Sleeping for sorrow.

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?

The Bible describes Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as being in agony, praying earnestly with great emotional distress. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Bible portrays Jesus in profound agony, highlighting the intense mental and emotional turmoil He experienced as He prayed earnestly. This moment is captured in Luke 22:44, where it states, '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.' This signifies the immense pressure He faced as He prepared to bear the sins of humanity. His suffering was not due to His own sin, but rather the weight of the sins of His people, leading Him to earnestly seek the Father's will.

Q: How do we know Jesus' suffering was for our sins?

Jesus' suffering in Gethsemane was specifically for our sins, illustrated by His earnest prayer and the agony He endured. The certainty that Jesus' suffering was for our sins is underscored by the events in Gethsemane, where He experienced deep anguish because of the sins of His people. As the preacher explains, Jesus was not experiencing agony for any fault of His own, but to bear the weight of the sins of many, providing the only remedy for our salvation. This sacrificial act is crucial for understanding the depth of Christ's love and commitment to redemption, fulfilling the prophecy of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Q: Why is Jesus' agony in Gethsemane important for Christians?

Jesus' agony in Gethsemane is vital as it illustrates His humanity and the significant cost of our salvation. The agony of Jesus in Gethsemane is essential for Christians as it reveals the profound depth of His sacrifice and the weight of sin He bore on our behalf. In His humanity, He faced extreme emotional distress as He prayed for strength to fulfill the mission given by the Father—the atonement for sins. This moment signifies the struggle that Jesus endured leading up to the crucifixion, emphasizing both His obedience and His love for humanity. It also serves as a reminder for Christians to stay vigilant in prayer and seek strength from God amidst life’s trials, echoing Jesus' exhortation to His disciples to 'rise and pray lest you enter into temptation.'

Q: What does 'sleeping for sorrow' mean in the context of the sermon?

'Sleeping for sorrow' refers to a state of emotional shutdown where individuals become overwhelmed by grief and stress. In the context of the sermon, 'sleeping for sorrow' underscores how the disciples reacted to the intense emotional and spiritual turmoil surrounding the events in Gethsemane. Rather than supporting Jesus, they succumbed to a state of mental shutdown, paralleling how people may withdraw in difficult times to escape their emotional pain. This metaphor reflects how overwhelming circumstances can lead individuals to neglect their spiritual responsibilities. The preacher draws parallels to our modern struggles, emphasizing the need for vigilance in prayer, especially during times of temptation and distress, urging believers not to follow the example of the disciples.

solemn reading of his word and may be helped to consider this evening. Verses 30, 43 to 46. 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 to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, he was come to his disciples. He found them sleeping for sorrow and said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The other day, speaking with someone, they mentioned this verse that was used of the Lord very powerfully to speak comfort to them. And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly.

When they spoke, the words struck me very powerfully, and they haven't been removed from my mind ever since. The only time this word is used in the Bible, this word agony, it is a word that we use to express the most extreme form of suffering. There is no greater word that we can use. We may add other words to the beginning of it, like extreme agony or other words like that, but as a singular word. This is the number 10 on the scale of pain that somebody may experience.

And as we look at the perfect son of God, having committed no sin, having no blemish upon his character, even Pilate, no fault with him, Yet he is here in the garden, being strengthened by an angel, praying to the Father, asking, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will be done.

Then being strengthened by the angel, then returning again to the throne of grace and being in an agony, praying more earnestly. not because of any sin that he had committed, but because of the sins of his people. The Lord Jesus Christ came to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, came to be at the Throne of Grace, being in such a torment of soul, because of my sin.

If you think about this for a moment. How much, how often do we stop and consider the extent of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sin? It's very easy isn't it just to be carried on with life and we will greet people and meet with fellow believers, and we will confess that we are saved, that we are Christians, that the Lord Jesus has cleansed us from our sin, and we are justified before the law of God, and we're on our way to heaven. And it can just become so almost repetitive, easily said, When we were first saved, these things were so real, and sin was so hideous, and the Lord Jesus Christ was so lovely and so precious to us. I remember, you know, there were times I hated sin. I was driving to work and weeping in my van over sins I'd committed, but then over time, you become hardened or it becomes so normal. And then to look back and to look at the Lord Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, we weren't there. And yet we read it in the scriptures and it can become just almost like a story that these things didn't really take place.

But it was Christ, the true God-man who walked this earth. He had to come to save people from the consequences of their sin. There was no other way that you and I could escape the wrath of God. As we looked at on Sunday, if the Lord Jesus Christ never came, First of all, what a hideous world this would be, but what a hideous eternity for every single one of us. If there was no remedy for sin, then all of us would be lost under the wrath of God, the just wrath of God for all eternity in that dark torment, being in an agony for all eternity. And so the Lord Jesus Christ had to come. There was no other way for us to escape.

Yet because of the frailty of the human mind and the extent of sin, we can almost gloss over the extent of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of us as an individual. and being in agony because of you, because of me, he prayed more earnestly. Think of the Lord Jesus Christ prior to his incarnation, in eternity with the Father. What bliss, what glory, what wonder as we look forward to heaven and that experience of being with God, being with the Lord Jesus Christ, being without sin. And yet the Lord Jesus, he leaves that glory, that, as it were, from the bosom of the Father. comes to this earth and, as we sing, contracted to a span.

He, as we sometimes say, he added unto his flesh. He added unto himself human flesh. He became what he was not, but he did not cease to be what he was. If we try and meditate on that, there's no words. We have to try and frame it in human word and human thought about Christ put on human flesh, the limitations of a human body, a sinless human body, yet he did not cease to be the eternal son of God.

God revealed to us in the flesh to bring about the salvation of his beloved people, to bring them from the just desert of their sin. And here we see in the Garden of Gethsemane that human nature, that human body, being affected by all that is being laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of darkness. We have Judas who has now been indwelt by Satan himself. Satan enters into Judas. He is now coming for the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus knows exactly what is taking place. He says, He says, I was daily with you in the temple.

You stretched forth no hand against me. Why? Because it was not their hour. There was still a work for the Lord Jesus Christ to do, but now was their hour. Now their hour had come. The kingdom, the power of darkness, Christ is given over, as it were, into the hands of sinful men, but We know from the Book of Acts, by the predetermined counsel of Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ is led as a lamb to the slaughter. He gave himself up to the will of the Father and to the will of the unruly mob. We read in one of the Gospels where Jesus, he says to them, who have you come for? And they said, Jesus. And he says, I am he. And they all fall to the ground. I am he, and they all collapse.

And so that shows us that Christ restrained every power and influence that he had to die for sinful people and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. Extreme mental stress. There are records of people who have been sentenced to death And as they are walking to the gallows, as they're walking to the guillotine, they sweat blood. The human body under that strain, that foreknowledge of what they are going to experience can't contain the pressure and the veins, the small veins rupture.

It says that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood. Now some people have interpreted this in two ways. Some people have said that this is speaking of just his sweat. That his sweat was as it were great drops of blood. It was dripping from his face. Dripping from his body.

Others interpret it as it is written here, that it is that the face or the body literally sweats blood and the natural sweat and the blood mixed together, pooling and dripping from the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The extreme stress. and being in an agony, the extreme pain, mental emotion, the mental struggles that he's going through in prayer with the Father, sweating blood, falling to the ground. What was his prayer? If thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine will be done. That prayer never changed.

Matthew tells us that Jesus repeats it three times. Matthew 26 from verse 36 it says, And cometh Jesus with them into the place called Gethsemane, and said unto his disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy, and said unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.

Tarry ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cut pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto his disciples and finding them asleep and said unto Peter, What could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.

And he went away again the second time. and prayed saying oh my father if this cup pass not away from me except i drink it thy will be done and he came and found them asleep again for they were heavy and he left them and went away again and prayed the third time saying the the same words and sometimes in life the situation is so difficult that words cannot really flow, that all we can say is not vain reputation, but it's just, as we've seen before, Lord, help me, or Lord, you know. and all that seems to come through our mind, all that seems to come out of our mouths is just the same few words.

We can't truly elaborate the situation that we are passing through. We can only come to the Lord, come to the throne of grace and say, Lord you know. You know all that is taking place. You know all that is happening to me at this situation. You know that I can't express every single thing in a way that I want to explain. My words are so limited. My words are so feeble and so few.

Yet we come to a God who knows us more or greater than we know ourselves. The situations that we are in, He knows them. And just as the Lord Jesus Christ, he says the same prayer. If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not thy will, but my will, but thy will be done.

I know we looked at this not long ago, but it seemed so pressing upon my mind over the last few days to come again with this. and especially the Lord Jesus Christ being in an agony, this perfect Lamb of God being in an agony, sweating blood for the sins of his people because of my sin. And he says in Matthew, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. My soul is overcome with sorrow.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was made sin, not that he became a sinner, but he became the substitute for guilty, sinful men, women, and boys and girls. And he paid the penalty for their sin. And so what Jesus is, he's coming to the Father, praying, not my will, but thy will be done. He's saying, it's being revealed to us that this is the only way, that Jesus Christ had to come in the flesh to die as a substitute for sinners, to pay the debt that you and I owe to God.

And this is what is causing him so much agony in the garden. Not his own sin, but the sins of his dear people, what he is going to experience for them. But that agony, he didn't abandon the post. He didn't cry out for another way or a painkiller. The agony didn't drive him away from the task that the Lord, the Father had given him to do. What did it do? It drove him, it made him pray more earnestly. And after he'd finished praying, he comes to his disciples and he finds them sleeping for sorrow. On Sunday, we saw the Lord Jesus Christ being transfigured and the God, the Father saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. Then we had the man bringing his son who was mute and possessed with a demon, an evil spirit.

And that pictured the greatness of Christ and the depravity of the extent of the sin cursed upon the world. And here again, we have a comparison. The Lord Jesus Christ, under severe mental strain, his human body buckling under the pressure of what he is going through. But we see him persevering at the throne of grace. Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly.

But we come then to the apostles. and we find them sleeping for sorrow. It's not because they are tired. The commentators state that Luke is a doctor, and it's only Luke who picks out this word, being in an agony. And it's only Luke who picks out these words, sleeping for sorrow. Now this is the apostles response to the stressful situation that they are witnessing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is like a depression. You know when you're down and you can't be bothered to get out of bed. You think I'm just going to curl up here. And I'm not going to move. I can't be bothered to get up for work. I can't be bothered to get up for the children. I can't be bothered to get up and do my daily things.

I just want to curl up here and go to sleep. And I want to forget everything that I'm going through. And this is what is the response of the apostles. It is they are sleeping for sorrow. They've gone on mental shutdown. They've curled up and gone to sleep.

Peter boasting, you know, I'm going to do this. I'm going to die with you. I'm going to go to prison for you. And then as they witness Christ pouring out his soul to the father, as they witness him being in an agony, as they witness him sweating the blood, the pressure of that, of what they are witnessing. causes them also to buckle under the grief, the stress of what they are going through. A human response to difficult situations. And if you look up the writers, there are situations of when people who have been on death row due to die the next day.

They curl up in the evening and they sleep the whole night. It is like, we say, burying our head in the sand. It's just the brain can't cope. And so we just go to sleep. Going to sleep is the best option we feel. It doesn't want to disappear. If I'm going to sleep, it just all goes away. But it doesn't all go away, does it? It's there when we wake up. The difficulties are still there when we wake up.

What should we do? If Jesus calls us to follow him, and please don't think that I am saying that this is what I do do. I curl up in bed and give up. I know as I curl up in bed I should be doing what the Lord Jesus did and coming to the throne of grace, asking for strength to deal with whatever I'm passing through at that particular moment in time. What should we do in those situations when we feel just like curling up and going to sleep and giving up, sleeping for sorrow? Well, Jesus tells us, why do you sleep? rise and pray lest you enter into temptation. Matthew writes, watch and pray.

You see, if these apostles can't cope with witnessing all that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to go through, how are they going to deal with what they are going to have to go to? they are going to have to go through. You see it was going to get worse. And if they gave up just at this point, how are they going to continue with the next trial? How are they going to continue with the crucifixion, that with the persecution and with their own deaths, greater trials were coming.

I hope, you know, it's not the case for us. But you know, we can't guarantee that the trial that we're passing through now is going to be the last one. The Baba tells us that through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God. And if this trial that we are passing through now causes us to curl up and go to sleep and to give up, what about the next one? How are we going to deal with the next one?

Curl up and go to sleep? Jesus says, Rise! Don't sleep. Rise! Be on your guard and pray. Jesus is our example. He says, follow me. The apostle says, follow me as I follow Christ. And we feel like curling up and going to sleep. Rise and pray. lest you enter into temptation.

They had been rendered useless. Jesus says, what could you not watch with me one hour? They had been rendered useless by what they had witnessed. They'd curled up and gone to sleep. The trial that they were in caused them to to be of no assistance to the Lord Jesus. Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Follow my example. And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly.

Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ didn't curl up and go to sleep and give up. He went through with that agonising death, not just that physical agony that he was experiencing, not only that being sorrowful even unto death, being overwhelmed, overcome with sorrow, spiritual sorrow, but also upon the cross at Calvary, there as he is forsaken of the Father, abandoned by the Father, and punished for the sins of his people. He didn't curl up and go to sleep, but he pressed on, and he was victorious over death. He rose again on the third day, and as he says, you will see, hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God. That is where he is today, as we sing those human, that human heart he still retains. Throned in highest bliss, the Lord Jesus Christ in that resurrected body at the right hand of the Father, interceding as the mediator and high priest of his dear people.

And so he says, why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Amen. Our next hymn is again from Hymns for Worship, number 77. King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be, lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow. Lead me to Calvary, lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thine agony, lest I forget thy love for me. Lead me to Calvary, number 77. healthy now. Thine shall the glory be. Lest I forget Thy good power, lead me to hell.

♪ Lest I forget Thy heavenly ♪ ♪ Lest I forget Thy heavenly ♪ ♪ Lest I forget Thy love for me ♪ ♪ Lead me to Calvary ♪ ♪ Stay tenderly on that bed ♪ ♪ Anchor the birds of light arrayed ♪ ♪ How did they last their stay? ♪ ♪ Next time again canst ever hear ♪ Lest I forget Thy agony, Lest I forget Thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Mary, hear the voice that broke the night of day. And by her mourning, love rejoiced, and her dear host agreed. May I be willing Failing, I rose for Thee. Even the cup of grief to share, Now has flown over me. ♪ Best I forget Thine agony ♪ ♪ Best I forget Thine agony ♪ ♪ Best I forget Thy humble being ♪ ♪ Lead me to Calvary ♪ I desire more honor, more lovely, than touch my mistress with a leap of the speech of Calvary. lead me to Calvary.

Sleeping for sorrow.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?

How do we know Jesus' suffering was for our sins?

Why is Jesus' agony in Gethsemane important for Christians?

What does 'sleeping for sorrow' mean in the context of the sermon?

Sermon Transcript

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Sleeping for sorrow.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?

How do we know Jesus' suffering was for our sins?

Why is Jesus' agony in Gethsemane important for Christians?

What does 'sleeping for sorrow' mean in the context of the sermon?

Sermon Transcript

About James Gudgeon

Comments

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