Well, let us turn again to God's
Word. I'm turning now to the New Testament in the Gospel of
Qantas and Luke, chapter 22. And I'll read the paragraph that's
marked from verse 39 through to verse 46. Luke 22, reading
from verse 39. And he came out, and went, as
he was wont, to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples also
followed him. And when he was at the place,
he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cost, and kneeled
down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless not my will, but
thine, be done. And there appeared an angel,
unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he
prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops
of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from
prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
and said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter
into temptation. Here then we read of Christ after
the institution of that Holy Supper, crossing the Brook Kedron
and going to the foot of the Mount of Olives. And of course
the record is found in all of the four Gospels concerning this
particular incident in the Lord's life in In John chapter 18 and verse
1 we're told he comes to the foot of the Mount of Olives and
it says where was the garden and in Mark's account and also
in Matthew we're told that this garden was named Gethsemane And
really that's the theme that I want to take up for a while
tonight, simply the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane. And we read of course there in
the second chapter of Genesis of another garden that the Lord
God sent the first man in. The Lord God, we're told, planted
a garden eastward in Eden. And there he put the man whom
he had formed. He set Adam there then in that
garden of Eden. And doesn't Paul tell us in Romans
5.14 that Adam is a figure of him that was to come. There's
a connection between Adam and the Lord Jesus. And Paul goes
on, as I'm sure you're aware, in that 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians,
to speak of the two Adams. The first man, Adam, was made
a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. We read, didn't we, there in
that account in the second chapter of Genesis, how the Lord God
formed him out of the dust of the ground, breathing to his
nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul.
The first man Adam then was made a living soul, the last Adam.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's spoken of as a quickening
spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthly. The second man
is the Lord from heaven. What a contrast between these
two men and the history that we have of each, there at the
beginning of the Old Testament in Genesis and here of course
in the four Gospels that open to us the New Testament. Well, thinking for a while of
this garden, the garden of Gethsemane, And really I want to simply take
up that theme, not having a text as such, but this whole passage
that we just read here in Luke's account from verse 39 through
46 in the 22nd chapter. The Mount of Olives is where
we see the Lord Jesus as we read the opening verse of the paragraph
he came out and went as he was wont to the mount of olives and
his disciples also followed him it's the foot of the mount and
doubtless there must have been a great number of olive trees
growing in that particular area and as we said there was a garden
and the Lord enters into the garden and the garden bears that
name of Gethsemane and the very name Gethsemane of course has
a meaning and it literally means the olive press. There must have
been a press there so that they could make use of the olives
that were growing in great profusion. They would make olive oil. But
how significant is the name when we think of the experiences recorded
here concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, as he anticipates that
that would lie before him, the crucifixion. Hart says, Gethsemane,
the olive press, and why so called, let Christians guess, fit place,
fit name, where vengeance stroved and griped and grappled Hart
with love. or there was a great conflict
now in the very soul of the Lord Jesus. He was not impassive in
his offerings. He was a real man, although he
was never anything less than true Almighty God. But how real
was that human nature, body and soul? He says in Matthew's account,
my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. The language that we have here
in Luke's account. He prays to the Father, if they
be willing, remove this cup from me. He knew it was a bitter cup
and he must drink the dregs of it, but here he is. in all things
submissive to the sovereign will of the Father, he comes not to
do his own will, his human will, but he comes to do the will of
Him that had sent him. Nevertheless, he says, not my
will but Thine be done. But how costly! He's in an agony,
we're told there in verse 44, and he prayed more earnestly
and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling
down to the ground. There's real sufferings in the soul of the
Lord Jesus here in the garden. And how the Father is so mindful
of him, why an angel is sent from heaven strengthening him. He receives the ministry of the
angels. Are they not ministering spirits
sent to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation?
He's not the heir of salvation, he is the Savior, but he's so
identified with his own people that he receives that ministry
of the angels here in the garden. And the Lord knew. He knew that
his appointed hour was now very much at hand. If we go back to chapter 9 and
verse 51, we're told that when the time was come that he should
be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And so in the chapters that follow,
chapter 10 right through to the end, we see the Lord, as it were,
making that last and final journey up to Jerusalem. He steadfastly
sets his face, and so he proceeds on that journey in chapter 19. Verse 28, we read, When he had
thus spoken, he went before ascending up to Jerusalem. And then again in verse 41 of
that same chapter, When he was come near we're told
he beheld the city and wept over it. The last time that he would
see that city, that place where he was to suffer such intensity
of agonies as he makes his soul the offering for sin. And we
see it in all the Gospels, the language that we have there in
the 13th chapter of John. We are told, before the Feast
of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the
end. And supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hand, and that he was come from
God and went to God, he riseth from supper, laid aside his garments,
took a towel, and girded himself. And after he that he poureth
water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet,
and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded." Even
here we see him as one who's come not to be ministered unto,
but to minister. And he's ministering now to his
own disciples. It's an expression of that great
love. He is a ministering Savior, having
loved his own. He loves them unto the end even
as he contemplates now that awful suffering that lay before him. And of course he knew, he knew
the one who would betray him. Previously here of course in
this 22nd chapter of Luke we have the record of how he had
instituted the Lord's Supper. as he sat there with his disciples
for the last time to celebrate the Jewish Passover. What do we read concerning how
he knew the betrayer? Verse 21, Behold, the hand of
him that betrayeth me is with me on the table, he says. And
truly the Son of man goeth as it was determined. But woe unto
that man by whom he is betrayed, all those solemn words. And the
Lord says on another occasion, doesn't he? Have I not chosen
you twelve? And behold, one of you is a devil.
He spake, we're told, of Judah, son of Simon, who should betray
him. And of course, he was one of
the twelve, He knew so much about the Lord Jesus. He knew just
where he would be able to find Christ as he comes to betray
him into the hands of the Jews. We're told, aren't we here, with
regards to this place, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane.
He went as he was wont, it says. as he was wont. Many, many times
he would go to the garden of Gethsemane. That expression,
as he was wont, could as well have been rendered according
to habit. That's the significance of the
word that's thus translated. It was his habit. Judas knew
the place, for Jesus oft times resorted thither with his disciples. We're told there in John 18, And so, even now, as he is agonizing
in prayers, suddenly the betrayer appears with a multitude. Verse
47, While he had spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was
called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near
unto Jesus to kiss him. And Jesus said unto him, Judas,
betrayest thou the Son of man? with a kiss. Or here we see the Lord Jesus
in us, that one who is already beginning to enter into the awful
agonies so much associated with his great sin atoning sacrifice. He deliberately gives himself
into the hands of these men who come with Judas Iscariot. We
were only remarking the other Lord's Day on the words that
we have there in John 18 at verse 4 following. They come to seek
Him and He clears Himself as the great I am that I am and
they fall backward. Or they are repulsed as it were. They cannot draw near. They cannot
touch Him. They don't fall down before Him in worship. No, they
fall away from Him. He commits Himself to them. Therefore
does my Father love me, He says, because I lay down my life. No
man take a bit from me. I lay it down in myself. This
commandment have I received of my Father. It's a voluntary sacrifice
that the Lord is making. And there we see His willingness.
In all these agonies of soul, the prayer that he prays if thou
be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but
thine be done but as we see the Lord here we also see his disciples
what do we read again in the opening verse of the paragraph
his disciples also followed him He came out and went as he was
wound to the Mount of Olives and his disciples also followed
him. Isn't that the mark of a disciple? What is a disciple? A disciple
is the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here they are, they're with
him. And what do they do? Well, they're there to witness
all his sufferings. We are told in Matthew and Mark
how he takes Peter and James and John apart from the other
disciples and tells them to sit there and watch and pray with
him and then he goes a little further alone and leaves them
there They were there to witness the sufferings that he's enduring
even here in the garden. Now, these are the favoured ones,
aren't they? On previous occasions, they were
the ones, of course, who witnessed the raising of the man Jairus,
his daughter. Jairus, his daughter, in chapter
8, we read of that incident, that miracle that the Lord performed
when he raises the dead child to life again. At the end of
chapter 8, he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in save
Peter and James and John and the father and mother of the
maiden, and all wept and bewailed her, but he said, Weep not, she
is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn,
knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out and took
her by the hand and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came
again, and she arose straightway, and he commanded to give her
meat. And her parents were astonished. But he charged them that they
should tell no man what was done. But those three were there to
witness that. They were the same three that were also with him
in the Mount of Transfiguration. And the game is recorded. in
chapter 9 of this Gospel, and there at verse 28 following that,
with him in the mountain, they see then through the veil of
his humility, the veil of his human nature, they see something
of the glories of his divinity. They are witnesses. And how important
witnesses are in the Lord of Moses, at the mouth of two witnesses
or at the mouth of three witnesses. Every matter was to be decided. Witnesses are so important. And these gospel accounts, of course, are
written by men who could speak as those who were witnesses of
the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. When we come to the end of John's
gospel, John reminds us of that. John 19.35, He that saw it bare
records, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he said true,
that ye may believe. All these things are written
for us, that we might truly believe these great truths concerning
all that pertains to the life, the ministry, the death, the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Witnesses. And what did they
witness? Well, the state of the soul of
the Lord Jesus Christ at this time, all that was going on in
the very depths of his heart, was manifested in his body. Being in an agony, we see he
prayed the more earnestly, and this remarkable statement, his
sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood. falling down
to the ground his body was as it were bathed in a bloody sweat
because of those things that were taking place what dreadful
conflict raged within as sweat and blood forced through the
skin says Joseph Hart in another of his hymns Remarkable hymns
that he writes on the sufferings of Christ in the garden and then
subsequently, of course, on the cross at Calvary. But here it's
what's going on in the soul of Christ. My soul is exceeding
sorrowful, he says, unto death. And why so? Well, this was no
ordinary death that this man was going to have to endure.
Of course it was a real death. As we're told in Ecclesiastes,
then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit
to God who gave it. When God made the first man,
he made him body and soul and what is death? It's the separation
of body and soul. But in a sense that's something
unnatural because God made man body and soul and so there is
to be in that great day, at the end of time, a general resurrection. And believers, glorified spirits,
will be reunited then with their glorified bodies. God's works
are all perfect. The Lord Jesus experienced death,
the separation. of the soul from the body. He
commits his soul into the hands of God as he breathes out his
last expiring breath. It was a real death. But it was
no ordinary death. It was a judicial death. It was
an accursed death. He has to go through all the
mockery of a trial. He has to stand accused. And
he has to suffer then as one condemns to die. And what an
accursed death it was, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the Lord, says Paul. Being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that angers on the truth. How God hath made him to be sin
for us, says Paul to the Corinthians. sin for us, him who knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him and these men are
there, they're witnesses and they're witnesses of all the
awfulness of that sin that is now very much being laid upon
the Lord Jesus Christ He was withdrawn from them about a stone's
cast and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing,
remove this cup from me nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. For we will bear that loathe,
that tremendous loathe, the sins of his people, reckoned to his
accounts, laid upon him as the great sin-bearer." And what do
we see? We see the awfulness, really,
of sin, that God cannot wick at sin. God cannot wink at sin
and so the Lord suffers in the days of his flesh he offered
up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears unto
him that was able to save him from death we're told and was
heard in that he feared though he were a son yet learned the
obedience by the things that he suffered oh how he feared
God how he was motivated by that fear of God's in his human heart. He was a real man. We're never
to lose sight of that, the reality of the sufferings of the man,
Christ Jesus. And these disciples are there,
and they're there for a purpose, they're there to witness and
to bear testimony. And what are they to do? They're
not only to witness, they're to watch. They're to watch. Mark 14, 34, Tabitha here says
Christ and watch. and they cannot watch. Couldest
not thou watch one hour, he says to them. They were weary. He
found them sleeping, it says, for sorrow. Backwards and forwards,
thrice he ran, as if he sought some help from man. Or the reality
of all that he is suffering. And of course, it's spoken of,
isn't it, in prophecy, the language of Psalm 69, fulfilled in the
Lord Jesus. Psalm 69 20, I look for some
to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but found
none. Even here, we see these offerings. He endures alone. Yes, He takes
with Him those favoured three, but then He withdraws from them.
as he communes with his father and of course when he comes to
die, he dies alone because every person when they die, they die
alone others might die at the same time but every individual
dies alone and how the Lord's death was such a lonely death,
He only could bear that tremendous burden of all the sins of his
people the language that we have in the 63rd chapter of Isaiah who is this that cometh from
Eden with dyed garments from Basra this that is glorious in
his apparel traveling in the greatness of his strength I that
speak in righteousness mighty to save Wherefore art thou red
in thine apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the
wine-fact? I have trodden the wine-press
alone, and of the people there was none with me. For I will
tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury, and
their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will
stain all my raiment. He treadeth the wine-press of
the fierceness and rot, of Almighty God. We're told there in the
19th chapter of the Revelation. What is Christ doing then? He's
anticipating here that great sacrifice, that great sin-atoning sacrifice,
when He will make atonement for all the sins of His people. And
it's the reality of those sins being laid upon Him. How different
How different is Gethsemane from the Garden of Eden? That was a paradise, really.
Of course, when God had created the earth, He looks upon the
creation and pronounces it all very good. And then He sets that
garden and sets the man in the midst
of the garden. It's paradise, the Garden of
Eden. But what is Christ doing here?
He's beginning to experience and to feel something of the
awful sufferings that must be hell. That's what he tastes, the dreadful
punishment that was due to the sins of his people, the soul
that said that it shall die. And here is Christ bearing in
his own person that that would have been reckoned upon
His people for a never-ending eternity. In order to redeem
them, He loves them. For having loved His own which
were in the world, He loves them. He loves them to all this extremity
then of the cross. But all that we have here in
the Garden, of course, Gethsemane is that that is in many ways the anteroom
of Golgotha. And it is the soul of his sufferings
that we see here, those sufferings that come into his very soul. Oh, the Lord help us in that
we might be those who are truly his disciples, his followers,
who desire to bear witness to him, who desire to watch with
him, As we come together to pray, to watch unto prayer, to look and to wait and to expect
that there will yet be the return of all our prayers, that even
as we come to plead His name, His merits, His blood, His righteousness,
His person, His work, so the Lord God will hear us and the
Lord God will answer us. May the Lord be pleased to bless
these truths to us we're going to sing one of Hart's lengthy
hymns now a hymn containing 23 verses we're
not going to sing 23 verses we're going to sing 4 verses of the
hymn 802 the tune Norwood 505 we'll sing the first verse And then verse 10, verse 17,
and the last verse, verse 23. 802. Jesus, while he dwelt below,
as divine historians say, to a place would often go, near
to Kedron's brook it lay. in this place he loved to be,
and was named Gethsemane, singing verses 1, 10, 17, and 23, the
tune 505.