Our reading this morning is from Mark's account of the gospel. Chapter 14, Mark chapter 14. We will read beginning in verse 22 through verse 52. Mark 14, 22. Jesus took some bread and after blessing, he broke it and gave it to them and said, take it, this is my body. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. After singing a hymn, They went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. Because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter said to him, even though all may fall away, yet I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you that this very night Before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me three times. But Peter kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all were saying the same thing also. They came to a place named Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here until I've prayed. And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be very distressed and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch. And he went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass him by. And he was saying, Abba, Father, All things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. And he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again, he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough, the hour has come. Behold, the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. Immediately while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the 12, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he who was betraying him had given them a signal saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him and lead him away under guard. After coming, Judas immediately went to him saying, Rabbi, and kissed him. They laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would against a robber? Every day I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. But this has taken place to fulfill the scriptures. And they all left him and fled. A young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body, and they seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked. As we pick up right where we left off last week, at the end of the institution of the Lord's Supper where Jesus transitions from the perpetual Passover meal to the Lord's Supper, which we still observe in a regular manner, the way that the scriptures prescribe. After singing a hymn, Mark writes, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So they get up out of the upper room and go out into the Mount of Olives. And it's remarkable. We know what's coming. We've read the story before. We just read it all moments ago. It's unbelievable, really, to try to wrap our minds around this most intimate setting imaginable, even if we consider John's gospel and add that to it where we know that Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples and then serves them in the Lord's Supper, guaranteeing that he will one day eat and drink with them again in paradise, in heaven forever, to see the way that the story unfolds is almost unbelievable. It really makes us lean heavily on verses like 2 Timothy 2.13, if we are faithless, he remains faithful. It makes us lean and hope on those truths in order for us to have any measure of sanity or hope for ourselves. Unless maybe you have a lot more self-confidence than I do, or some of us do, if you don't see what's happening here with the disciples and think, how will I not go this same path? What keeps me, what will keep me from denying? Like Judas, or Peter, or all of the others. Well, there's only one thing that will keep us from doing that. As Paul writes to Timothy, if we are faithless, Or you could read it this way, when we are faithless, he remains faithful. It is faithfulness in Jesus Christ that we see here in this passage, being focused on the word of God and seeking to live his life according to the word of God, that proves to be our only hope. So I want to look at verses 26, 27, down through verse 52 together this morning. The first portion of that, the first small portion, verses 26 to 31, insisting on faithfulness. This is Peter and the other 10 disciples insisting on their faithfulness. And then the next 11 verses, 32 to 42, evidence of faithlessness. They insisted that they would be faithful. They proved that they were not. And then finally, 43 to 52, fulfilling the scriptures, or the faithfulness of Jesus, or the faithfulness of God's word. You probably don't have a lot of confidence since I'm changing points on the fly here, the titles of them. Insisting on faithfulness. Jesus said to them, they go out to the Mount of Olives after standing up from the Lord's Supper, they go out to the Mount of Olives and this is what he says to them. Again, just for the sake of realizing the moment Judas has just left, to go and finish his plan, his intent of betraying Jesus. They have watched him go. Jesus said, one of you is a traitor. And then he says to Judas, what you do, do quickly. And Judas leaves. They understand what's going on. And then Jesus says to all of them, quoting from Zechariah 13, that you're all going to do the same thing, not to the same extent. But even with him quoting from Zechariah 13, it was definitely on his mind, he's quoting it, but it would have been on the disciples' mind as well as he quoted it. In Zechariah 13, interestingly, as we read earlier, we see that the focus there is on the faithfulness of the shepherd, not the faithlessness of the sheep. When we read this passage, we are prone to realize how faithless we are. We see how faithless the disciples were in the decisions that they made. And Jesus is reminding us, while it is true that we are faithless at times, we should keep our focus off of our faithlessness and on Him who is the faithful one, the faithfulness of the shepherd. The prophet Zechariah is the most cited Old Testament source for this last week of Jesus's life, up to and including His death, Zechariah 11 prophesies Jerusalem as a city, the rejection as a people in the city, rejection of the Messiah. Even specifically down in verse 11, pardon, verse 12 of Zechariah 11, they weighed out 30 shekels of silver as my wages. The exact price for which Judas would receive for betraying Jesus is prophesied. Not only that, what he did with the money, in the next verse, Zechariah 11, 13, he took the 30 shekels of silver and threw them to the potter, buying a potter's field. Zechariah 12, 10, they will look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. And then Zechariah 13, that we read earlier, in that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity. And then it's a poem there that Jesus was quoting from. Awake, O sword, awake my shepherd against the man my associate declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered and I will turn my hand against the little ones. Look exactly at what Jesus said, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. scattered. Jesus is not making some new prophetic prediction against his disciples. He hasn't discovered something new in them and now he's telling them about it. Rather, he's telling them exactly what the Bible says they're going to do. Not only that, Jesus understands this poem in Zechariah 13 to be his father speaking. When he says it here to them, recorded in Mark, I will strike down the shepherd, he recognizes that the greatest blow that he is about to face, even though he has been betrayed by a disciple and will be abandoned and denied by the others, the greatest blow for Jesus was coming from his father. I will strike down the shepherd. He knows where the greatest blow will come as the cross nears. While he is certainly aware, while Jesus is certainly aware of the failure of his friends, he is far more keenly aware of the unfailing purposes of his father to accomplish the redemption of these faithless disciples, of us. After I have been raised, I'll go ahead of you to Galilee. Jesus says. But Peter said to him, seeming to just ignore the previous two statements that Jesus made, you will all fall away, I will be raised and go ahead of you. Peter responds, even though all may fall away, yet I will not. Now, the reality of the denial and the scattering isn't noted in its completion until verse 50, if you look down, and they all left him and fled, that's where it's all headed. But the actual beginning of the eventual mass denial from the disciples is right here. Even if they all deny you, I'm not going to, Peter says. See what's happening here is Peter is separating himself from the other disciples. He's isolating himself, betraying, if you will, the other disciples before he actively betrays Jesus. He is confident in his own commitment. He doesn't seem to care much about the others. He doesn't have a lot of confidence in them, but he has a lot of confidence in himself. He is quite sure of his own character and very determined regarding his own ability. Completely certain that in his own strength, he will not deny. He even is insisting by his words that Jesus is wrong. Jesus just said you will fall away. And he's arguing with him. No, not me. Yeah, you're thinking about those guys, but not me. And as we know, and it's recorded for us here, instead of doing better than the others, like Peter assumed would be the reality, or assumed would be the case, he actually does worse. And Jesus tells him that he's going to do, whereas truly I say to you, this very night before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me three times. Three times. Peter's denial here is part of his legacy. I mean, it's a tarnished part, but it's a part. We don't think about Peter without remembering that he is the one who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. While the others will scatter, Jesus says, you yourself, Peter, you'll deny me three times before morning. And Peter still refuses to believe what Jesus says. Look at verse 31. But he kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. This is chief Peter, this is chief Peter, this is Peter's Chief failure. I don't think Peter's a chief. I had to change direction in my mind because I have some jokes running through it that just don't need to be saying right now, so. This is Peter's chief failure. More so than the infamous denial. Like we're aware of the denial, but the reason that he denied is because he refused to believe. to listen and believe what the Lord said. And this is not just some fleeting moment of weakness for Peter. If he had been listening to Jesus for the past three years, he would have a better understanding of reading the room. He would be able to realize, oh, this is what is about to happen. It's not a fleeting moment of weakness. It is what amounts to a complete collapse of his faith. Imagine the setting, you may remember that the majority of the gospel of Mark, it is believed, and most likely it is true, that Peter is often the firsthand account that is retelling the story to Mark who is recording it for us. So imagine the setting while Peter is retelling this to Mark, and Mark is recording it. And Mark says, Jesus told us that we were all going to fall away. What did you say, Peter? I said, oh, not me. Imagine Mark's like, man, do I really write that? So what about when you said, even if the others may fall away, yet I won't? What did Jesus say then? Oh, he said that I would actually deny him three times before the sunrise. Wow. So Peter, what did you say when Jesus said that? I dug my heels in. I said, there's no way. I insisted that I would die before denying him. Imagine the shame of Peter having to retell this. to relive it. You know what it's like when you talk about something that you've been really emotionally engaged in, even years later, you can talk about it and almost feel the flood of emotions coming back. And surely as Peter is telling Mark this, he's feeling the weight of, I failed to listen. There were so much clear teaching and evidence and he told us what was going to happen. He warned us. I mean, even Peter himself, Jesus told him, I have prayed for you, Peter. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat and I've prayed for you, Matthew tells us. I will die before denying you. These types of claims are so easily made in times of safety and in places of security. I will never deny him. And they are, even more easily forgotten and forsaken in the crucible of oppression and temptation. And this self-confidence of Peter proved contagious. And it infected all of the other disciples. Look at the end of verse 31. And they all were saying the same thing also. So not only has Peter separated himself from the other disciples, turning his back on them, basically saying, I don't care if they deny you. What I care is that I'm going to prove faithful, Jesus. I'm not going to deny you. But then all of the other disciples separated themselves from one another. They're all saying the same thing, even if the other 10 Deny you? I'm not going to. I'm willing to follow you even unto death. I will not deny you. They are isolating themselves from one another in their own self-righteous resolve. And these separations, both the separation of Peter from the other disciples and the other disciples from one another, happened before they separated themselves from Jesus. which screams at us that humility before God and among one another is the only hope for us to not also be infected by Peter's and the disciples' self-sure commitment to never walk away from Jesus. We need each other. This is not a race for us to run on our own. We need one another. Even though all may fall away, I will follow you. But Jesus didn't just bring, I referenced it earlier, alluded to it, this doom and woe of you will all fall away. But he makes clear in verse 28, after I have been raised, I'm going to be struck down by my heavenly father, but I will be raised up again. Verse 28 is full of hope. After I've been raised, I'll go ahead of you to Galilee. Like I'm going to see you again. I'm going to be raised from the dead. He's alluded to this time and again. Listen to just one chapter of John's gospel four different times. This is the will of Him who sent me, that of all He has given me, I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise Him up on the last day. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. Not only is Jesus going to be raised, he's going to raise his people as well. He's going to meet them there. He's going ahead of them to Galilee. John 14 tells us. Not only did he go ahead of them to Galilee after he was raised from the dead, before he ascended on high, but John 14 tells us, Jesus tells us, that after he ascends on high, even that is a going ahead of us. He went ahead of his disciples to Galilee and met them there after the resurrection, and he's gone ahead of us to heaven. And he's waiting for us there. Again, waiting to eat and drink of the supper that he instituted, finally and forever. So there was lots of commitment and insisting on faithfulness. And unfortunately, it just didn't prove to be a reality as we continue in verse 32, the evidence of the disciples' faithlessness. Up until this point, Jesus has remained absolutely resolute. Since turning his face like Flint towards Jerusalem, he has been committed to getting there, knowing what was before him, seeking to accomplish God's will and salvation for his people. But this moment, what we read in this passage, we see Jesus rattled, in a way that we haven't witnessed before, we see him disturbed in a way that he has never experienced. And yet still, though the hour is upon him, as he says it, and though he is distressed and troubled and deeply grieved, to quote him, Jesus does not falter in the slightest bit in his commitment to saving us from our sins. distressed like never before, troubled in ways that he's never experienced, deeply grieved to the point of death, and he does not falter in his commitment to saving us. The suffering that culminates on the cross began here in the garden, unquestionably. In fact, the inward suffering that Jesus endured is far greater than the physical suffering on the cross. Joseph Hart, who wrote one of the hymns that we just sang, Come Ye Needy, there's a verse that we don't sing in our hymnal that encaptures the concept well. View him prostrate in the garden. On the ground your maker lies. On the bloody tree, behold him. Sinner, will this not suffice? From the garden, laying out, prostrate to pray, to the cross and bleeding, is that not enough? It is enough. It's a rhetorical question. Joseph Hart was excellent at asking questions. It's a wonderful question. because it is enough. He bore our sin in the garden, on the tree, and it is enough. We see him bearing it here in the words that he speaks and the actions that he's taking. He offered his body to be crucified on the cross because he had already surrendered his will to his father. The reason he could go to the cross is because he was so committed to his father and doing his will. He says in verse 36, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. He was committed to doing God's will. Backing up a bit, going into the garden, he takes Peter, James, and John, not merely for companionship. They were close friends, and when we're going through difficult times, having close friends by our side is necessary. But Jesus knew that they would fail him. He didn't bring them along in order to draw attention to their failure or their proneness to fail. He took them for their own benefit. to teach them, to allow them to hear what he was saying and see what he was doing so that we can see now and benefit from it as well. He took them for us to have eyewitness accounts so that we too might learn as he was teaching them to watch and to pray. It's also interesting to note that these three, Peter, James, and John, these three specifically had boasted of their commitment to Jesus. We just saw Peter's, even though all may fall away, yet I will not, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. We have to back up a couple of chapters to hear James and John making their bold commitments. We are able, they say, to drink the cup that you drink. Jesus asked them, are you able to drink the cup? Yeah, absolutely, we are. Are you able to be baptized with the baptism which I'm baptized? And they said, yes. Bold, boasting, we're able to drink the cup that you drink. That's the cup of God's wrath, as we'll see. To be baptized with the baptism with which you're baptized, that's the baptism of death, which is an all the way dead death. Here Jesus takes them into the garden, and this is their chance. This is their chance to say, you know what? We're not that strong. Please help us. We're weak. We've made bold claims. We spoke foolishly. We're relying on self. We need you, Jesus. They even witnessed the anguish. They see the sweating drops of blood. They experienced Jesus' suffering in ways that they had not previously witnessed. and they're impacted so greatly by it that they fall asleep. It really doesn't even make sense in our finite minds that it would be possible because we feel so confidently that if we were there, we would not be sleeping. which is one of the reasons that the passage is recorded to tell us absolutely we might have been sleepwalking on the way in. The death of Jesus even beginning here in the garden, was different than any other person's death because of what he was going through. He came, as Mark told us earlier in chapter 10, verse 45, to give his life a ransom for many. No one else's life has that purpose, only Jesus. He, as Isaiah tells us, was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. It's almost impossible to fathom. It's unimaginable for us to consider standing before God for our own sins. Imagine having to stand before him and you having to somehow answer for your sin in a way that would appease the wrath that it deserves. Jesus here in the garden and all the way to the cross, was suffering not just for your sin, but for every sin of every stripe, for every one of God's people throughout the entire world, for all of time. This is all of heaven's wrath being poured out on him. which is why we read in verse 35, he went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray. He was pressed to the ground with weight. Jewish men stood to pray in that day, but the agony was too much. He was bearing the sin of the world. The torment was too great. And Mark tells us, probably through Peter's eyes, that he fell to the ground. We see this Oftentimes, it's not uncommon to see it in the Psalms, when affliction is great, then the psalmist is on the ground praying. This is only the third time in the Gospel of Mark that we have a picture of Jesus praying. Luke records him praying very often. Mark mentions it, still dark, Jesus got up, chapter one, verse 35, left the house, went away to a secluded place and was praying there. Then again in 646, he left for the mountain to pray. And then finally here, he goes into the garden, leaves the majority of the disciples, takes three further in, leaves them, goes further in, falls to the ground and prays. And look at what he prays. He was saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. Remove this cup, this cup of your righteous wrath against sin and unrepentant sinners. God, will you remove this cup from me? Think about all that Jesus is facing and about to face. He doesn't pray. in an attempt to avoid the injustice of his false arrest. He doesn't pray to be spared from the cruel dealings of the Romans. He doesn't pray to escape the scorn of his mockers. He doesn't pray that he might miss out on the physical death that awaits him. He prays that this cup might be removed. The cup that he dreaded was God's wrath. The cup that he dreaded was his father's forsaking of him when he became our sin. Psalm 75, eight. For a cup is in the hand of the Lord and the wine foams. It is well mixed and he pours out of this. Surely all of the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs. This is the cup that Jesus was to drink, which is why we find him praying, remove this cup from me. Jesus is not faltering in his commitment to save sinners here. He is asking if there might be another way. He was committed to saving sinners. He knew that that was the plan and nothing would deter that. But he's asking, is there another way that they might be saved? If there is, God choose that one. This one seems too much to bear. But because there is no other way, he remains steadfast and faithful. Notice what is not recorded here. There is no answer from the Father. Heaven is closed, we might say, as he bears our sin, which is proof, absolute proof that there is no other way for sins to be forgiven. Then through Jesus Christ, God turns his face away from his only begotten son, his eternal son. If there was another way, God would have chosen it. He would have done it. There is no other way. Yet not what I will, but what you will. Interesting little statement. We could spend a few weeks dissecting and attempting to determine exactly what's going on here. Jesus is God. So what does he mean, not what I will, but what you will? Is there a contradiction? Are they on different pages with regard to this plan of redemption? Not at all. There's no division. Zero. division between the Father and the Son. There's no division in the divine will of God between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. They are all essentially one, and there is a single divine will. There is division in the two natures of Jesus. He is one with the Father, but he is truly man. while remaining truly God. And here it is the human will of Jesus. It is Jesus in his humanity shrinking under the weight of the world's sin. It wasn't just the deity of Jesus that was bearing our sin, but it was him in his humanity. And it was required because we don't have a sufficient sacrifice if only deity is dying for us because we aren't deity. We had to have a man, fully, truly human, to bear our sin in order for us to be saved. His suffering humanity surrenders to the will of the divine, yet not what I will, but what you will. And this should be completely freeing for us with regard to praying, for relief from suffering, from physical suffering. But Jesus is asking, not that the ultimate end of the spiritual good isn't accomplished, but is there another way? A way that doesn't hurt so bad, that doesn't feel so weighty, that isn't so much suffering. After praying that, he came and he found them sleeping. Not just once, not just twice, three times. He went away, verse 39 says, and prayed again, saying the same words. There's no reason for you to feel bad about repetition in your prayer. Toddlers have no problem with repetition, asking for what they want. Sometimes it works. Jesus told a parable about the woman coming to the judge. coming and asking and continuing to come. Even Jesus going to his father here. He went away and prayed, saying the same words again. And he's warning the disciples. It's like he's letting them know this is what you're here for, to watch and to pray that you may not come into temptation. Again, the selflessness of Jesus here. He's going to die within hours. He's bearing the weight of the sin of the world. He's saying, Peter, James, and John, like temptation is at your doorstep, pray and watch. He didn't need their protection. He didn't have to have their companionship, but he didn't want them to fail. So he says to them, the Spirit is willing. I've heard your boasting. I know that your desires are right in some measure. but the flesh is weak. And Jesus is not offering them an excuse for sin, not at all. And we should be careful not to use statements like this as an excuse for sin. He is offering evidence of their need and our need to be watchful and to be prayerful. Watch and pray, Jesus says. Because this Gethsemane was for Jesus. But Gethsemane's are the inevitable lot for those who seek to follow Christ with their lives, difficulties and trials and temptations. And so Jesus says, watch and pray. Because by watching and by praying, sometimes you'll be delivered from the Gethsemane. More often though, by watching and praying, you're delivered through the Gethsemane. Watch and pray. Charlotte Elliott wrote a great hymn. Christian, seek not yet repose. Cast thy dreams of ease away. Thou art in the midst of foes. Watch and pray. Principalities and powers, mustering their unseen array, wait for thy unguarded hours. Watch and pray. Gird thy heavenly armor on, wear it ever. Night and day, ambushed lies the evil one. Watch and pray. Hear the victors who o'ercame. Still they mark each warrior's way. All with one sweet voice exclaim, watch and pray. Hear above all, hear thy Lord. Hear him thou lovest to obey. Hide within thy heart his word. Watch. and pray. Watch as if on that alone hung the issue of the day and pray that help may be sent down. Watch and pray. The spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. And Jesus says, having come to them now a third time in verse 41, the hour has come. The weight of our sin is being laid on him, and with that weight, he does not look back or around for an escape, but he looks right into the eyes of those who are coming to arrest him, who will crucify him. Look at verse 43, the last point, fulfilling the scriptures. We'll start with 42. Get up, let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the 12, even referring to Judas in that way at this point in the story is so compassionate and merciful. There's still time for Judas to repent. He was one of the 12. He came up with a crowd. The crowd had swords and clubs. They were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, the same chief priests and scribes and elders that had previously tried to trip Jesus up and find some reason to arrest him. They had failed in their game of Q&A, and so now they've come at night. He who was betraying him, Judas had given them a signal, saying, whomever I kiss, he's the one. Seize him and lead him away under guard. And Judas comes, says, Rabbi, and kissed him. This sign of enthusiastic affection is used to betray Jesus into the hands of his murderers. The kiss of Judas shows how low a human heart can go. It was as vindictive as it was vengeful and hypocritical. Betrayal is always terrible. Betrayal with a kiss is exponentially so. It had never crossed my mind to contrast this with Psalm 2 until this morning when I was reading something from Psalm 2. It says, kiss the son, lest he become angry. But if you kiss him like Judas, he's going to be angrier. When Judas and the arresting party arrive, John's gospel tells us that Jesus asked the question, whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, I am. Judas was standing with them, John says. And Jesus said again, I am. Remember what John said then? They drew back and fell to the ground. Judas standing there with them, experiencing the holiness, the power, the awe of this man. I wonder if as Judas falls back because of the power of God, Jesus, as God saying, I am, if the 30 pieces of silver are jingling around in his pockets. Jesus was not really the one being arrested. He was playing sheriff, arresting the mob with a mere statement, I am. They stumbled to their feet and continue doing what they came to do. One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Mark, listening to Peter, just thought, man, Peter, I can't write down that you did that too. John tells us, so we know it was Peter that pulled out his sword, thinking that it's that kind of fight, thinking that A hateful, malicious response is necessary, but they're really never necessary. The best illustration I saw in two different places this week is of a 19th century minister who was caught up in a substantial theological controversy, one that he was probably on the right side of. In order to deal with theological controversies in the 19th century, they would often write pamphlets back and forth to each other, and those would be distributed so everyone could see it. So think the blog of yesteryear and the podcast of today, right? There's never a need for hateful and malicious responses. They are never necessary. So this minister had written a pamphlet that was very well received, widely received and had a lot of positive effects called Come to Jesus years before. So he's caught up in this theological controversy, and so he writes this pamphlet just berating this other guy that is on the wrong side of the controversy. It just goes after him. But he just can't think of a title. He doesn't know what to title it. He sends it to a friend. He's like, hey, I've written this pamphlet. Will you help me find a title for it? And the friend must have been a really good friend. who cared about this man because he wrote back and said, yes, you should title it, Go to Hell by the author of Come to Jesus. And he never published the pamphlet because the point was made, like, oh, yeah, there's not a need for me to attack in this way. There wasn't a need for Peter here. I mean, really, did Peter think that Jesus needed Him to fight with a sword? There's 12 of them at best, including Jesus. And some commentators suspect there may have been hundreds who are there to arrest Him. They didn't have much of a chance. Cutting off ears was not going to accomplish much. Jesus calls them out on their cowardice. Every day I was with you in the temple, verse 49, Well, first, before we get there, look at verse 48. I mean, Jesus asked them, you've come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would a robber? Every day I was with you in the temple. You didn't seize me then. This has taken place to fulfill the scriptures. They're cowards, and so therefore they must come in the cloak of darkness. And Jesus, having already said to them, I am, now says to them in not so many words, I am in control of even your wicked intentions. All you're doing is fulfilling what the word of God says. What I have said would happen. And they all left him. They laid hands on him, verse 46, and seized him. And the disciples left him. Back to the very beginning, verse 27. Immediately after the supper, Jesus said, you will all fall away. You're all gonna fall away. Nope, nope, not us. And they did. They all left him. They scatter in self-preservation. their leaving, their denial of Jesus is the exact opposite of what we're called to do as Christ's people. We're called to confess him before the world and they instead deny him or renounce him before the world. Rather than announcing to the world that they belong to Jesus, they renounce him. Peter successfully does it three times before sunrise. And then verse 51, 52, a young man was following him wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body and they seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked. And that's really weird what's going on there. I couldn't find anyone who disagreed that this is very likely Mark himself. He is giving himself a cameo in his own production. If you remember last week when we talked about the upper room, and the likelihood of that being Mark's house, because they end up in Acts 12 at Mark's house in the upper room. It's very likely it's the same upper room here in Mark 14, again in Acts 1 and then in Acts 12. So it's very likely that Mark is there. During the Lord's Supper, it's happening upstairs in his house and like listening to what's going on and they go out to the Mount of Olives. There's a lot going on, things are different. He's definitely heard about Jesus. He gets up out of bed, doesn't put clothes on, just gets the linen sheet, wraps it around him, sneaks out. He's watching in Gethsemane. He sees some of this. He's watching and he too, It's not just him giving himself a cameo in his own production, it's him saying, me too, I denied him. They tried to take me, I ran. I was so willing to deny him, I didn't care that I was naked. If we are faithless, Not just Peter, James, and John, the other disciples, not just Judas, not just Mark, if we, you and me, if we are faithless, he remains faithful. What is the hope of the faithless? What is our hope? The hope is that cross that's on the horizon of the story. While we were still helpless, At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. That's our hope. What is the hope of the faithless? It's the promised resurrection. Remember back in verse 28, after I have been raised, these words seem to have been lost on the disciples. Don't let them be lost on you. He was raised from the dead and he's coming again. Not only was he raised from the dead, but you also are raised up with him who raised Christ from the dead, Ephesians tells us. Not just the cross on the horizon and the promised resurrection, but the gathering in, I'll go ahead of you to Galilee. I mentioned it earlier. We're not meeting him in Galilee, but he's coming again and we will meet him in the new heavens and the new earth and we'll dine with him there forever. If we turn all the way back to the beginning of our Bibles, we see that rebellion and disobedience entered in, in the Garden of Eden and it brought death. And we fast forward back here and we see that it is submission and obedience in the Garden of Gethsemane that brought life everlasting through Christ. We are saved only by Him. by His work, by His grace alone. This triumphal work of salvation He accomplished alone. Isaiah 63, I've trodden the winepress alone. There was no one to help. We just read, none stayed around. My own arm held me up, Isaiah 63 says. Jesus has accomplished our salvation alone. Redemption is entirely and exclusively his work. No one has a share in it. All that has been done for our salvation, he has done it and he's done it alone. John 16, behold, an hour is coming and already has come for you to be scattered. John's version of the story that we looked at today, each to his own home and to leave me alone. In the garden of Gethsemane, he was alone. He left Peter, James, and John. They went to sleep. He went further in, alone. They slept while he was alone in his agony. The cup was his to drink alone. He drank the dregs alone. The disciples forsook him and fled, and he died alone. On the cross, he took upon his shoulders the sin of the world, and he did so alone. "'O Christ, what burdens bowed thy head?' Anne Cousin writes. "'Our load was laid on thee. "'Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead. "'Didst bear all ill for me. "'A victim led, thy blood was shed. "'Now there's no load for me.' He did it alone. "'Death and the curse were in our cup. "'O Christ, t'was full for thee, "'but thou hast drained the last dark drop. "'Tis empty now for me. "'All of that wrath that is due, our sin, "'he drank it all. "'None is saved up, he did it alone. "'So let's not bring our threadbarren, "'filthy rags of righteousness to him, "'our self-strong commitments and abilities, "'not to him, this one who conquered sin "'and death and the grave, He did it alone. When Christ was betrayed, they all left him. When he was crucified, they were all in despair. When he was raised, they were in disbelief. He's called us to believe and to hope and to follow. Let's avoid Peter's trap of not listening or not hoping and believing in what God has said. If we are faithless, every time that we are faithless, he remains faithful. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your son and for your word. We pray that you will take the truth contained in what we've considered today, and that you will help us, making us more like your son. God, will you call those who are standing outside of your son to yourself, granting repentance and faith, making them children, and God, helping those of us who are your children, that we might Be increasingly conformed to the image of this one that we see recorded, his life recorded so wonderfully on the pages of your word. God, make us like Jesus, in Christ's name, amen.