Lineage Manger to Messiah
The Garden of Gethsemane Episode 17
Following the Last Supper when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples,
when Judas left early with his plans to betray Him,
and when Jesus foretold that Peter would deny Him,
Jesus went with His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane.
There are four potential locations of the Garden of Gethsemane
located at the western foot of the Mount of Olives behind me.
There is one by the Catholic church,
at the Church of All Nations there is a Greek orthodox,
a Russian orthodox,
and there's another one located near to the Tomb of the Virgin Mary.
[music]
Today the exact spot is debated
and it's probably not important to know exactly where it happened,
because the most important thing is what happened at Gethsemane
and that Jesus submitted His will to the Father to go through with Calvary.
As Jesus arrived at the garden,
He left most of His disciples at the entrance,
and then with Peter, James, and John He went further into the garden.
Then, asking them to wait there and to watch and pray,
He Himself went further and began to pray and pour out His heart before His Father.
[music]
As Jesus knelt and poured out His heart to God,
‘Oh My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me.’
The sacrifice Jesus was about to give seemed so hopeless,
with so few who even wanted the benefits.
Jesus was about to give His life for the very people He came to save,
and His heart, which longed for sympathy in His present and future sufferings,
saw little love and appreciation from those He came to save.
Jesus had a temptation
to let mankind bear the consequences of their sins while He remained innocent.
[music]
Staggering up from His prayers,
Jesus goes to His disciples and finds them asleep.
If they had been praying, He might have been encouraged,
but at His darkest hour in His life thus far, His closest friends had succumbed to sleep.
With pain and anguish in His voice he says to them,
‘Simon, are you are asleep? Could you not watch one hour?’
Staggering back to His place of prayer
with the pressure of humanity's sins resting upon Him,
with great drops of sweat like blood falling onto the ground,
He cries out, ‘My Father, if this cup may not pass from Me except I drink it,
Your will be done.’
[music]
Three times Jesus prays this prayer.
Three times Jesus is trying to see if there is another way to solve the problem of sin.
But knowing that He is the solution to the problem,
He finally breathes a prayer of submission.
Soon the disciples are woken by the noise of the rabble.
Priests, elders, soldiers, and at the head Judas, one of his disciples,
who approaches Him with the kiss of betrayal.
It was by the kiss that they would know who Jesus was.
Ever thoughtful, Jesus asks for His disciples to be let go that they might be safe.
Peter, ever impetuous, reaches for his sword
but only succeeds in cutting off a man's ear, which Jesus quickly healed.
[music]
Jesus did not come to win the world through force or fighting,
and his calmness in Gethsemane was illustrative of this.
But it also showed how little His disciples understood His purpose and mission.
Whilst He died at Calvary,
it was here at the foot of the Mount of Olives
where Jesus made the decision to go through with the act that saved humanity.
It was here where He prayed the prayer, ‘Not My will, but Thine be done.’
It's a prayer that you and I need to pray today.
It's not what we want to do with our lives,
but it's what God wants us to do with our lives,
and we need to learn to die to self.
May we humble our hearts.
May we surrender to Him and let His way be done in our lives.