Preaching no.: 3
Key Scriptures: Matthew 26:36-56
Other Verses: Mark 14:32-50; Luke 22:39-53; John 18:1-12
Date: 04-03-07
The Darkest Hour Of Jesus Christ
36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter.
41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.
44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46Rise let us go! Here comes my betrayer!
47While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him."
49Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.
50Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for." Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.
51With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
52"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"
55At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.
56But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
FACTS ABOUT "DARKEST HOUR"
- 2-4 a.m. is considered the darkest hour
- Idiomatic expression: the day is darkest before the dawn
- 50-65% crimes happen during the darkest hours
- Most Christians are disrupted from sleeping during 2-4 a.m.
FACTS ABOUT GETHSEMANE
- Gethsemane (also spelled Gethsemani) was the garden where, according to the New Testament and Christian traditions, Jesus watched, prayed, and suffered for the sins of the world the night before he was crucified. According to Luke 22:43–44, Jesus' anguish in Gethsemane was so deep that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Gethsemane was also where Christ was betrayed by the disciple Judas Iscariot.
- The garden identified as Gethsemane is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives, now within the city of Jerusalem. Located by the garden is the Chruch of All Nations , also known as the Church of the Agony. The ancient church was destroyed by the Sassanids in 614. The church rebuilt on the site by the Crusaders was finally razed, probably in 1219. Also on the Mount of Olives is the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene with its distinct golden, onion-shaped domes (Byzantine/Russian Style). It was built by Russian Tsar Alexander III memory of his mother.
The name Gethsemane is given in the Greek of the Gospels (Matthew 26:36 and Mark Aramaic 'Gath-Šmânê', meaning 'the oil press' or 'oil vat' (referring to olive oil). It would appear from this that there were a number of olive trees planted around the area at the time. The Gospel of Mark (xiv, 32) calls it chorion, "a place" or "estate"; The Gospel of John (xviii, 1) speaks of it as kepos, a "garden" or "orchard". The garden today is filled with olive trees that might well be descendants of those from the time of Jesus. 14:32) as Γεθσημανι (Gethsêmani). This represents the
BACKGROUND OF THE STORY
- Our Lord after having eaten the Passover and celebrating the supper with His disciples, went with them to the Mount of Olives, and entered the garden of Gethsemane.
- In company with His disciples, the Savior slowly made His way to the garden of Gethsemane. The Passover moon, broad and full, shone from a cloudless sky. The city of pilgrims' tents was hushed into silence.
- Matthew 26:17-19
17On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where
do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
18He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time
is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'"
19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
WHY GETHSEMANE?
- SECOND ADAM: May we not conceive that as in a garden Adam’s self-indulgence ruined us, so in another garden the agonies of the second Adam should restore us. Gethsemane supplies the medicine for the ills which followed upon the forbidden fruit of Eden. No flowers which bloomed upon the banks of the four-fold river were ever so precious to our race as the bitter herbs which grew hard by the black and sullen stream of Kedron. (Genesis 2:8)
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
KEDRON/KIDRON
- Kedron = Cedron, turbid, the winter torrent which flows through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, on the eastern side of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. This valley is known in Scripture only by the name "the brook Kidron." David crossed this brook bare-foot and weeping, when fleeing from Absalom (2 Sam. 15:23, 30), and it was frequently crossed by our Lord in his journeyings to and fro (John 18:1). Here Asa burned the obscene idols of his mother (1 Kings 15:13), and here Athaliah was executed (2 Kings 11:15). It afterwards became the receptacle for all manner of impurities (2 Chr. 29:16; 30:14) and in the time of Josiah this valley was the common cemetery of the city (2 Kings 23:6; comp.Jer. 26:23).
- Through this mountain ravine no water runs, except after heavy rains in the mountains round about Jerusalem. Its length from its head to en-Rogel is 2 3/4 miles. Its precipitous, rocky banks are filled with ancient tombs, especially the left bank opposite the temple area. The greatest desire of the Jews is to be buried there, from the idea that the Kidron is the "valley of Jehoshaphat" mentioned in Joel 3:2.
- Below en-Rogel the Kidron has no historical or sacred interest. It runs in a winding course through the wilderness of Judea to the north-western shore of the Dead Sea. Its whole length, in a straight line, is only some 20 miles, but in this space its descent is about 3,912 feet.
- Recent excavations have brought to light the fact that the old bed of the Kidron is about 40 feet lower than its present bed, and about 70 feet nearer the sanctuary wall.
- GREATER DAVID: May not our Lord also have thought of David, when on that memorable occasion he fled out of the city from his rebellious son, and it is written, “The king also himself passed over the brook Kedron,” and he and his people went up bare-footed and bare-headed, weeping as they went? Behold, the greater David leaves the temple to become desolate, and forsakes the city which had rejected His admonitions, and with a sorrowful heart crosses the foul brook, to find in solitude a solace for His woes. Our Lord Jesus, moreover, meant us to see that our sin changed everything about Him into sorrow, it turned His riches into poverty, His peace into travail, His glory into shame, and so the place of His peaceful retirement, where in hallowed devotion He had been nearest heaven in communication with God, our sin transformed into the focus of His sorrow, the centre of His woe. Where He had enjoyed most, there He must be called to suffer most. Our Lord may also have chosen the garden, because needing every remembrance that could sustain Him in the conflict, He felt refreshed by the memory of former hours which there had passed away so quietly. He had there prayed, and gained strength and comfort. Those gnarled and twisted olives knew Him well; there was scarce a blade of grass in the garden which He had not knelt upon; He had consecrated the spot to fellowship with God. What wonder then that He preferred this favoured soil? Just as a man would choose in sickness to lie in his own bed, so Jesus chose to endure His agony in His own oratory, where the recollections of former communings with His Father would come so vividly before Him.
- USUAL PLACE: See Luke 22:39
39Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.
- JUDAS KNEW THE PLACE:But probably, the chief reason for His resort to Gethsemane was, that it was His well-known haunt, and John tells us, “Judas also knew the place.” Our Lord did not wish to conceal Himself, He did not need to be hunted down like a thief, or searched out by spies. He went boldly to the place where His enemies knew that He was accustomed to pray, for He was willing to be taken to suffering and to death. They did not drag Him off to Pilate’s hall against His will, but He went with them voluntarily. When the hour was come for Him to be betrayed there was He in a place where the traitor could readily find Him, and when Judas would betray Him with a kiss His cheek was ready to receive the traitorous salutation. The blessed Saviour delighted to do the will of the Lord, though it involved obedience to death. (John 18:2)
2Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
In Zechariah 13:7:
7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!" declares the LORD Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
REASONS FOR CALLING IT AS THE DARKEST HOUR:
1. SIN:
- We are not a surprise to Him. John 3:16 confirms it
a. Death
Romans 6:23
23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Deuteronomy 24:16
16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
Jeremiah 31:30
30 Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.
Ezekiel 3:18
18 When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
b. Slavery
John 8:34
34Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Romans 7:25
5 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave
to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
c. Sacrifice
Hebrews 9:26
26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
d. Short-time
Hebrews 11:25
25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
2. SHAME:
Hebrews 12:2
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. SORROW:
Matthew 26:37
37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Mark 14:33-34
33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
a. Troubled
John 12:27
27"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
b. Very Heavy
Matthew 26:37
37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
c. Sore-Amazed
Mark 14:33-34
33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
d. Depressed
Matthew 26:38
38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
4. SUFFERING:
a. Agony
Luke 22:44
44And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
John 11:35
35Jesus wept.
VICTORY OVER DARKNESS:
1. SALVATION:
1 Timothy 1:15
15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
Acts 4:12
12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Psalm 51:12
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
2. SACRIFICE
Mark 14:12
12On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
Hebrews 10:10
10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Chris once for all.
John 15:13
13Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.
Romans 12:1
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
John 14:27
27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
3. SUBMISSION:
Matthew 26:39
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
1 Peter 3:22
22who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
1 Peter 2:13-14
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
4. SURRENDER:
Matthew 26:42
42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
1 Corinthians 15:58
58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
GOD LOVES YOU.
THANK YOU JESUS.
