WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.859 We can turn in our Bibles to Mark chapter 14. 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:06.940 The gospel of Mark in chapter 14. 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:12.500 We've been singing words of amazing assurance and promise and hope 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:16.100 because of Jesus. 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:23.420 And here in Gethsemane, we find Jesus contemplating the cost for him, 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:29.600 for us to enjoy all those blessings that we've been singing about. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.619 So Mark chapter 14 and from verse 32 to 42. 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:38.100 Let's hear the word of God. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.560 They went to a place called Gethsemane. 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:46.920 And Jesus said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:51.420 He took Peter, James and John along with him. 00:00:51.980 --> 00:00:55.640 And he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:00.840 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:04.960 He said to them, stay here and keep watch. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.799 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible, 00:01:11.740 --> 00:01:13.659 the hour might pass from him. 00:01:14.780 --> 00:01:19.000 Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.579 Take this cup from me. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.739 Yet not what I will, but what you will. 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:29.579 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.719 Simon, he said to Peter, are you asleep? 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:35.460 Could you not keep watch for one hour? 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.439 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:44.280 The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:48.280 Once more, he went away and prayed the same thing. 00:01:48.820 --> 00:01:52.859 When he came back, he again found them sleeping because their eyes were heavy. 00:01:53.859 --> 00:01:55.640 They did not know what to say to him. 00:01:56.740 --> 00:02:01.780 Returning the third time, he said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:02.939 Enough. 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:04.920 The hour has come. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:10.719 Look, the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:12.340 Rise. 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:14.159 Let us go. 00:02:15.140 --> 00:02:17.379 Here comes my betrayer. 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:19.319 Amen. 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:24.259 Now we're going to think about living under the shadow of the cross, 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:29.080 what that meant for Jesus and what that means for us. 00:02:30.420 --> 00:02:35.120 But let me begin by talking about a book I read last year, 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:38.439 written by a doctor, Dr. Paul Kalanithi. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.480 The book's called When Breath Becomes Air. 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.719 It's a neurosurgeon's memoir. 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:52.500 A memoir as he battles with, battled with, stage four metastatic lung cancer. 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:55.439 With the doctor's knowledge of everything that was coming, 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:58.099 Kalanithi reflected. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:03.539 And reflected in large part on what makes a life worth living. 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:09.500 There was one little phrase in his book that stuck in my head, and it's this one. 00:03:10.019 --> 00:03:16.899 He said, the fact of death is unsettling, yet there is no other way to live. 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:19.520 He appreciated that. 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:22.340 And we see that in the case of Jesus, don't we? 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:28.360 Here is Jesus in agony in Gethsemane because he knows his future. 00:03:29.140 --> 00:03:33.280 He knows the unique suffering that's coming to him as the son of God, 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:38.640 as the savior of the world, as he will bear the sins of the world. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:44.639 We see Jesus is more than simply unsettled facing the fact of his death. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:47.399 We see him in sorrow and in anguish. 00:03:48.259 --> 00:03:52.939 So today we're going to think about why is it that Mark slows down? 00:03:53.079 --> 00:03:57.419 The gospel of Mark is a really fast-paced gospel. 00:03:57.959 --> 00:04:01.799 But Mark slows down and he zooms in here on the garden. 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:03.680 And why does he do that? 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.960 He's showing us life under the shadow of the cross for Jesus. 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:15.340 And he's also helping his readers to think about what does it mean for us to be followers of Jesus, 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:19.340 for us too to live under the shadow of the cross of Jesus. 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:24.740 Mark was writing at the time when the church was beginning to feel persecution from Rome. 00:04:24.740 --> 00:04:29.040 What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in that context? 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.060 So we're going to think about the suffering of Jesus 00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:37.180 and think about how the suffering of Jesus informs the story of our lives 00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:40.200 and the life of God's church. 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:44.400 So we're going to begin by thinking about Jesus' emotions 00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:49.379 and seeing how Jesus' emotions connect with ours. 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:54.340 In Mark's language, if we look at verses 33 and 34, 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:58.220 we see Mark uses very intense language. 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:02.060 Jesus speaks with intense language. 00:05:02.760 --> 00:05:03.460 So it says there, 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:06.540 Jesus took Peter and James and John along with him 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:09.520 and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 00:05:10.460 --> 00:05:14.860 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:16.960 He said to them, stay here and keep watch. 00:05:17.780 --> 00:05:20.080 The American theologian B.B. Warfield 00:05:20.080 --> 00:05:23.700 wrote a study called The Emotional Life of Our Lord. 00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:28.979 And as he examined these words, words like deeply distressed and troubled, 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:36.300 it's the idea of Jesus being horror struck as he confronts the reality of the cross. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:46.399 Here is Jesus facing alarm, feeling a sense of despondency as he anticipates what's coming next. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.479 When it says he's overwhelmed with sorrow, 00:05:49.479 --> 00:05:55.719 it's describing his mental pain and distress as if he was in a prison and he's barred in on every side. 00:05:55.819 --> 00:06:02.279 There's no escape from this weight of sorrow and distress. 00:06:02.919 --> 00:06:07.620 Deep emotional suffering, he says, that almost kills him. 00:06:07.620 --> 00:06:12.840 Why does he feel this intense weight? 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:17.139 Well, I think we need to connect it with his prayer in verse 36, 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:20.620 and we need to connect it with the cup that he prays about. 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.060 So in verse 36, he prays, 00:06:24.139 --> 00:06:26.540 Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:29.160 Take this cup from me. 00:06:29.220 --> 00:06:33.240 So there's this image of Jesus needing to drink a cup. 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:37.720 What is that cup that he anticipates with a sense of horror and dismay? 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:41.900 Well, Psalm 75 would be one place we can go to find out. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.840 In verse 8, we read this. 00:06:44.780 --> 00:06:48.120 In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of wine. 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:54.680 He pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs. 00:06:55.259 --> 00:06:56.800 What's the image of the cup? 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:05.560 It's the image of God's judgment against sin and wickedness being given to God's enemies 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:09.240 to drink down, to drink in judgment on themselves. 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:14.080 What is it that causes Jesus to have such distress and agony? 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:22.600 It's because he, he will drink this cup to make his enemies into his friends. 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:26.180 But that prospect horrifies him. 00:07:27.320 --> 00:07:32.980 Horrifies him because he anticipates this contact with sin that we'll have for the very first time 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:34.560 in his existence. 00:07:35.400 --> 00:07:38.920 One of the remarkable things about Jesus, one of the attractive things about Jesus, 00:07:39.080 --> 00:07:41.900 is he is known as a friend of sinners. 00:07:42.460 --> 00:07:46.200 You read the Gospels and you find him eating with, meeting with, 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:49.600 having conversations with social, religious, moral outcasts. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:56.500 But Jesus, in being their friend, never began to sin himself. 00:07:57.080 --> 00:08:00.060 He remained totally holy, sinlessly perfect. 00:08:00.460 --> 00:08:05.240 He lived among the broken, the despised, the rejected, the messed up, 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:07.920 but he remained perfect himself. 00:08:08.340 --> 00:08:11.720 But here is Jesus, the perfect one, the only perfect one. 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:18.480 He is anticipating becoming the worst sinner who ever lived 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:24.600 and being judged by God, treated as the worst sinner who ever lived 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:27.420 because he will absorb our sin, 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:31.180 because he will absorb the judgment of God for our sin. 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:33.620 And that causes him distress. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.820 Connected with that, he's also distressed 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:41.720 because he knows that the cross will bring separation from God. 00:08:41.900 --> 00:08:44.740 He will be alienated from the Father. 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:48.640 He knows that his Father is holy and perfect. 00:08:49.280 --> 00:08:51.940 And a holy God cannot look at sin. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:57.420 What happens on the cross is Jesus becomes sin for his people. 00:08:57.540 --> 00:09:02.000 And in so doing, he will feel forsaken by his Father. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:08.500 His Father, as it were, will turn his face away from Jesus, the son he loves. 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:13.519 So we have this picture of real emotional distress. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.100 We have Jesus knowing he's about to be betrayed, 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:20.139 going to this garden in order to pray to his Father, 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:24.259 the Father who he loves, looking to receive comfort from heaven. 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:30.379 But as he does so, he receives anticipation of his own personal hell. 00:09:30.379 --> 00:09:32.399 What is hell? 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:36.460 Hell is to know God, but only God as justice. 00:09:37.019 --> 00:09:42.519 And Jesus on the cross will experience the full weight of God's justice against sin. 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:45.799 Here we are being reminded in Gethsemane 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:50.600 that the price of our reconciliation is Christ's alienation. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:56.159 He feels far so that we can be brought near. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.080 And that impacts Jesus intensely. 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:03.139 Perhaps you saw in the news over the weekend, 00:10:03.420 --> 00:10:06.879 the good news story of Pauline Kafferke. 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:09.820 Pauline Kafferke, in case you don't know who she was, 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:13.820 she was a Scottish nurse who's just had twins. 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:22.060 But back in 2014, she went out to Sierra Leone to be an Ebola nurse. 00:10:22.059 --> 00:10:29.059 So she went out there to seek to deal with those who were suffering from that disease, 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:30.979 but she contracted it herself. 00:10:31.319 --> 00:10:39.399 So over 2014, 2016, three times she found herself in hospital seriously unwell. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:44.679 And thinking about her story, thinking here is a nurse who'd been working with victims 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:46.679 who knew exactly what was coming, 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:50.279 what I thought that must have been when she saw the early signs. 00:10:51.319 --> 00:10:55.179 She contracted the very things she'd gone to seek to help cure. 00:10:55.179 --> 00:11:00.679 And that, in a sense, gives us an insight into the cross. 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:09.579 Because Jesus saves us from sin by contracting sin for us. 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:18.779 He takes our sin on himself to cure us from that horrible disease leading to death. 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:23.079 He saves at infinite cost to himself. 00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:27.819 He was aware of the implications of what it meant to be the Savior. 00:11:27.959 --> 00:11:29.319 We see it in Gethsemane. 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:32.120 That knowledge causes him to feel horror. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.720 He feels that weight on himself. 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:38.019 But still he went because of love. 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:42.059 So we see Jesus' emotions. 00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:44.559 But how does that connect with our emotions as a church? 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:55.079 Well, I think Mark would want the incredible suffering of Jesus to fuel our grateful joy and love and worship. 00:11:55.719 --> 00:11:59.419 To see Jesus did this for me. 00:12:00.959 --> 00:12:04.799 Jesus voluntarily became my substitute. 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:07.839 Taking my place. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:14.740 That Jesus gave himself as that perfect sacrifice for me. 00:12:15.540 --> 00:12:17.460 Abandoned for my sake. 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:18.759 For my sin. 00:12:19.660 --> 00:12:23.620 That that should move our hearts and cause us to worship him. 00:12:23.800 --> 00:12:26.740 Cause him to, cause us to love him. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.519 There was a man on the news yesterday talking about his stem cell donor. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.799 He calls his stem cell donor his sister. 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:41.360 There's a bond established because he's received stem cells. 00:12:41.460 --> 00:12:43.759 He's received the gift of health. 00:12:44.699 --> 00:12:46.480 In light of the cross. 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:54.279 Shouldn't it be our instinct to call Jesus our Savior and Lord and to live for him with joy and with worship? 00:12:54.279 --> 00:13:02.799 And it's true that the clearer our vision of the cross, the clearer our understanding of what it meant for Jesus to rescue us, 00:13:02.839 --> 00:13:06.039 the greater, the more alive our worship is going to be. 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.019 And we cannot get too far away from the cross. 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:12.639 We need to remember what lies at the heart of our salvation. 00:13:13.439 --> 00:13:19.000 And so Mark is zooming us in in the gospel so that ultimately we'll be moved towards gratitude. 00:13:19.459 --> 00:13:22.079 We'll be moved towards worship. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.660 So that's Jesus' emotions and ours. 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:31.300 Another thing that Mark draws our attention to in Gethsemane is Jesus' prayers. 00:13:32.020 --> 00:13:35.200 Let's think about Jesus' prayers and ours. 00:13:36.780 --> 00:13:40.240 Mike Reeves in his little book, Enjoying Your Prayer Life, 00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:46.600 reminds us that it was Calvin that said that prayer is the chief exercise of faith. 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:49.140 How do we express our faith? 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:50.520 We express it through prayer. 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:58.159 To pray is to say, whenever we pray, I want to know God. 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:02.639 I want to enjoy my relationship with my Father in heaven. 00:14:04.079 --> 00:14:08.840 Prayer is a way to say in any situation, whatever brings us before God, 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:10.879 I want to trust God in this moment. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.360 If I'm praying about my family or praying about a decision, 00:14:13.579 --> 00:14:16.500 I want to trust God in this situation. 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:18.519 So prayer is an exercise of faith. 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:23.580 And so it's no surprise to us then, when we think about Jesus, the ultimate man of faith, 00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:27.879 that He is our model of praying for us. 00:14:27.940 --> 00:14:30.879 He is the model praying life. 00:14:32.019 --> 00:14:35.899 You see, all through the gospels, Jesus had a decision to make. 00:14:36.019 --> 00:14:36.659 He would pray. 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:42.639 When Jesus had a successful time of ministry, healing and teaching and the crowds were flocking, 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:46.819 He would take time away to be with His Father in heaven. 00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:53.019 So it's no surprise that when He comes to confront His place of suffering, 00:14:53.500 --> 00:14:57.100 that He would instinctively come to pray. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:15:03.600 Four things to notice as Jesus prays under the shadow of the cross. 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:07.759 Firstly, that Jesus calls to His Father. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.639 Verse 36, Abba, Father, He said. 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:19.460 J.I. Packer, another theologian said, 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:23.700 if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.480 find out how much they make of the thought of being God's child 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:32.120 and having God as their Father. 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:34.019 Or to put it another way, 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:37.960 does the chance that we have when we pray the Lord's Prayer to say, 00:15:38.060 --> 00:15:43.900 our Father in heaven, does that make us feel a sense of joy and gratitude? 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:48.340 Well, for Jesus, His Father was everything. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:54.439 He has lived in an eternal communion of love with His Father. 00:15:54.539 --> 00:16:00.980 And so part of Jesus' agony is knowing that that sense of God, 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:03.139 the Father's close presence with Him, 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:06.399 will be lost to Him at the cross. 00:16:07.459 --> 00:16:10.120 As He goes under the darkness, 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:11.860 as He faces God's judgment, 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.139 those three hours on the cross, 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.679 He will cry out, 00:16:15.820 --> 00:16:19.100 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:23.940 His relationship with His Father was everything to Him. 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:25.740 And so in His suffering, 00:16:26.299 --> 00:16:28.700 He calls to His Father. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.279 Notice, too, the extent to which Jesus recognizes 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:37.100 the power and the rule of His Father. 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:39.500 Abba, Father, He said, 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:44.639 everything is possible for you. 00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:49.600 One of the things we recognize about God 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:51.980 is that He is independent, 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:56.159 that the only limits on God are that He cannot sin 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:01.299 and He must always be true to His character and His word. 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:04.440 And so Jesus, as He goes into this suffering, 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:08.859 He goes there trusting in the sovereignty of God. 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:13.039 And that's so important for us as a foundation for prayer. 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:19.099 Notice, too, He commits Himself to doing the will of God. 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:23.619 Take this cup from me, yet not what I will, 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:26.599 but what you will. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:31.220 Here is Jesus, fully human as well as fully God, 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:33.420 wrestling with the horror to come, 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:36.320 praying, take this cup from me, 00:17:36.600 --> 00:17:39.300 asking, is there any other way? 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.480 As He anticipates the cost of being Savior in the most intense way, 00:17:44.560 --> 00:17:45.900 but still He's able to say, 00:17:46.120 --> 00:17:48.500 not my will, but yours be done. 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:53.340 Completely committed, completely obedient to doing the will of God. 00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:56.759 And also, as we saw last week, 00:17:57.459 --> 00:18:01.000 when Jesus faces suffering and Jesus thinks about prayer and suffering, 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:06.339 it's important to recognize that He asks His friends to support Him in prayer. 00:18:07.159 --> 00:18:08.259 So again, verse 38, 00:18:08.379 --> 00:18:09.519 watch and pray. 00:18:10.659 --> 00:18:11.459 Watch and pray. 00:18:11.460 --> 00:18:16.400 He's face to face with this prospect of being separated from His Father at the cross. 00:18:16.940 --> 00:18:20.900 He's facing a time of intense trial and distress, 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:23.900 and He looks to His friends for prayer support. 00:18:25.100 --> 00:18:27.400 So again, Mark is zooming in here, 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:30.319 and he's zooming in to show us the prayer life of Jesus, 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.759 to show us, I think, how to approach our times of suffering. 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:38.299 That here we are invited as Christians to approach suffering with God, 00:18:38.299 --> 00:18:42.119 in prayer, knowing Jesus has been there, 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:43.319 knowing Jesus understands, 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:46.740 knowing Jesus is with us and for us. 00:18:48.159 --> 00:18:51.639 So that when we experience hardships and dark times, 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:55.519 we too are praying to our Father in heaven. 00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:58.839 Again, to borrow from Mike Reeves, 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:02.619 prayer is enjoying the care of a powerful Father 00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:06.919 instead of being left to a frightening loneliness. 00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:13.000 Perhaps you've had those experiences of intense darkness, 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:14.059 frightening loneliness. 00:19:14.639 --> 00:19:18.359 It's so helpful to remember we have a powerful Father in heaven 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:19.759 who loves us. 00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:23.039 To recognize, actually, that Jesus went to the cross 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.759 and He suffered that frightening loneliness for us 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:30.519 so that we'll never go through anything by ourselves. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:39.200 We also learn from Jesus' experience to pray both with trust and with tears. 00:19:39.859 --> 00:19:41.740 Jesus in the Lord's Prayer said we should pray, 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:44.579 Your kingdom come and Your will be done. 00:19:44.639 --> 00:19:47.839 And sometimes we'll pray that prayer with joy 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:51.940 because we are content and we're happy about our circumstances. 00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:56.259 But are there other times where we'll pray that prayer with grief? 00:19:57.340 --> 00:19:58.820 Perhaps a sense of protest. 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.580 Not sure why this thing is happening. 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:05.799 But like Jesus, we need that solid foundation 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:08.900 to recognize that God's in control 00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:12.259 and to recognize that God is in control as one who loves. 00:20:13.100 --> 00:20:14.080 He's one who cares. 00:20:14.860 --> 00:20:15.900 He's one who's faithful. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.240 He's one who's wise. 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:20.000 He knows what He's doing. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.619 So even when we can't see what God's doing, 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:26.359 we're invited to trust, say, not my will but Yours. 00:20:26.859 --> 00:20:27.480 Be done. 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:29.299 And sometimes we'll do that with tears. 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:35.259 And also for us to remember that prayer is part of family life. 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:41.799 Prayer is a way to say you don't have to go through this thing alone. 00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:46.859 It's a way to say let me bear the load with you. 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:52.299 It's an expression of, one expression of our shared love for one another. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:55.659 Jesus gave us a new command to love one another. 00:20:55.779 --> 00:20:59.079 Well, one way that we do that is through praying with each other 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:01.299 and praying for one another 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:06.139 and walking through hard times with one another. 00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:11.540 So there's Jesus' prayers and ours. 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:18.180 The last thing I want us to notice from the end of this little section 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:22.100 is Jesus' obedience and ours. 00:21:24.020 --> 00:21:27.460 We've just finished watching a Spanish TV drama, 00:21:27.620 --> 00:21:29.020 melodrama better called, 00:21:29.300 --> 00:21:30.880 called The High Seas. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.900 And it's lots of intrigue happening on a great big cruise liner 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:36.420 on the way from Spain to Brazil. 00:21:36.600 --> 00:21:38.840 Well, in one particular episode, 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:43.340 the captain finds himself having to steer a ship 00:21:43.340 --> 00:21:46.780 directly through the eye of a storm. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.000 There's no other way to go. 00:21:48.560 --> 00:21:52.320 And so you get these wonderful images of the captain up in the bridge 00:21:52.320 --> 00:21:54.900 and he's calling on his men to stay the course. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.260 And you see people are flying and tables are flying 00:21:57.259 --> 00:21:59.440 and they're going right through the storm. 00:21:59.879 --> 00:22:01.099 And then at one point, 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:03.559 you see a little chink of light on the horizon 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:04.420 and the captain says, 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.480 well, head for the patch of light and we'll be safe. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:08.240 And you get this wonderful picture. 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:09.440 One side, there's a storm 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:11.339 and then you see this cruise liner coming out 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:12.460 and you see flat cam. 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:18.000 Jesus, God's obedient son, what's happening here? 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:22.640 He's heading straight into the storm of God's judgment. 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:25.480 Jesus, the captain of our salvation, 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:29.019 is heading straight for the judgment of God. 00:22:29.259 --> 00:22:32.299 That storm that should fall on us and overwhelm us, 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:35.240 he takes it on himself. 00:22:36.980 --> 00:22:41.740 Jesus, the one who always put God first in his life, 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:43.960 he delighted to do the will of God. 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:47.539 He dies for our idolatry. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:50.140 All those ways in which we put other things 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:51.720 and other people ahead of God, 00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:54.099 where we find our identity and security 00:22:54.099 --> 00:22:55.619 and hope and purpose in something 00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:57.719 other than our faith in the Lord Jesus. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.259 He goes to the cross and he dies 00:23:00.259 --> 00:23:02.859 as if he were an idolater. 00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:07.679 Jesus, the one who always honored his father 00:23:07.679 --> 00:23:10.259 at every point in his life. 00:23:10.639 --> 00:23:14.539 He dies for our dishonoring of God, 00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:16.059 for treating God with shame 00:23:16.059 --> 00:23:17.819 when we turn our back on God, 00:23:17.879 --> 00:23:19.819 when we want nothing to do with God, 00:23:20.179 --> 00:23:23.099 when we ignore his word and his will. 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:26.980 Jesus, the one who always walked in perfect obedience, 00:23:28.679 --> 00:23:32.240 dies for rebel sinners like us. 00:23:34.399 --> 00:23:37.099 We see the cost of his obedience. 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:39.240 We see his obedience in the garden. 00:23:39.459 --> 00:23:40.659 You know, three times he's asked, 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:42.139 is there any other way? 00:23:42.699 --> 00:23:44.699 Is there any other way for people to be saved 00:23:44.699 --> 00:23:46.419 other than for me to go to the cross? 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.400 And the answer that he clearly receives 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:51.700 because he walks resolutely towards the cross 00:23:51.700 --> 00:23:55.340 is I cannot save you and save them. 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:59.860 Jesus is willing to be killed 00:23:59.860 --> 00:24:02.380 so that we might be saved. 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:06.800 And we see that, the change in verse 41. 00:24:07.340 --> 00:24:09.220 So he's gone and he's prayed three times. 00:24:09.320 --> 00:24:10.560 We're returning the third time. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:11.220 He said to them, 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:12.799 are you still sleeping and resting? 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:15.240 Enough, the hour has come. 00:24:15.700 --> 00:24:17.279 Luke, the son of man is betrayed 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:18.400 into the hands of sinners. 00:24:18.620 --> 00:24:20.720 Rise, let us go. 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:23.360 Here comes my betrayer. 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:25.860 Jesus walks with courage. 00:24:26.360 --> 00:24:27.400 He is resolute. 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:31.220 He understands that this hour is from God. 00:24:31.360 --> 00:24:35.819 And so he goes to the cross in obedience. 00:24:35.819 --> 00:24:40.460 As he headed into that storm of God's judgment, 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:42.700 was there a patch of light for Jesus? 00:24:44.579 --> 00:24:47.460 Maybe think of Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2, 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:49.379 where we read Jesus, 00:24:50.159 --> 00:24:52.839 who for the joy set before him, 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.960 endured the cross, scorning its shame. 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:00.019 There was joy. 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:02.960 There was light beyond the cross for Jesus. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:06.519 It's the prospect of returning to his father in heaven, 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:09.700 of bringing glory to God through the cross, 00:25:10.340 --> 00:25:14.440 of returning to fellowship with God in glory. 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:17.880 And also that joy of knowing mission accomplished, 00:25:18.600 --> 00:25:20.039 of knowing that through his death, 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:22.240 he would bring life for all those 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:23.559 who would put their trust in him. 00:25:23.860 --> 00:25:26.680 And so Jesus faces the cross with joy, 00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:28.700 which is our remarkable truth. 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:34.279 Jesus anticipates the cost of his rescue, 00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:37.460 that emotional distress, 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:42.880 anticipating the loss of his father's felt presence. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:44.500 And yet Jesus says, 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:45.600 you are worth it. 00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:49.240 And he obediently walks to the cross. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:51.740 And so Mark zooms in again 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:55.720 on Jesus' costly obedience to encourage us. 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:57.600 Encourage us by showing us, 00:25:57.599 --> 00:25:59.599 well, here's the pattern of the Christian life. 00:25:59.659 --> 00:26:00.719 The pattern of the Christian life 00:26:00.719 --> 00:26:03.599 is suffering first with glory to follow. 00:26:05.639 --> 00:26:07.179 Like Jesus, we are invited, 00:26:07.339 --> 00:26:09.859 we are encouraged to set our eyes on an eternal prize, 00:26:10.939 --> 00:26:13.079 to be willing to count the cost, 00:26:13.159 --> 00:26:14.659 to be willing to carry our cross, 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:17.659 to deny ourselves in order to follow Jesus. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:18.959 We follow this Jesus. 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:20.799 We follow a crucified Savior. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:22.719 And so there is sacrifice. 00:26:22.919 --> 00:26:24.519 And so there is suffering first, 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:25.839 but there is glory to follow. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:29.939 And we understand too that the Christian life 00:26:29.939 --> 00:26:31.659 and the Christian church is established 00:26:31.659 --> 00:26:33.379 through the obedient, 00:26:33.539 --> 00:26:34.220 through the costly, 00:26:34.419 --> 00:26:34.839 through the sacrificial, 00:26:35.859 --> 00:26:38.699 loving, self-giving of Jesus. 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:40.779 And it's that grace that we receive 00:26:40.779 --> 00:26:43.339 that fuels our obedience. 00:26:44.179 --> 00:26:45.699 It's where we receive new life 00:26:45.699 --> 00:26:49.879 and it's where our motive for obedience comes from. 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:54.500 So we are called to live in the shadow of the cross, 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:57.220 to look at what Jesus has done for us 00:26:57.220 --> 00:26:59.420 so that it would change us, 00:26:59.860 --> 00:27:01.960 so that it would transform us. 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:07.880 What's going to kill our pride and selfishness? 00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:13.240 Well, nothing less than seeing Jesus, our Savior, 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:16.360 seeing his selfless love and humiliation 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:17.899 for us on the cross. 00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:21.099 How are we going to be able to show patience 00:27:21.099 --> 00:27:24.419 and forgiveness to those who hurt, 00:27:24.939 --> 00:27:26.339 disappoint and fail us? 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:29.939 Well, surely it's as we hear Jesus cry, 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:31.119 Father, forgive them. 00:27:31.939 --> 00:27:33.779 They don't know what they're doing. 00:27:33.919 --> 00:27:37.319 As we understand that Jesus has forgiven us 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:38.819 a much greater debt, 00:27:39.219 --> 00:27:40.579 a much greater wrong 00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:43.819 than anyone could ever do to us. 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:46.179 How do we love others? 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:48.159 How do we keep loving them 00:27:48.159 --> 00:27:49.439 when they disappoint us? 00:27:50.159 --> 00:27:52.879 Well, just look at how Jesus treated his disciples, 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:55.399 those disciples who would abandon him. 00:27:56.339 --> 00:27:57.859 He promised to restore them, 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:00.539 to renew friendship with them. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:03.980 So it's as we look at the cross, 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:07.720 it's as we are filled with God's grace, 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.299 that's where the strength to love 00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:12.740 and to serve comes from. 00:28:13.339 --> 00:28:15.039 And so Mark encourages us 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:17.440 as he writes his gospel to slow down, 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:22.319 to see the cost of your salvation, 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:26.600 to recognize God's love for you at the cross 00:28:26.600 --> 00:28:28.620 so that you and I, 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:30.039 we would also make that choice 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:32.839 to live under the shadow of the cross, 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:36.140 that we would worship from that place, 00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:38.020 that we would pray knowing 00:28:38.020 --> 00:28:40.200 that Jesus has gone there 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:41.220 and done that for us. 00:28:41.300 --> 00:28:41.980 We would serve, 00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:44.880 we would obey as our grateful response 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:47.820 to Jesus, 00:28:48.340 --> 00:28:51.580 the one who walked that path for us.