so many sporting events, the winner’s trophy is a cup. We have:

In tennis The Davis Cup

In horse racing The Breeder’s Cup

In-car Racing The NASCAR Cup Series

In hockey The Stanley Cup

In cricket The Cricket World Cup

In Soccer The FIFA World Cup

I was at my desk looking these up online when I said out loud, “Whattya know, there’s even a Rugby World Cup?”

And Siri, my phone awakened and said, “South Africa defeated New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup with the score of 12 to 11.”

I had no idea she was listening to me work on my sermon. She’s obviously not saved yet. But I think I’m gonna try harder.

Jesus experienced the agony of this cup – but this cup will become His victory over our opponents – death, sin, Satan, and the grave.

• This cup of abandonment makes possible our cup of acceptance.
• This cup of rejection gives us our cup of redemption
• This cup of pain becomes our cup of praise.

In a sense, this cup becomes the victorious Savior’s Cup.

It is certainly the cup of our salvation.

How do you go through Gethsemane today? It's the one you might be facing. The one where God has perhaps fenced you in these days.

Let me remind you as we model our response to our Savior – here – at His most desperate moment.

Final Reminders for your Gethsemane:

First

Remember that friends can be reassuring, but they should never replace your Heavenly Father.

So often, we tell everyone our troubles, but Him. Frankly, our greatest need is Him.

Secondly,

Remember that praying is designed to align our will with God’s will, not shape His will after ours.

Earlier in our study through Luke, we found the Lord teaching us to pray. He didn’t teach us to pray that our will would be done in heaven but that His will would be done on earth.

Third,

Remember that intimacy with God might not eliminate suffering, but it will demand fresh surrender.

For us to say, like our Lord Father, “Father, I don’t want this cup – this isn’t what I was expecting – but if there is no other option – if this is indeed what You want – then, nevertheless – not my will, but Yours, be done.”

When you come to your great hour of need or temptation; when you want to unload your deepest burdens and desires, frustrations and sorrows; when you find the ground giving way beneath your feet, Gethsemane is the place to go. (Source: ^{Adapted from O’Donnell, p. 797)}

In his book, Philip Yancey tells the story of family friends named the Woodsons. The Woodsons had two children—Peggie and Joey—both born with cystic fibrosis.

Peggie and Joey stayed skinny no matter how much food they ate. They coughed constantly and labored to breathe—twice a day [their mother] Meg had to pound on their chests to clear out mucus.

They spent several weeks each year in a local hospital, and both of them grew up knowing they would probably die before reaching adulthood.

Joey, a bright, happy, all-American boy, died at the age of twelve. Peggie defied the odds by living much longer. She survived several health crises in high school yet lived on to enter college. She seemed to grow stronger, not weaker, and our hopes rose that she would find healing after all.

The miracle didn’t happen.

The last time Peggie was in the hospital, and things were not going well, she said to her mother, “Hey, Mom, you remember that quotation?” It was a quotation from William Barclay, her pastor, who had recently used it: “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”

She said, “Mom, that’s what I want to do.”

Peggie's commitment to Christ was evident, even in the end. Once, the president of her college came to see her and asked if there was anything specific he could pray for. She was too weak to talk but nodded to me to explain the Barclay quote and ask him to pray that her hard time would be turned into glory. (Source: ^{Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God (Zondervan, 2015), p. 172)}

She died a few weeks later, at the age of 23. But she endured, leaving behind a testimony to the glory of God.

This is how you go through your Gethsemane.

Along the way, you find:

• a renewed intimacy with the Father;
• a realistic honesty in the struggle;
• and a fresh humility in the surrender to His will.

This is where we learn and relearn to say “Nevertheless” – nevertheless, not my will, Lord, but Yours be done. 

• Things aren’t going your way – nevertheless.
• Trouble seems to be piling up – nevertheless.
• Things don’t seem to be working out – nevertheless.

“Lord – Your will – not mine!”

That’s taking a cup of difficulty and watching over time the Lord turn it into a cup of victory – and your Heavenly Father is given all the glory.

That’s how we go through Gethsemane.