Morning, everyone. As we continue our walk through the Gospel of Matthew this morning, we come to the Mount of Olives and to the Garden of Gethsemane. And this morning, we simply want to watch Jesus, our Savior. And as we watch Him, let us love Him. And as we watch Him, let us worship Him. Last Sunday morning we were with Jesus in the upper room in Jerusalem on the Passion Week order that we've been following. It's Thursday night, Last Supper, and we're picking up there at the very end of the Last Supper today, and then the events of most of this passage happen at night, so they don't show up on this chart because I only have it during the daytime hours, but it'd be Thursday night, early Friday morning when these things are taking place. We pick up the story here. Jesus has just explained at the Last Supper to the 11 disciples that one of them is going to betray him. Judas is already out doing his work. Jesus has explained to them that he would bleed and die for them on purpose so that they might be forgiven. Now, in verse 30, it's several hours past dark. We pick up at the end of the upper room time. Verse 30, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is here, it's to the east of the city, and Jesus and his disciples, they've been, this whole week, they've been walking back and forth to Bethany, where they've been staying overnights. But tonight, Jesus' last night, they are not going to go all the way up to Bethany, but they're going to spend the evening out in the open, amongst the trees, on the western slope of the mountain. We want to watch Jesus on the Mount of Olives and see how he loves those who are about to fail him. First thing we'll notice today, we just want to see how Jesus loves those who are about to fail him. Look there at verse 31. Then Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. Just minutes earlier, down in the city, Jesus had revealed to them that one of them would betray him. And the disciples, when he said that, they went around the table, and there's this emotional time where they're all saying, surely not I, Lord. Now Jesus says, they won't all betray him, but this very night, they will all fall away because of him. This very night, Jesus says, all of you men are going to abandon me. And it must be this way, Jesus says, because your abandoning me is fulfilling a 500-year-old prophecy from the prophet Zechariah. Jesus here loosely quotes Zechariah 13, 7. You see it in verse 31. Jesus says, he quotes, it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. Jesus quotes that accurately, but he's summarizing a bit. If you go back to Zechariah 13, 7, and read it in the Old Testament, here's what we find. The Lord is speaking in Zechariah. He says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd and against the man, my associate, declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered. So as Jesus quotes it, he has Jesus saying, I will strike the shepherd. In the Old Testament, it's a little more colorful. God says to his sword, O sword, strike the shepherd. Interesting, as you read it in Zechariah here in the Old Testament, notice what God calls this future shepherd that he's going to strike. He calls him my associate, against the man, my associate. This word associate, it's interesting. It's a word that means friend or brother. It's someone that's on your same level. And how could it be that God is saying that I'm going to strike a man who is my associate? Well, what man qualifies to be called my associate by God himself? Well, only one man ever qualified for that. Jesus Christ is on the same level as God. And yet God here, against that man, his associate, he's going to strike Him. And the sheep are going to be scattered. Jesus explains what this prophecy means here in the garden. He says that the sheep are the 11 disciples and that this night when He is struck, the disciples are going to flee. Probably back in Zechariah, as we read it in context, Zechariah may mean, in talking about the sheep, he may mean the disciples and the Jews, the sheep of the Old Testament, the people of God, being scattered. And if you look historically, Jesus was struck down in AD 33, then in 70 AD, the Romans came and they destroyed the temple and they burned the city and the Jews didn't have a homeland from then until 1948, right? And so when the shepherd was struck down, the sheep were scattered. Maybe he's talking about all of Israel, but certainly he's talking about the 11 disciples. This was predicted 500 years before. But Jesus doesn't just give us a prophecy about what's gonna happen tonight, but about what's gonna happen after he rises from the dead. Look ahead to verse 32. Jesus has just said, okay, I'm gonna be struck down, the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Then verse 32, but after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. And there have been other men and women in history who have predicted the timing of their own deaths. But there's only one man who said when he would die and then when he would rise from the grave and what he would do next. Only one man has the power to make and fulfill those kinds of promises. Now, the disciples, they all, anytime Jesus talks about the resurrection, it just seems like, whew, over their head. They don't get it. And so they hear Jesus's prophecy, but what they're hearing is that tonight they're going to abandon him. And the disciples, Zachariah or no Zachariah, are not on board with this plan because they love Christ. Peter especially loves Jesus. Verse 33, Peter said to him, even though all may fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you this very night, before a rooster crows, You will deny me three times. What time is it now in the garden? Maybe about midnight. The Romans divided the night into four watches. The first watch was from six to 9 p.m. The second watch from nine to midnight. The third watch went from midnight to 3 a.m. And that third watch of the night from midnight to three, they called it cock crow because you know how it is with roosters, like their clocks are set too early. They start crowing and there's so much time left to sleep, right? And so about 3 a.m. you can expect the roosters maybe to start hearing. So they called that third watch of the night cock crow. And Jesus says, you know what? Peter, within a few hours here, tonight, before the cock crows, you're not only gonna leave me, but you're gonna deny me three times. And Peter loves Jesus. At this moment, Peter cannot imagine any situation where he would deny Jesus ever. So out of love and out of an overconfidence in his own strength of will, Peter objects again with the strongest terms available to him in the Greek language. Look at verse 35. Peter said to him, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And all the other disciples said the same thing too. And there's something here for us to ponder, brothers and sisters. We are not as strong as we think we are. Have you ever done this? Have you ever said, I won't ever do that again. It dishonors my Christ never again. And then even before the day is over, you find yourself in that same place. It's noble of these disciples to make these vows, but it's foolish. What should Peter have done instead of making this rash promise that he didn't have the strength to keep? And what should we do when we look ahead to times of testing and temptation that we know are coming? Look ahead with me, if you would, for a second to verse 41, skipping ahead in the story. Jesus, later on, he comes back after praying and he finds his disciples sleeping after he's asked them to stay up with him and pray. And look at what he says to them. Verse 40, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, so you men couldn't keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Bold, public, emotional promises do not have the power to prevent future sins. Humble prayer can prevent future sins. To come to the Lord and humbly say, Lord, here, I see this test coming. I know I'm going to be tempted. And Lord, I know I'm not strong enough. And Lord, please, please do not lead me into temptation. Deliver me from evil. That kind of a humble prayer ties you into the power of God's Spirit, and God's Spirit is strong enough to help us to resist sin. If you want to resist sin, if you want to be loyal and faithful to the end, don't brag. Pray. But I don't think the main application of this passage is meant to be how you can do better than Peter did. Here's what I think that we're to notice first in this first session. It's this. After you fail Christ, you'll still belong to him. If you're his child, after you fail Christ, you'll still belong to him. After you run away from him, he will still receive you back. We all long for relationships that are secure, right? The kids, you want your parents to say, hey, I'm cheering for you to succeed. I'm going to do all I can to help you succeed. But you should know if you fail, I am still here with you. I love you, right? We sometimes, spouses, we desperately want our partners to talk to us like that. Like, I'm with you all the way, right? For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. When you succeed and when you fail, I am here, I'm here with you. We want that kind of security. Listen, you start a relationship with Jesus Christ and He will be with you like that. After you fail, you'll still belong to Him. After you run away from Him, He'll still receive you back. Do you see it in our text that there's no question in Jesus' mind? His disciples are going to fail Him tonight. Peter's gonna deny him three times tonight, but there's no question in Jesus's mind. What's gonna happen afterwards see verse 31 You will all fall away verse 32, but after I've been raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee Do you know that the moment that you came to Jesus Christ first and received his forgiveness When you first came to him and said Lord, I'm a sinner and will you will you take me as your child? When you came then The Lord didn't just look at your life and see all the junk you've already done, all those sins you've already committed. But when you came to the Lord asking for forgiveness, he could see ahead to all the failures that were yet to come, all the things that you still would do all the times you're going to fail. And then when you came and said, Jesus, I'm a sinner and you die for me, will you forgive me? Jesus saw all of that. And he said, yes, I forgive you. I declare you righteous. He took you in even knowing all of the things that you would do. So when you when you fail your Christ and you love him and you don't come through for him and you sin again, it doesn't surprise him. It doesn't surprise him. It doesn't drive him away. He already knew that when he first took you and he still loves you and he still receives you to himself. It's not like that with us, right? When we enter into relationships, and I don't think we could handle it. I'm glad God doesn't do that for us, right? Like when I went and asked my wife to marry me, if with that would have come a list of all the times in our life together I was going to fail her, she probably would have had to stop and pray about that decision, right? You know, like, ah, well, thanks for the offer, you know? And thankfully, that's not how it is for us, right? We just, we trust in the Lord. He's going to give us the grace to forgive when it comes. But for Christ, it's all at once, right? I mean, I come asking for forgiveness, and He sees the past, and He sees the future, and He says, yes, I died for you, I declare you righteous. And then when I fail, He receives me back to Himself, over and over. What a Savior. Watch Jesus. Watch Jesus on the Mount of Olives. First, see how He loves the very ones who are about to fail Him. Secondly, see how much He dreaded carrying the weight of your sin. See how much he dreaded carrying the weight of your sin. To say that Jesus will forgive you for all of your sins is not to say that the forgiving of those sins is easy to him or comes without great pain. On the cross, Jesus would carry the full weight of your sin and mine. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knows the cross is right around the corner, less than 12 hours away, and Jesus dreaded it. Jesus dreaded carrying the weight of your sin. The Son of God bearing the weight of your sin was the most horrible experience that any person has ever been through. And Jesus knew ahead of time how bad it would be. Look at verse 36. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. Get somebody means oil press. And so it's very well may have been that it was all of tree orchard. Now on the On the Mount of Olives, there's four different places that claim to be the Garden of Gethsemane. We don't know exactly the site, but the most commonly, the traditional site of Garden of Gethsemane, it is on the Mount of Olives here somewhere on that western slopes. It would be here on a map. You can go visit it today. On the place where they say that Jesus was praying for us on his face, they built this church. It's called the Church of All Nations. And in the courtyard of that church, Maybe at the place of the Garden of Gethsemane, there's a little courtyard of olive trees, and these olive trees are ancient. You can go see it in Israel today. Maybe some of you have been there. Now, they did a test on some of these olive trees to see how old they were, and they're at least 900 years old. Maybe they don't go back 2,000 years, but could be that the roots of these olive trees supported other trees before that, and it could be that Jesus was praying right over top of these roots. We don't know that, but we know that in a place awfully close to here, under olive trees like this, Jesus went and prayed before the cross. Jesus has come here to pray. So he takes eight of his disciples, right? One is off betraying him and gathering up a crew of thugs. So he takes eight of his disciples and he tells them to sit down in one place. And then he takes his three closest disciples a little bit farther out to be with him. So look at verse 37. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. Then he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me. So Jesus takes Peter and James and John, the same three that he earlier had taken with him up onto the Mount of Transfiguration. He wanted these men to know his power and he wanted to show them his glory. And so they were there, but this is not glorious. This is gut-wrenching. Jesus is grieved and distressed. He is deeply grieved to the point of death. I looked this up this week and I, over and over again, I found on reputable sites like the Mayo Clinic's website that a person can literally die from a broken heart. Shocking experiences like the death of a loved one or a divorce, it can bring such sorrow. It triggers physical reactions in your heart and in your body, which in rare cases can lead to heart failure, even death. So I do not believe that Jesus is exaggerating at all here when he tells his three closest earthly friends, I am in such great sorrow, I'm about to die. There's not another time in Jesus's life when you hear him talking like this, so overwhelmed with sorrow. What do you do when you feel like the world is falling out from underneath your feet and you don't know if you can keep going? Do what Jesus did. Let some close friends in on your sorrow and then pour out your heart to God. Verse 38. Then he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them, the three, and fell on his face and prayed, saying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet, not as I will, but as you will. What is the cup that Jesus is so repulsed by? What is it that the father wants him to drink and Jesus can scarcely fathom tasting? Part of the answer is crucifixion. Crucifixion may be the most torturous way to die that mankind has ever invented. That's part of it. But in scripture, if you follow this theme of drinking the cup, often the idea is that in that cup is the wrath of God. Look at this verse from Isaiah. You have drunk from the Lord's hand the cup of His anger, the chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs. Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 25, 20, 15, the Father talks about the cup of the wine of God's wrath. Revelation 14, 10 talks about the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. This is the cup that Jesus so dreads drinking. The cup is God's anger. God the Father will be angry with His Son there on the cross. God the Father there while Jesus hangs on the cross will pour out the wrath that is due to a million sinners for millions upon millions of years in hell. He will pour out all of that holy displeasure on His Son and the Son will bear it. He will bear it. He'll feel the heaviness of it all alone. The Son, for all of eternity to this point, has enjoyed the smile of His Father. Soon the Son will have to absorb the Father's displeasure. The Son will not, on the cross, enjoy the comforting presence of the Father. It's not like God's going to be there with Him, supporting Him and helping Him through this difficult time. That's not how it is. The Son will absorb the wrath of God and He will endure it all alone. Soon Jesus will be crying out from the cross, My God, my God. Do you know that that throughout Jesus's life, every time he talks to his father, he calls him my father. This is the only time he calls him anything else but my father. He calls him my God, because Jesus, as he hangs there, feels that God is not close, that he doesn't have this relationship that he's enjoyed. And so he calls him my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? Listen to Charles Spurgeon explain it. The whole of the punishment of his people was distilled into one cup. No mere mortal lip might give it so much as a solitary sip. When he put it to his own lips, it was so bitter, he well nigh spurned it. Let this cup pass from me. But his love for his people was so strong that he took the cup in both his hands and at one tremendous drought of love, he drank damnation dry. This is the cup that Jesus knew he was called to endure the weight of our sin the wrath of God the cross all alone Look at Matthew 29 30 26 39 And he went a little beyond them and fell on his face and prayed saying my father if it is possible. Let this cup pass from me Yet not as I will but as you will Now, of course, there was no other way. It couldn't be done. We couldn't be forgiven any other way. Jesus knew it. This is God's will had been written in Isaiah, Isaiah 53 10. The Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities. Jesus brought his three best friends so they could be there with him while he prayed. And he stepped away. And I wonder, could they hear what he was saying? Like, how far did he go away from the three? They know what he said in these private prayers. Is it because they could hear bits of it? Or, I mean, is it just revealed by the Spirit later? We don't know that. But Jesus, in his humanity, brought these three guys because in his humanity he needed their support. Do you know what it is? Like, when you're really hurting, You just want somebody to be there. And so Jesus took his friends, but it had been a long emotional day for them. And it was late and it was dark. And Jesus's prayer here, it takes maybe 60 minutes, Matthew 26, verse 40. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, so you men could not keep watch with me for one hour. Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Always remember, men and women are weak and limited. When you consider the failures of others, remember, men and women, we are so weak and limited. Sometimes, even when your heart is totally in the right place, our flesh is weak. These disciples are earnest, they're eager to support their Lord, they love Him. And he needed them now, like he's never needed them before, but they just couldn't stay awake. Verse 42, he went away again a second time and prayed, saying, my father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done. You notice in verse 42, Jesus's prayer changes a little. The first time he went off and prayed, he was asking for the cup to be removed. Here he doesn't. Here, Jesus just says, okay, Father, if this cup cannot be removed, then I will drink it. Your will be done, Father. After this second season of prayer, and was it another hour? Is it another 60 minutes? Jesus came back a second time to find support from his disciples. And again, no help from these three. Verse 43, again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. This time it seems Jesus doesn't even bother waking them up. Yes, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is so, so weak. Verse 44, and he left them again and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Is it three hours of prayer there in the garden? How many times in three hours does Jesus say, your will be done? Your will be done. And then God's answer came. The answer is, yes, my son, painful as it is, there is no other way and it is my will. And so the soldiers arrive. Watch Jesus on the Mount of Olives. See how he loves the very ones who are about to fail him. See how much he dreaded carrying the weight of your sin. Boy, Satan whispers lies into our heads. Sometime you're gonna have running through your head this thought, You're gonna think, well, you know, if I go ahead with this sin, Jesus is forgiving, like he's already forgiven me everything. If I go ahead with this sin, I'm gonna be forgiven, it's gonna be okay, it's really no big deal if I sin. When those thoughts come, picture Jesus in the garden, picture Jesus on the cross, and ask yourself, am I now willing to find my cheap pleasure in the very things that caused my Savior to bleed and die for me? Would you not rather honor him and flee from these things that cause him so much pain? See how much he dreaded carrying the weight of your sin. Thirdly, see his resolute submission to his father's plan for him. See his resolute submission to the father's plan for him. What was the father's plan? The father's plan was for Jesus to suffer for the good of others. And now after these intense hours of prayer, Jesus is resolved. It's the father's will for him to suffer and so suffer he will. Verse 45. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and 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. While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the 12, came up and accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now he who was betraying him gave them a sign saying, whoever I kiss, he's the one, seize him. Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, hail rabbi, and kissed him. And Jesus said to him, Friend, do what you have come for. Then they came and laid their hands on Jesus and seized him. It's dark. The soldiers wouldn't be able to find this place without Judas or pick Jesus out once he got there. And they don't want Jesus to get away. So they have a prearranged sign. The crowd, we're gonna stay back in the shadows. Judas, you go forward. You give us some sign. And Judas says, okay. Okay, we'll watch. The one that I kissed, that's Jesus. Men greeting each other with kisses that was normal back then it's an expression of friendship Isn't this though the greatest act of hypocrisy in history? I mean wouldn't it have been appropriate? Jesus is coming to kiss him for Jesus to draw back and not receive the kiss or for Jesus to slap him I mean maybe but Jesus still cares for Judas see how he talks to him friend Do what you come for? Verse 50, the soldiers lay their hands on Christ. Douglas O'Donnell writes, throughout this gospel, only Jesus lays his hands on others to heal them. But here he allows the sick in soul to lay their hands on him. Why? To heal them in a far different way. So Jesus is physically grabbed, roughly held by the crew of soldiers. And Peter, Peter is loyal. Peter is not gonna give up. Peter really means to die right here, right now with his Lord if he has to. Verse 51. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Peter draws his sword and he starts swinging. I wonder if the other disciples also draw their swords and get ready to do the same. Here we go. And Jesus, from between the thugs that hold him, yells out, stop, no more of this. according to Luke. Matthew gives us a little bit more of what Jesus said here. And the church of Jesus Christ today needs to listen to its Lord. Look, Matthew 26, 52. Then Jesus said to him, put your sword back into its place. For all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Put your sword back into its place. There is a place for the sword. The sword may be used righteously. God has granted human government the right to use swords and guns to protect its people. The government has granted us, its citizens, the right in extreme situations to use swords and guns in self-defense. But we are never called to defend or advance the gospel with a sword. If you are taking up arms, do not claim that you are doing this in the name of Jesus. You might be doing it justly. You might be doing it in the name of the law. You might be doing it in the name of freedom, in the name of self-defense. And some of those things are allowed by Jesus. Be careful with it. But clubs and swords and guns and bombs are never to be used to promote or defend the gospel. If you're using force, what you're doing with that sword is not gospel work. We advance the gospel, we defend the gospel, not by force, but by pointing to Jesus, telling his story, and then suffering for the good of others. Put your sword back into his place, Jesus says. A Christian trying to advance the cause of Jesus with a sword misunderstands his mission. Also, a Christian trying to advance the cause of Jesus with a sword underestimates the power of God. Jesus doesn't need your sword, he's got better ones. See verse 53? Or do you not think, or do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels? A legion is about 6,000 soldiers. So Jesus says, boys, if I wanted to use, to win this battle by force, I wouldn't use 12 fishermen and their little swords. I'd call in 12 legions of angels. I'd say the word and 72,000 angels would arrive at my call. This little band of thugs And they're not going to stand a chance against one angel, let alone 12 legions. See, God doesn't need help defending himself. It's not a matter of power. Watch Jesus on the Mount of Olives. See his resolute submission to the Father's plan for him. The Father's plan was for Jesus to suffer for the good of others. And Jesus is resolute in his submission to this plan. So Jesus submitted to Judas's traitorous kiss. He submitted to the mob of thugs sent to arrest him. He wouldn't allow his angels or his disciples to fight to defend him, but they would have. Why, Jesus? Why not fight? Verse 54. How then will the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way? Jesus is clearly in charge here, even though he's the one being arrested. At this point, Luke tells us that Jesus heals the high priest's ear that's just been cut off by Peter's sword. And then Jesus rebukes the men that have come to arrest him. Verse 55, Jesus says to the crowds, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching. You did not see me then. But all of this has taken place to fulfill the scriptures of the prophets. Then all the disciples left him and fled. There's application all over here for us. We are called to follow Jesus' example. As Jesus willingly suffered for the good of others, so we are to willingly choose suffering for ourselves if that suffering can bless someone else. As Jesus submitted to the Father's good plan for Him, even though the very thought of it almost killed Him, we are to submit to the Father's plan for us, even when it's hard and we don't like it. And trust Him. But I can't help but think that the first application of this passage is not, now, you Christians go do the same thing Jesus did. I just don't think that's the first application. Well, the first application of these verses is for us to read them and say, Jesus, thank you. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I worship you. Saints, look at your Savior here. What do you think of your Savior? Watch Jesus on the Mount of Olives. I'm gonna ask the band to come up at this time. I just want to close with... a time of personal prayer for you to be able to express in your own heart to Jesus what He means to you. The band's going to play a verse of a song, and as they play, I just invite you to think of this Jesus. Think of how He loves the ones who are about to fail Him. Think of how much He dreaded carrying the weight of your sin. Think about His resolute submission to the Father's plan for Him. And just as they play a verse of the song, tell Him what you think of Him. in your heart. And then after a verse of the song, we just want to join as his people and praise him. This is our Savior. And so Todd will ask you to stand, and we're going to close our time by just joining our voices and praising the Savior who died for us.