The Last Supper and Gethsemane - Death to Life - Matthew S7E1

Amen, and amen. How we doing? Good. I need you to be a little gooder than that. (audience cheering) All right. Hey, we got you by with Matthew chapter 26. We're gonna dig in, it's gonna get real intense. It's not my fault, it's just where the text goes. For that, let's just brag on God a little bit. Anybody come to saturate it at least one night. You might come at least one night. Let's go. Anybody come all five times. All right, you get to eat first in heaven. You tell them I said so, okay? Here's a couple things, man. We had over 76,000 people in attendance at our campuses. That's really cool. We had over 1.2 million people worship with us online all over the country and really all over the world. And 921 of you got baptized on Sunday. Praise God. That's right, I'll tell you, you were one. You were first at one of the servants, way to go. And it's even better than that. Warden Kish texted me right before the 522 service. They baptized seven men in Marian Correctional before their service tonight. Let's go, let's go. So I hope you're saturated and the best thing, man,

is we met with Jesus during saturated. Amen, and so I hope we hadn't leaked out. I hope you're still saturated. And speaking of good news, please say welcome to our Riverside campus this weekend. We opened up our Riverside campus. And so we're growing. Praise God for that. So for those of you that got baptized, for those of you that had an awesome time at saturated, for those of you that God spoke to, you've repented of sin, you've felt the presence of God, all the things, man. Way to go. And let me give you a big fat warning. My friend, Josh Howard, and was preaching here last year, and he said this that the birthmark of the Christian is a bullseye. And the moment you begin to take steps of obedience towards the voice of the good shepherd, the enemy hates it because all he wants to do is steal, kill, and destroy. And my warning for you is this, expect spiritual warfare in your life. 'Cause the higher the mountaintop, the lower the valley. And all throughout my own life and your own life, and even more importantly, all throughout the scriptures, this is the way it always goes. I mean, think about Jesus, we talked about this

when we first started Matthew, man. Remember Jesus gets baptized? You wanna talk about a high holy moment? He's out there in the water. And the heavens open up after he gets baptized. And God the Father speaks out loud over his boy and says, "Behold my son and whom I am well pleased." High holy moment, right? The very next thing that happens in the scriptures, he's in the desert fighting against the devil of hell for 40 days and 40 nights. You get ready. In the life of the Apostle Paul, you see it over and over and over, he'll roll into a town. He preaches the word, a revival breaks out, and then guess what happens right after revival? There's a riot and they beat him and stone him and try to kill him. So get ready. In fact, we see this in the life of Jesus a couple of weeks ago, which wasn't a couple of weeks ago in Matthew, we're on Thursday right here. This is where we are in the Bible in Matthew 26, it's Thursday. Remember what happened on Sunday? Jesus comes riding in on a donkey, on a coat. And the whole city gathers around, and they cut palm branches and they sing

and they sing, "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." And you know what the disciples are thinking? We nailed it, man. It's going so good. And then by that Friday, that same crowd is going to get together and they're not going to sing, "Hosanna," they're going to say, "Crucify him, kill him." In fact, I don't know why I'm surprised. Jesus said, "Don't be surprised when this world hates you, it hated me." And yet last week was a high holy moment for me and for many of you. I met with the Lord, experienced the presence of the living Christ. I mean, it's incredible. And this week, I got more hate mail than I ever did I typically received. I think it's a pretty good run of it. Not just in breath, but also in depth. Some people, I don't even know. One guy called me an empty suit. I was like, "I don't even wear suits. They don't even know sense, man." So it was a good title 'cause none of the things make sense, but whatever. But it's not just from people like that. I mean, people that, you know, I love sent me in things too.

So just do not be surprised. You're going to see it right here in the text. The people that Jesus loves most are going to abandon him and betray him. What's about to happen right now is the spiritual intensity is doubt up to attend. He's not going to gather people together and give illustrations. He's not going to be able to be like, hey, this reminds me of a story of a dad who had two kids. Let me tell you about birds and flowers or about farms, none of that anymore. What's going to happen now is Jesus is be lining towards the cross. That's where we're going. Matthew chapter 26, I'm just picking up right where we left off last week. Verse 17. "Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying, 'Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?'" We talked about the Passover to tongue last week. The Passover was one of the two biggest holidays in the life of the Jewish people. This is like Christmas and Easter. You can't have one without the other. For them it was Passover and it was the day of atonement. These are the two biggest festivals and remembrances. And so the day of Passover we talked about last week. This is the people of God were slaves in Egypt. God heard their cry and he sent Moses to go, "Tilfero, let my people go." And they called it Passover because the 10th plague was that you would take the blood of a lamb and put it on the doorpost over your house. And when the angel came through he would pass over whoever had the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of the house. That's what they're celebrating.

It's a really big deal. Jesus 18 and Jesus said, "Go into the city to a certain man." And this makes me laugh every time. One, we know that it's not like a story that's made up. And Jesus is like, "Hey, I don't want you to just go any random person. There's a certain person I want you to talk to." And I don't know if this is like Matthew writing this years later and he's like, "You know, remember, we talked to, you know, what's his name? You can't remember his name?" But there's a particular man, Jesus says, "Go talk to that guy. Go to a certain man and here's what I want you to say to him." The teacher says, "My time is at hand, I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples." You notice how he doesn't ask a question? He doesn't say, "May I keep the Passover?" He says, "I will keep the Passover at your house." You know why? Because Christ is king and he don't take a pole. He does what he wants with who he wants and when he wants. And this is so important. Look what happens next. And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover. This is what I hope for you, the disciples do, John 2 5, where Mary tells the servants, "Do whatever he tells you to do." And imagine this. Jesus is like, "There's a certain man. Go find Ted. Tell him we're having Passover at your house." And nobody is like, "Well, that seems a little presumptuous, Lord." They just do exactly what he says to do. This is what we need to be, it's the kind of people that just do what the Lord tells

us to do. In fact, if you're not doing what the Lord tells you to do, it's evidence that he's not actually your Lord. You might believe that he exists, but what it means for him to be the Lord is that you do whatever it is that he tells you to do, especially when it doesn't make sense. Because if you can do it in your own power, you don't even need him. But when he tells you to do that thing that doesn't make sense in your mind, you do it. And here's why. You have no idea what hangs in the balance. You have no idea what you're missing out of on when you don't obey the voice of the good shepherd. Imagine this dude, the certain man, imagine him for the rest of his life. Jesus is crucified, dead, buried, resurrected, and then all of a sudden, over the next several years, the followers of Jesus begin to expand all over the place. And for the rest of this guy's life, he's like, "Hey, you know Jesus, the one that runs the way, these people that are called Christians that are spreading all of them, guess what? He did the last supper at my house. Do you realize that not only you don't realize the impact of your obedience on everybody else, but you miss out on an incredible opportunity to walk in the joy of being a part, partnering with the Almighty God for his purposes, and so the disciples did as Jesus had directed them. They prepared the Passover, verse 20, and when it was evening, he would have declined at table with the 12. I've told you this before, this is a detail in the Bible because it's not a story, it's an actual event, but Da Vinci got it totally wrong. Everybody was not sitting at a high top with 12, 13 guys on one side of the table like they're about to judge the diving competition. That's not how it worked, dude. In the first century, they would like lay all over the floor on these pillows and they had this tiny little table that they would lay by, and that's where they are.

And in fact, if you're in the gifted class, they usually sit more down towards the front, sorry to judge you in the back, but that's what I just did. If you want to read way more details, John's Gospels, chapter 13 through 17, include a whole bunch of details that Matthew just decides to skip over for whatever reason, okay? they're having to pass over a meal, we're about two. And as they were eating, Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, "one of you will betray me." It's kind of shocking to the group. I mean, they've left everything to follow Him. You remember the conversation? They're like, "We've left our families, "we left our livelihood, we left everything to follow you." And He looks at the group and He goes, "One of you will betray me," verse 22, "and they were very sorrowful, "and they began to say to Him one after another." Is it I, Lord? It's just going around the table. Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? One of the things I want you to see here is notice that the disciples never graduated beyond the very first thing that Jesus taught in His first recorded sermon, which is this, blessed are the poor in spirit. And you know what else they didn't do? Peter's gonna speak up here in a minute at a different time. But 11 guys, they're going around. They're going around.

He said, "I, Lord, you know what they didn't do? "They didn't get defensive." And they didn't be like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. "If anybody's gonna do it, it's probably gonna be Thomas." I mean, you know, His name's gonna be doubting Thomas. That's not what they did. They actually, when Jesus said somebody's gonna betray me, you know what they thought? They thought, "Oh yeah, I could do that." They held up the mirror of what God was saying to them instead of trying to deflect it to somebody else. Listen, believer, blessed are the poor in spirit. It's not just a thing that helps you realize that you need Jesus for your salvation. Blessed are the poor in spirit is the attitude we should always come to Christ with. I mean, Martin Luther, the great reformer, says the life of the Christian is that of daily repentance. Do you know, we cannot simultaneously fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, and look down our nose at somebody else, and be like, "Well, I ain't that bad." No, no, no, no. The heart of the believer ought to always be when you look at somebody who has made a dumpster fire of their life, the attitude ought to be, but by the grace of God, there go I. And so they say, is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord?

Is it I, Lord? They're just going around the table. Is it I, Lord? Verse 23, and Jesus is answered, "He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." In verse 25, Judas, this is the man he's talking about, "Who would betray him?" And he answered, "Is it I, Rabbi? Do you feel the weight of it?" 11 of the 12 disciples say, "Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? 11 times." And then Judas says, "Is it I, Rabbi? Not Lord." This is terrifying. Jesus said to him, "You have said so." John lets us know that then he says, "Go do what you're going to do." And Judas leaves, do you hear what's happening? We talked about it last week a little bit. That Judas was around Jesus. He had just never surrendered his life to the lordship of Jesus.

Judas knew how to do church, man. He just didn't know Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And do you realize what a big deal this is? Of all the people, Judas had a title. He was the treasurer. He was in charge of stuff. He was trusted with stuff. Judas didn miracles with his own hands. He fed the 5,000. Judas cast out demons because he was a part of the crew. Judas knew how to be with the disciples. He had just never surrendered his life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. I am terrified, particularly for the Southern American church of the number of people that show up every week and they know church. They just don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They can tell you the teachings because they know him as a teacher. They can tell you the one about the dam, the two sons and about the birds and about the flowers. And they love the one of Judge not lest you be judged. That's not what it means, but they think they know what it means. And they know him as a teacher, but they don't know him as Savior. May it not be so of you. And probably my favorite book, I've re-read it every January. "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. He starts with the idea, he's talking to lost people in your during World War II.

That book started as a radio program, it was a bunch of sermons. And then he turned it into a book. And "Mere Christianity" means like, what's like the basics of Christianity? And he starts with anybody that just believes that there is such a thing as good and evil, then you have to understand that there must be a God by which we measure good and evil. And then he begins to connect the logical dots that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is who he says he is. And when he sums up the first section of the book, he says this, "I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus. That I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I do not accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he's a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell, you must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being

a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Do you know him as Lord? This ain't about playing church, man. This is about bending your knee to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so, Judas says, is it I, Rabbi? And he goes, you said it, go, Judas takes off. He gets a verse 26, and if you've got an ESV Bible like I have the little caption over it says, "Institution of the Lord's Supper." And what Jesus is going to do is he's going to take the Passover meal, which was to remember the Exodus written about in Exodus, the whole book of Exodus. And what he's gonna say is, hey, the point of the Passover is not to remember something that happened, but the point of the Passover was actually pointing to me right now. And he's gonna take this meal that they have done every single year of their life, and we are gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper to close our service. And here's what he's saying. He goes, all of that was about me. The blood of the Lamb on the doorpost of the house, so the angel of death passes over. That's gonna happen tomorrow. I am the Lamb that will be slain. And when you put the blood of me, when you receive me

as your Savior, then the blood of me, the Lamb of God, who's come and take away the sin of the world, covers the door of your heart, and so the angel of death passes over you and you have life. This is what he's doing. And I can't even fully explain what a, how mind-blown the first century disciples would be. I mean, this is the biggest holiday that was about Moses and all the things back there, the biggest tradition. Imagine on Christmas day, if your older brother stands up as your opening presence and says, the reason we celebrate Christmas and the reason we celebrate sharing gifts and the reason we open these presents is all because of me. I'm like, I don't think so. This is what Jesus is saying. The difference would be, your older brother would be an egomaniac, and this is God himself speaking. And so now as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and after blessing it, he broke it. And he gave it to the disciples. And he said, take eat, this is my body. And he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink of it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. And I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day

when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. I don't think they have any idea what he's talking about until the next day when they see him hanging on the cross with his broken body and his blood shed. But look what he points to. He's like, I'm not doing this again until I return to take you home and we're going to do this again in heaven. What this is talking about is the great marriage supper of the Lamb. It's explained in Revelation chapter 19 verse six. Listen to what Jesus tells John the revelator and he writes this down. This is Revelation 19, 6, and then I heard, that's John. And then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like a roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peels of thunder crying out, Let us rejoice and exalt and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride, that's us, his bride has made ourself ready. It was, it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, these are true words of God. Every single time we take communion together, not only are we reflecting and remembering on what Christ has done for us,

it is for us to look forward to what Christ will do for us when every tear is wiped away. There is no more mourning, there is no more crying, there is no sickness, there is no death, there is no sin, and we are with him forever and ever and ever, joining, sitting at the table of God forever, enjoying this marriage supper of the Lamb for the one who bled and died for me and you. It's a really big deal. (congregation applauding) And so they do the Lord's Supper, communion. Verse 30, and when they had sung a hymn, they thought it was a good idea to sing a song afterwards. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives, but during the hymn, many of the disciples left early so that they could get their kids first and beat the crowd out of the parking lot. It's not what it says. (congregation laughing) It's not what it says. I ain't trying to beat you up, but I need to pasture you a little bit. We don't close into the service by singing, bringing, and praying 'cause we can't figure out how to end. I think it would be a travesty for you to sit under the word of God for, let's be honest, I talk for an hour every week and just hear my voice. It's not the voice you need to be listening to.

The real preacher here is the Holy Spirit. And so the reason we close this way, Jesus thought it would be a good idea to seal the moment of teaching by having them respond by singing. It's like a prayer, all of us at all of our campuses at the same time seeing the same song to the same God. And a part of what we're trying to do, the reason that we invite you to come and pray, to come and pray people aren't just the people in need, the reality is we're all in need. Every single day of our life, anybody who thinks, I got this, you need to be the first one down here on your face, well God, I ain't got this. I need your help and what I really want to happen is to give you a moment to reflect on the spirit of God speaking in the places of your soul where my dumb stories can't get to. And we, this is, that is not the time to hustle up and get out of here, man. It's the most important thing that we do, but it's gonna be in those moments where God seals in your heart. Here's what I'm asking you to do, telling you to do over this next week. And it's that moment where you humble yourself before the Lord and say, God, if you don't help me, there's no way I can do this. So don't miss it, don't miss it. That's what it actually says is when Jesus,

when they had sung a hymn, after everybody sank, then they went out to the Mount of Olives. There's 41 and then Jesus said to them, you will follow, you will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But look at verse 32. So he says, hey, listen, man, every single one of you is gonna fall away. And this has been the plan from before you were born 'cause it is written in the Bible. Listen, you know you can't actually break the word of God, you just break yourself against it. That's how it goes. And this is so gracious. I don't know how I've missed this for, I've been preaching for 34 years. I started when it was 19 and 53. And this week in the tree stand, I saw this for the first time. He says, you are going to leave me and betray me. And you would think he might follow up with, how dare you, it's not what he does. He says, every single one of you are gonna fail miserably when I need you the most. And look at the very next verse, verse 32. But after I'm raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Every single one of you are not gonna I'll see you on the other side of the empty tomb.

I hope this is good news for you. I hope you realize that therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That your worst days don't define you. When you break your promises to God or you sin or you fall, Jesus is not on his throne, surprise. You realize this? Jesus did not sit up after you sinned again and good. Like, what in the name of me is she doing now? She, he knows. And the world tries to define you by your past. And Jesus says, no, no, no, I get to tell you who you are. And what he's telling the disciples is even when you were faithless, here's what's better than that, I will always be faithful to you. And then Peter, Peter's saying, it's been a good opportunity for me to say a couple things. Jesus just said, it is written, every single one of you will fall away. And Peter says, verse 33. Nuh-uh! Jesus, why don't you sit right there and let me tell you how it's done. I know I'm quoting Charlie Graham, just man, but still, that's what he's saying. You think you know how this is going. Let me tell you what I'm, I'm gonna do. You know who has two thumbs and won't betray you? This guy, this is what he's doing, man. You know what he's not doing, he's being poor in spirit. He's being proud in spirit.

And look at it, it's bold, man. This thing would go viral on TikTok. This, it would. He's like, Peter answer him, though they all fall away. He's pointing at everybody. Look at these losers, I'm not like these losers. I mean, Bartholomew, who even is he? We don't know anything about him. I've been in with him for three years, he hadn't talked one time, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. All right, Peter, verse 34, and Jesus said to him, "True, that I tell you, you're going first." This very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me not one, not two, but three times. You're worse than you think, Peter, verse 35, and Peter said to him, "Nah, ah, he's arguing with Jesus about the future." Do you know why? 'Cause Peter is counting on Peter. Peter said, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." And then all the disciples said, what he said. They're like, "We're in." Let's just be honest, man. Peter makes promises that he won't keep. You ever do that? You ever pray to this prayer, God, if you just get me out of this one, I'll never do it again. Remember, your girlfriend was holding your hair back.

Remember, just get Lord, please, right? Promises in the flesh won't last very long, man. This is why what you need is not a little motivational speech from you, and I'm gonna be honest, I can rock a motivational speech. I am. I'm like Kirby, smart, in the locker room at halftime, minus all the cuss words. I can motivate you, but how long does it last? We have heard from our parking team that it doesn't make it to the parking lot, by the way. I have heard on firsthand testimony that during saturated somebody called one of our parking team members a demon. (congregation laughing) That's awesome. Be very careful about emotional promises to Jesus based on your own power. They rarely last. You see, we're to never graduate from blessed or the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And what Jesus says is that this thing is written that you'll abandon me, it's part of the plan. And how many of you know that we learn the most about who we are and how much God loves us, not on the mountaintop, but in the lowest parts of our life? Have you noticed that? And here's what's crazy.

In our relentless pursuit for comfort in this world, in our community that we live in, in our pursuit of happiness, so many of us, our number one prayer request is God, please take me out of the uncomfortable situation that I'm in. And I think God's like, what are you talking about? The whole point is for you to be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ, and where do you think that happens? It happens in the fire. Not sitting on your couch watching television. Jesus is like, listen boys, you about to learn the most about your walk with me that you've ever learned by the grace that you're gonna receive. I can look up to see that I need help. I've told you this a million times when I read this, it reminds me of when I was coaching football at Providence, man, coaching these boys and we're in the weight room. And they are working out like pretty boy beach boys. That's what they're doing. 'Cause we live at the beach and everybody wants to look good with their sleeveless shirt zone and they're, you know? And so listen, man, we're trying to train up football players and all they're doing is biceps and triceps. Bro, you don't use your biceps in football. Said to pick up your helmet and put it on so you can go knock somebody to heaven.

Kirby almost came out of me. No, man, you're gonna do hard things. You gotta get under that squat rack and you gotta work on that bass and you gotta go deep and you gotta do heavy lunges and power cleans. You know, you gotta deadlift. You gotta do hard things and I'm in there and I'm watching them all just have them and they're talking in there just with their phones. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna murder somebody here in the name of God. And I screamed out, what are you doing? Now look at me scared. I mean, you gotta lift. You gotta lift hard. Everybody wants to be strong and nobody wants to be sore. Then I thought, well, that's the American church. Everybody wants to be conformed into the image and lightness of Christ. You just don't wanna follow Christ to the cross. Jesus said, you wanna follow me? Daily, pick up your cross and follow me. There is no resurrection without a crucifixion. I have been crucified with Christ. So longer I who live. But Christ who lives in me. If you want Christ in your life, you're signing up for a crucifixion. And Jesus is saying, hey, listen man. You can fail miserably, but I've got really good news.

The cross is out of this all. It will not define you. I will define you. In verse 36, then Jesus takes the boys with him to a place called Gethsemane. This is gonna be the second most painful experience of Jesus' life. Gethsemane is an olive grove. It's at the bottom of the mount of olives. The word Gethsemane means crushing. It's the place of crushing. And the Bible says that he would often go there to pray. And so Jesus went with him to a place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. And Jesus is not just picking a random place. It's called the place of crushing. And what they would do is this is where they would make olive oil in the first century. And the way that you make olive oil is that you crush olives. That's how you get olive oil. And the first time I was there, every time we go, we go to the Garden of Gethsemane. And when you, and the archaeologists have found a first century olive press. It's this big stone vat thing and there's this big millstone and then you put the olives in there and then you crush them with this stone. And it is a picture of what Jesus is about to go through.

There's actually three different presses or crushings that they do to olives. The first one is they just collect the olives and they put it in a bag and they just stack the bags and the sacks on top of each other. And it's just the weight of the olives press out the first part of the olive oil. And this is what's called extra virgin olive oil. They get it. It's just the weight. And Jesus is going to go through this in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's his first crushing. John Owen says he begins to feel the penalty for sin because he, for the first time, an eternity feels a separation from God. And then after the first crushing, oh, and by the way, that before the like clear pure extra virgin olive oil comes out, the first thing that comes out of the olive is this deep purple and red fluid. And in just a minute, Jesus is going to fall on his face and he's going to pray with such intensity that he sweats like drops of blood. And so after that first pressing, then they take the olives and they put them in that thing and they put that big grinder on it and they just grind them up to a pulp. This is where you get like olive spread. And Jesus is going to be arrested. He's going to be tried. He's going to go to three different trials with Herod, with Caiaphas, and finally with Pontius Pilate.

And in every single one, he's going to be used and abused. He's going to be beaten. He's going to be stripped naked. They're going to take a cat of nangtales and they're going to whip Him until an inch of His life, the second crushing. And then when they get finished with the olive press, they take the pit or the core of the olive and they smash Him into nothing. And Jesus will be crucified on a cross. Just like they crush the olives, He will be crushed. And of all the places in the world, Jesus is like, "Hey, let's go to the garden of crushing because I need to pray." And verse 37, "And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee," that's James and John, "He began to be sorrowful and troubled." Real quick, do you have friends like that? I hope and pray, I know I talk about this all the time because it's one of the most important things that the Bible tells us. We need each other. Do you have the kind of friends that when you feel like you're being crushed under the weight of this world, whether it's your decisions or somebody else's decision against you or whatever it is, man, do you have the kind of people when you feel sorrowful, when you are in a spot, that you can say, "Hey, I need three of you or four of you to come with me and to fight for me and to pray with me." Around here we call them "Matt Carriers." We get it from Matthew, I mean Mark chapter 2, there was a guy who was paralyzed on a mat and he had four friends and he picked up a corner of the mat. And they were willing at great expense and cost of themselves to do whatever it took to drag that brother to Jesus. Do you have friends like that? And if not, why? Why? Because please don't believe the lie that like many American men believe, "Well, I got this, bro, you ain't got this." Because listen to me, I know you're awesome, but Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, who by His very power spoke all things into existence and His power holds all things together. And everything that is both seen and unseen was made by Him, for Him, through Him and to Him. And yet He found Himself in a place in His life where He was like, "I can't do this on my own. Will you please come watch and pray with me?" So if He needed that in His life, then who the heck do you think you are to think, "I got this?" You're like, "Well, we're not fine people like this, disciple group. That's why we have disciple group." You're like, "Well, I went to one. I didn't like it." Try another one. You went to a restaurant, you didn't give them all an eating. It matters like crazy. And maybe you've been to one and be like, "Well, I didn't really get much out of it." Have you ever considered that it might not be what you get out of it, but what you bring to it that actually matters? That there's some other people in our church that are being denied a mat carrier because you won't humble yourself and pick up a corner of their mat. We need each other, folks. We need each other. And you know, I'm like, "Well, I'll pray about it." No, you won't. How dare you blame it on God? I'm telling you, it is very clear we are created as image-bearers of God. God, in and of Himself, it's a perfect relationship. We were wired for relationships. You should be in a disciple group by tomorrow. You can just walk out in the lobby. There'll be people there by the connects interview. He was talking to me.

I'm the idiot. That's great. We got a group for you. It's called "All the Groups." So he's like, "Hey, boys, you three. Peter, James, John, will you come with me?" Verse 38, "And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me." You ever felt that? Anybody ever suffer with anxiety and depression? I don't think I can make it. Jesus knows exactly how you feel. The Bible says that he begins to pray with such intensity that he sweats like drops of blood. One of the primary questions people will ask, especially people that don't believe in God, they'll ask this, "If God is good, why would he allow so much suffering?" That's a good question. I mean, I can answer it, but that's a good question. But would you consider this? We serve a God that is not just observing suffering from a far, but God became a man and suffered more than any ever human being has ever suffered and unjustly so. Some of the suffering that we go through is our own dang fault or somebody else's fault. He did nothing wrong, and he chooses to go through this suffering for us. How about explain that one to me, and then I'll answer your question. And he feels like he's going to die. And notice he doesn't keep it to himself. He tells his friends if you've ever had some kind of thought like that, man. And if you fight the devil in the dark, you're gonna get your tail-kick. But when you shine the light of the love of Christ on these things, then darkness has to flee. And then going a little farther, he fell on his face, and he prayed, saying, "My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Do you realize what he's praying here? The NIV translates it this way, "Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me." You know what he's saying? You know what one of the primary objections people have to the claims of Christianity is the uniqueness of Jesus. They're like, "What do you mean he's the only way?

You believe that he's the only way? First of all, it don't matter what I believe. I mean, it matters for me and my eternity, but it don't matter to anybody else. I'm just quoting what he said. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me." It sounds like he's the only way, doesn't it? You know why? Because words have meaning, and that's what those words mean. And so what Jesus is saying is like, "Okay God, if there's another way to reconcile sinful humanity with a holy God, then why the heck am I going to die on the cross?" That would be trivial if Jesus didn't have to pay for our sin. If there'd be any other way, let this cup, the cup that he's talking about, according to the Old Testament, this is one of the primary illustrations that we'd use of the wrath of God that is stored up against sinners and sin because all sin must be paid for because God is a holy and just God. And so he's like, "Dad, if there's, like if you can just be good enough, or be pretty good, or if one of those other guys are right, and you can align your chakra or just, you know, get reincarnated enough times or obey the law, or it seems like an awful waste of my blood. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me, and haunt my will, but your will be done." Verse 40, "And he came to the disciples, and he found him sleeping, and he says, "Peter, so could you not watch with me for one hour, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." I will never be able to read those verses the same again after listening to Robbie Gallaudy's sermon, Wednesday of Saturated. If you missed it, your assignment is to watch it before tomorrow. I'm serious, man.

He asked this question, "Are you asleep in the garden?" And one of the things we'll find out and whenever it comes up in the text soon, that Peter is going to fail miserably in the courtyard. He's going to deny Christ for the third time, and he says, "Failure in the courtyard is because he was asleep in the garden." He says, "Watch and pray." And then look what happens in verse 42, "And again, for the second time Jesus went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will will be done." Do you realize what's going on here? You ever prayed for something and not get what you want? He's happy to Jesus, and he's perfect. He's perfect. You ever come back from God and be like, "Hey, it's me again." About that thing I was trying to tell you that you should do for me. Jesus does it too. But here's the difference. Here's what you do when you don't get what you ask from God. Number one, you keep praying. Number two, you trust God. And number three, you do whatever he tells you to do because you have no idea what hangs in the balance. These ways are always better than our ways. For 43. And again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. Listen, listen, what he's talking to his Father about is dying on a cross for the redemption of humanity. Humanity is not making a great case as to why they should be redeemed. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not like every time he comes back, the disciples are like, "Oh, praise Jesus, you're back.

We love you. We're going to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. You're not doing that at all. Every time he comes back, he's like, "People, being people, man." And yet he dies for us anyway. This is a one-way love. And again, he came and he found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and he prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. And then he came to the disciples and he said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See the hour is at hand. The man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise. Let us be gone. See my betrayer is at hand." If you ever go to Israel with you, I'm going to, with me, I'll take you to the Garden of Gethsemane. things that you'll see, is that... the Mount of Olives. Then there's this little valley, so I'm very big, it's called the Kidron Valley, and on the other side of it, not very far at all, then there's the Eastern Wall of Jerusalem. And it's eye level. And there's no lights, and there's no street lamps, and there's no cars driving by. It's what we call country dark, and Jesus looks over and he sees a garrison of Roman soldiers being led by Judas, and he can see him, and he goes, "Boys, here they come." And then you know what he does? He does not let fear paralyze him by faith. He takes the steps into the assignment that the Father has given to him, and he heads through the cross for the redemption of all mankind.

And a part of the reason that Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper is so that his people would never forget the cross, and so we are going to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and then we're going to sing a hymn, and nobody's going to leave until we get done with that. And so if the ushers would start handing out the elements, and I know if you grew up in church, you have done this maybe a bunch of times. Let me give you a couple of pastoral encouragements. This is the Lord's Table, this ain't my table, but it is the Lord's Table. So be honest with yourself, if Jesus is not your Lord, I'm sharing this out of love based on some things that Paul says to the church in Corinth, you don't want to take of the body and blood of Jesus, because you're just inviting the judgment of God upon yourself. So just pass, no problem. But if Jesus is your Lord, regardless of the denomination you're from, it don't matter, we kind of made all that stuff up anyway. This is the Lord's Table. If you believe that when Jesus is down on the cross, somehow that counted for you, then please partake, and in fact, maybe right now you want to put your faith in Jesus and part of the first step of obedience for you is that you would partake for the first time as a follower of Jesus, then feel free. That's between you and the Lord. And so as we just read, they were celebrating the Passover meal, and so they gathered together and there were all these different things that they were eating, but it hinged around the unleavened bread and the cup. In the Passover that we read about in Exodus, it's the reason that the bread was unleavened is because when the final plague was going to hit Pharaoh, once the first born of his house was gone, he was like, "Get out of here." And so Moses instructs the people, "When you bake bread, we ain't got time for you to wait on it to rise, so make unleavened bread, sleep with your tennis shoes on tomorrow, we have them to the promised land." That's why they had unleavened bread. And the reason they had the wine, it was to remember the blood of the lamb that was put

on the doorpost of the house. And so they sit down at the table, and these boys had celebrated this Passover meal every year of their life. And again, as I mentioned before, what Jesus is telling them is he is personalizing it. He is taking the Passover meal, which is to remember a historical event in the Old Testament, and he's elevating it and personalizing it to what's happening right there and right then. And he takes the bread, and he's supposed to say rabbi stuff about Moses, the Exodus, and he doesn't. He takes the bread and he breaks it, and he says, "This is my body, broken for you." And I think they're thinking, "You what? They have no idea what he's talking about." Until the next morning, when they see his broken body at the cross, then and only then do they begin to realize that he is enduring the full wrath of God to be broken for our sin so that we don't have to be. And he says, "This is my body, broken for you, and as often as you eat of it, you do so in remembrance of me." And then he takes the cup, and I imagine the disciples are like, "What is he gonna say now?" And he holds up the cup, and we just read it earlier, and he says this, "These are some of the most hopeful words you'll ever hear in your entire life." Now if you're new to Bible study, covenant and testament mean the same thing. So the Old Testament is an Old Covenant, and it's a covenant of law. And the New Testament is a new covenant instituted by Jesus for anyone who believes, and it's a covenant of grace. And when we look at what we just read about in the Garden of Gethsemane,

what Jesus says is, "Father, if there be any other way, "let this cup pass from me." That was the cup of the wrath of God. And what he's going to do the next day on the cross is he's going to endure the full wrath of God. That he's not just going to die for us, he's gonna die instead of us. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter five, verse 21, will say it this way, "And God made him who was without sin to be sinned for us, "that we would be made the righteousness of Christ." Let me explain it, just like regular talk. That on the cross, Jesus took on our sin past, present, and future, and he endured the full righteous judgment of a righteous and holy God. And he drank the cup of the wrath of God down to the very last drop, and he pushed up on his nail-pear's feet, and he declared, "It is finished, it is paid in full." And anyone who would believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow, that counted for me, then we are imputed with Christ's righteous life, and that gives us a right standing before God. So because Jesus drank of the cup of the wrath of God, for anyone who believes we are invited to drink of the cup, the grace of God. This is a joyous occasion, and he says it this way, he says, "And you do so in remembrance of me." If you look this word up in Greek,

it doesn't just mean remember that. Go, yeah, Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago. No, no, no, no, no. You go and you grab that actual event that happened, and you bring it up to today because it is a current and present reality. The best thing I can think of is this, is when Gretchen and I every year celebrate our anniversary, we don't just remember that we said I do 26 years ago. What we're saying is we still do today because of that covenant we made back then. Every single time you drink of the cup of the grace of God, and you remember that he saved you, you remember that you're still in that covenant right now. So as often as you drink of this, you do so in remembrance of me. And then the Bible says, we just read it, that they all stuck around, and they sang a hymn, and that's what we're gonna do. And so we're gonna close like we close, we're gonna sing. And so if you're saved, y'all just saying like it. And we're gonna sing, man. We're gonna sing about the blood of Jesus. And we're gonna bring our ties and our offerings as an act of worship, and we're gonna pray. And it's like Jesus told Peter, "Watch and pray, so that you won't fall to temptation." So the only people that need to come and pray are those of you that get tempted every once in a while. All the perfect people, you can stay right where you are.

So would you please stay in, let me pray for you, and then we'll respond. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father God, we love you more than anything, 'cause you first loved us. Lord, I thank you that this is love, not that we first loved you, but you first loved us, and you sent Jesus as the propitiation for us in the payment that satisfies. And so God, if we are in Christ, that means you are not dissatisfied in us. But because Christ satisfied the law of God, the justice of God, and we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, then we get to stand righteous before you. And so God, I thank you that our past doesn't define us, our worst days, don't tell us who we are, only you get to tell us who we are. And in you, you call us sons and daughters, and we are invited to your table. That's the Lord, we need your help. We can't do this without you. That's the Lord, would you meet with us once again? Would you empower us to be the people you have called us to be to a lost and broken world? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So let's sing, let's pray, and let's pray. Let's respond. [BLANK_AUDIO]