Bible Reading
Good morning, church. My name is Dorothy Yukumu and I’ll be reading you our Scripture passage for today. Our scripture passage is coming from the book of Luke, chapter 22 from verse 39- 46. The book of Luke, chapter 22 from verse 39-46. For those with the church bibles, you can find it on page 1146. I will read.
“Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”” (Luke 22:39-46)
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Thank you so much, Dorothy. Good morning. It is a good, Good Friday morning and I can’t think of a better place to be at this morning than right here at the Rooted conference as we explore together the theme of the Cross of Christ.
Now as we sit in the glories of Good Friday, it is important for us to remember that what we call Good Friday was indeed a gruesome Friday for our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, it was the day that has resulted in the greatest eternal good for you and I.
As we reflect on the passion story this weekend, it is my prayer that the Lord will rejuvenate all of us and rekindle our affections for him, because a God this good deserves our deepest love.
Now as we turn to this passage that has just been read to us in Luke 22, let me rush to publicly express my heartfelt gratitude to the organisers of this conference, my brothers at Grace Point Church, just want you to know that I’m really humbled and happy to be listed as a yoke fellow among you. So thank you so much for this kind invitation. Please allow me to ask for God’s help one more time and then we’ll turn to this passage.
Our Heavenly Father, as we gather here this morning, we ask that you would hydrate our souls with the gospel, that we would all be encouraged and strengthened and that we would love you the way you deserve to be loved. Lord, I resonate with these words of the Psalmist, that I will tell of your righteous deeds. I will declare your saving works even though they are beyond me.
And therefore, I ask for your help now. As I bring your Word, I pray that you would grant me clarity and concision and conviction of heart and I pray that you would give us ears to hear, to the end that we would all be built up and that Christ would be greatly exalted among us today. Please help us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Amen.
Luke’s Focus on Jesus
Now Luke’s passion account is written and it is crafted with a view to especially draw attention to the supreme beauty and the compelling character of Christ. Compared to other gospel accounts, Luke’s account is pretty abbreviated, it’s very compact and it is as if Luke sorts away every other detail in order that he might help us to zoom in on Jesus.
So what we’re going to be doing today and tomorrow, Lord willing, in these expositions, is to follow Luke as he shines his light on the manifold beauty of this man we call Jesus. My dear friends, Jesus is so many things and you’re going to see that as we walk through these passages.
So we come to this passage now and it is on Thursday night of Holy Week and Jesus has already had the last supper with the 12 disciples. And in this passage, we meet Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This passage that our sister Dorothy has just read for us is beyond doubt one of the most sacred passages in all Scripture and quite frankly it is beyond any preacher’s ability to unpack.
And I do not say this in any way to make excuses for my inadequacies, even though there are many! But as we see our Lord overwhelmed with grief, as we see him crushed under the prospect of the Cross, this whole thing is overpowering. The Garden of Gethsemane is a dark and dull and dreary place. This is a place of turmoil and terror for our Lord Jesus Christ and nothing in all the Bible, not even the Psalms of lament, compared to the anguish that Jesus is facing in this Garden.
By just listening to this text read, it is very easy for us to perceive the depth of the emotions. We can almost perceive the dark shadow of Golgotha casting itself upon this garden. And so, we would be right to say that Gethsemane is a prelude to Golgotha and before Jesus can surrender his body on Golgotha, he must surrender his will in Gethsemane.
But here’s the thing: in the midst of all this emotional and mental and spiritual anguish that we see in this passage, there are two things about Jesus that emerge so clearly. And I want us to see these two things. Number one: I want us to see Jesus as the concerned Shepherd. Jesus is a deeply concerned shepherd. And number two: I want us to see Jesus as a thoroughly compliant servant. He’s a thoroughly compliant servant.
Jesus is the Concerned Shepherd
So, let’s begin with the first one: Jesus is the concerned Shepherd.
Now when Jesus finished the supper, he rose and led the way to Gethsemane. Now Luke doesn’t use the word Gethsemane. He calls it the place at the Mount of Olives, but from the other accounts we know the identity of this place. It is the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, the Garden of Gethsemane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives and this name, Gethsemane, literally means oil press. And true to the meaning of that name, Jesus is going to experience a lot of pressing and pressure in this Garden.
Reading verse 39, you see that we’re told there that the disciples followed Jesus. Now Luke is the only one who uses this word “followed” to explain how they made their way to the Garden, but I believe that he was very intentional in his choice of words. He says, “they followed.” (Luke 22:39)
Now Jesus had already predicted what would happen at this Garden. Quoting Zechariah 13:7 and applying it to himself, Jesus had already foretold that on this night the shepherd would be struck and the sheep would scatter. And so when Luke says that the disciples followed, it is as if Luke wants to evoke the image of a Palestinian shepherd with his sheep.
Now I grew up looking after my grandfather’s sheep and the interesting thing in how we do shepherding around here is that the shepherd walks behind the sheep. But you need to know that in this Near Eastern culture, the Shepherd didn’t walk behind the flock – the shepherd led the flock. It was not the shepherd that would follow, it is the sheep that would follow. And so, Jesus the good, great Shepherd leads the way to Gethsemane and his sheep, his fold, his flock of 11 disciples, are on his trail.
Now this is very consistent with how Luke writes because in Luke 12:32, Jesus had already identified his disciples as “the little flock.” You remember? “Fear not, little flock, it is your father’s good will to give you the Kingdom.” So here, the great Shepherd and his little flock are headed to Gethsemane.
But I want you to see what Luke does in verse 40. Jesus knowing what would happen on this night, gives this appeal to them. He tells them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:40)
Now you will notice that instruction to pray is repeated in verse 46, because in verse 46, he comes to them again and tells them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46)
So this account of Gethsemane is bracketed in the front end and in the back and with this appeal, this gracious appeal of Jesus, to his disciples to pray that they may not enter into temptation. Please observe that Jesus did not tell them to pray for him. He told them to pray for themselves. You see, Jesus knows that in a short while they’re going to be tempted and they’re going to be tempted to disbelieve him and to disown him and to deny him and to desert him and therefore, he urges them to be wakeful and watchful in prayer.
I want you to think with me here for a bit. Jesus knows what’s coming for him but even though Jesus knows that he’s the one who’s going to be struck – remember, he’s the shepherd, it’s not the sheep that are going to be struck, it is Jesus who will be struck – but even though he knows that this night is and will be full of turmoil and terror and anguish for him, he tells them, “Guys, it is you that I’m concerned about. I want you to watch. I want you to pray. I want you to pray for yourselves.”
Ordinarily you would expect that this is the one night that Jesus would be self-absorbed, after all, this is a difficult night for him. But that is not what Jesus is like, even on this night. Jesus exhibits this holy anxiety for his disciples. He wants his disciples to remain steadfast in their discipleship. Nothing can distract Jesus from his care for his disciples.
In the Matthan account, we are told that Jesus was sorrowful to the point of death, but it is as if Jesus interrupts his sorrow twice and he comes to his disciples and he tells them, “Please pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Now if you go back to verse 32, you will notice that Jesus had already prayed for them. It says there,”…but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” (Luke 22:32) Jesus has already prayed for them but here Jesus is wanting them to pray for themselves.
And here’s a lesson for us. Jesus wants them to know and Jesus wants us to know that even though his prayers will preserve them, they will only persevere if they pray. So, Jesus preserves us but we are called to persevere by praying. This is a timeless principle. It…
