Ep.2: The Garden of Gethsemane | The Crucifixion of Jesus

It's Good Friday. After Jesus left, the last meal he had with his disciples, he got up and he walked down the slope of Mount Moriah across what's known as the Kidron Valley and up the slope to the Garden of Gethsemane. It's a place where they pressed olives, a place Jesus had gone many times before. And on this day, it would be the place where he was arrested. Let's check in with my friend Chuck to unlock the power inside of this moment. They just left dinner and Jesus said some things about dying. And so now they're confused. And now all of a sudden he's in this garden and he's starting to say these strange things again about dying and why is he looking so serious? If you're just joining us, we are leaning into the Good Friday story and we're looking at the people who were around Jesus as he was on his way to the cross. Because a lot of things that they went through are things that we can identify with. This is one of them. Jesus says to his disciples in this Garden of Gethsemane, a familiar place where he had gone with them many times, he says, my soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Keep watch with me. What does he mean? He says, stay up and pray with me. I'm going to pray, but I need you. He's saying this to his three closest friends,

Peter, James, and John. What do they do when Jesus says to them, I need you? Not once, not twice, but three times they fall asleep on him. They can't stay up to pray. But let's think about it. They're confused. I'm confused. They're saying to themselves, I don't know what he means. Keep watch for what? He's talking about dying. What is that about? I don't know what's going on. I'm exhausted. I'm confused. And yes, I fell asleep. You ever been there? I will tell you, as I think about the last 14 months and the pandemic and all that we've gone through, I've never used the word exhausted as much as I have in the last 14 months. And I've been confused. You know what? There are ways in which Jesus has asked me to keep watch. With just like Peter, James, and John, I've fallen asleep. You know, it's easy to judge them, right? It's easy to say you couldn't do the one thing. You had one job. Jesus said one thing, but you couldn't do it. But we've all been there.

And so these followers of Jesus find themselves exhausted and confused, unable to do the one thing Jesus asked them to do, keep watch. Here's what I love. Even at this point of sorrow, Jesus still loves them. He still sees them. He still wants to be around them. And I want you to know, he feels the same way about you. If you feel exhausted, if you're confused, in your relationship with Jesus, or you're wrestling with a relationship with Jesus, you're saying, I don't know what you want from me. I don't know that I can give you what you want from me. I want you to know there's a place in this story of Good Friday for you. That Jesus has a place at the table for you. That Jesus would say to you and I, even when we fail to keep watch, I'm going to the cross for you. I'm laying down my life for you. I'm laying down my life for you.