Sermon 14 Aug Gethsemane

Transcription

1 Readings: Luke 27:39-46, Mark 14:32-42 After the last Passover supper, Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray. Luke, Matthew, and Mark record what happens there. John mentions this event in passing. The Gospel writers record their different remembrances of this event. Putting their recollections together, here s what I think happened. Jesus and the apostles went to Gethsemane, possibly near or on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is about a half mile east of Jerusalem. We don t really know where Gethsemane was. When they reached the place, Jesus said to the apostles, Pray that you may not come into the time of trial. Sit here while I pray. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him about a stone s throw away. Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me. Jesus stepped away from Peter, James, and John, knelt down, and prayed, Abba Father, for you all things are possible, remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want. This prayer took about an hour. An angel from heaven appeared to Jesus and gave him strength. Jesus returned to Peter, James, and John, and said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. Jesus returned to prayer a second and a third time, praying the same prayer for an hour. After each hour, Jesus found Peter, James, and John asleep. Jesus prayed so earnestly that his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. At the end of the third hour, Judas and the Roman guards came to arrest Jesus. Gilbert G. Le Blanc Page 1

2 After reading this account in the Gospels, I have two questions. One, what caused Jesus to sweat so profusely? Two, what was the cup that Jesus wanted to remove? So, what caused Jesus to sweat so profusely? I grew up as a Catholic. Catholics teach and believe that Jesus sweat actual blood in Gethsemane. I was a Mormon for two decades. Mormons teach and believe not only that Jesus sweat actual blood, but it was at Gethsemane that Jesus paid the price for all of the sins for all mankind. Even if Jesus sweat water, that was some earnest praying. Have you ever prayed so earnestly that you sweat water? I know I haven t. For the most part, my prayers are serene. Sure, I ve felt guilty about things I ve done and asked God for forgiveness. I don t recall sweating while I prayed. We speak of Jesus paying the price for all of the sins for all mankind. As Paul wrote to Timothy in 1st Timothy 2:5-6: For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all this was attested at the right time. What does paying the price mean? What amount of emotional pain is necessary to pay the price for one sin? Let s conduct a little thought experiment to find out. Let s say that we ve all died and gone to Paradise. God gives us some time to get accustomed to the streets of gold, the building foundations of precious stones, walls of jasper, and pearly gates. Everything illuminated by the glory of God. Gilbert G. Le Blanc Page 2

3 After we ve settled into our houses or mansions, an angel comes by. She gives us a list of everyone that we ve wronged in our life, and tells us that Jesus requires us to apologize to everyone on the list before we can speak with God and Jesus. We take a look at the list. As we read each name, we remember what we did to hurt or harm that person. Oh, there s Susie. I told her that her dress looked terrible on her. Later, I found out she sewed the dress herself. There s James. I picked him last for the dodge ball game in 4 th grade too many times. There s Shannon. I told her she didn t have enough life experience to be a good pastor. And so on down the list. Did you feel that pang of guilt as I read each of the names? Yep, that s the guilt you and I would feel reading our list of names. We go forth and make our apologies to the people we ve wronged. Everyone graciously accepts the apology, partly because they remember how guilty they felt when they made their apologies. After some time, we make our way down the list, and we report to Jesus that we paid the price he asked us to pay. Remember that guilty feeling that you and I had while I was reading the names. That s the price we had to pay for our sin. Multiply that feeling times all the names on your list. Multiply that by the 50 to 100 billion people that have and will live on earth. Now compress those guilty feelings into three hours. I can only imagine how much emotional pain that is. Frankly, I have no problem believing that Jesus sweat blood and needed an angel to give him strength if he took on the emotional pain of trillions and trillions of sins in the space of 3 hours. Gilbert G. Le Blanc Page 3

4 I believe that Jesus paid the emotional price for all of our sins at Gethsemane. There s nothing in the Bible to support my belief. Not one verse. I don t want to minimize or ignore the crucifixion. Jesus physical death and suffering was necessary to fulfill the scriptures and be the sacrificial lamb for our sins that God required. It was brutal and it was painful, as we saw in the Bible mini-series episode last Tuesday. And yes, you can make a case that Jesus suffered the emotional pain for our sins during the 3 hours he hung on the cross. That would be one reason why God removed himself from Jesus during that period. Earlier, I asked what the cup that Jesus wanted to remove represented. There are two possibilities. One, Jesus wanted to pass on the emotional pain that paying the price for all the sins of the world would bring. Two, Jesus wanted to pass on the emotional and physical pain that he was about to endure until his death. I don t blame Jesus for wanting to pass. If I knew I was about to endure that much pain, I d want to pass. Nevertheless, Jesus did what his Father wanted, what he knew needed to be done. There is nothing in the Scriptures that would help me pick either possibility. My personal belief is that Jesus wasn t afraid of the physical pain or death. He spoke about his death to the apostles many times. He knew that he was going to be alive again forever after 3 days. I believe that Jesus wanted to pass on the emotional pain. After all, since Jesus was perfect, he d never felt a pang of guilt in his entire life. Can you imagine what it would be like to feel guilty about anything for the first time? Can you imagine what it would be like for your first feeling of guilt to be for the trillions and trillions of sins of the world? Gilbert G. Le Blanc Page 4

5 While I think Jesus had an understanding of physical suffering and death, I don t think he had the same understanding of guilt and emotional suffering. Yes, he had an intellectual understanding of guilt. Yes, he had friends and relatives die while he was alive. Yes, Jesus wept. But I believe that Jesus felt the emotional pain of guilt for the first time at Gethsemane. He felt the prolonged, intense, emotional pain of guilt for 3 hours. A pain strong enough that God provided an angel to give Jesus support and strength. Gilbert G. Le Blanc Page 5