Sermon for Lent Two – 3/4/04 – February 28, 2021
Calvary/Marquette ● Soli Deo Gloria

Grace to you and peace from God who is our father by faith in His Son Jesus Christ, a gift worked by the Holy Spirit, that God alone might be glorified for the Salvation of Mankind. Amen.

Matthew 26:36-46
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His 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. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

In the Name of Jesus Christ,
Who chose the way of death,
So that you could have Life --

Well for better or for worse, the days of arranged weddings have past. It used to be common for parents to get together and choose a spouse for their children. In some places today, it can still happen. While arranged marriages have gone by the wayside, children should still respect their parents and superiors and talk to them -- before making important decisions. Now, that said, it is still proper for a man to show respect by asking potential in-laws beforehand.

Why are arranged marriages no longer the norm? I’m sure there are a lot of reasons. While I’m sure that most Christian parents chose carefully, we today think it inadvisable to allow someone else to chart our futures. In fact, some might even consider it foolish to let someone else make such an important decision.

We don’t trust anyone (but ourselves) with our futures, do we? We find happiness in our freedom to go our own way, to make our own decisions (good or bad) and affect our own futures.

Would you let someone else choose your destiny – if you knew before hand that their decisions would result in your suffering and death? Would you allow someone else to choose your future – if you knew beforehand that your life would not be lived for you, but lived and sacrificed for someone else?

Well, Jesus did.

Only Jesus…would let someone else choose his destiny -- fully knowing what that destiny would be.

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

Gethsemane is a place whose name is familiar to Christians. We recognize it as the place of Jesus’ prayer, the place where He was arrested. Gethsemane was an olive orchard (John 18:1) within walking distance of Jerusalem, to the east across the Kidron Valley. It lay opposite the Temple of the LORD, near the foot of the Mount of Olives.

Jesus and His disciples went to Gethsemane after eating the Passover meal. When they arrived, Jesus asked them to sit while he prayed nearby (a stone’s throw). He took Peter, James and John (Zebedee’s sons) with Him, and when they left the others Jesus’ mood changed.

Why this preferential treatment? Why did Jesus take only these three with Him away from the others? These men were the same men who had been allowed to see Jesus’ glory as the Son of God on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Jesus didn’t take them for His own sake, merely for moral support – because knowing all things, Jesus knew they would be none. Jesus no doubt took them for their own sakes, they needed to see His suffering first hand.

However, they were not eyewitnesses only for their sakes. They were left within earshot of Jesus for our sakes as well. These men were used by the Holy Spirit to write down what occurred for us.

The Apostle John was moved by the Holy Spirit to write the Gospel of John, which includes the lengthy prayer that Jesus prayed that night.

The Apostle Peter wrote two letters, and often refers to the things he saw and heard. Many believe that Peter’s eyewitness accounts were used to help Mark write the Gospel of Mark.

What did they see? They saw Jesus sorrowful and deeply distressed. What does that mean?

I think that most of us understand stress, because we’ve felt it. We know that the stress of important decisions in life can be like a heavy weight. When deliberating a difficult decision like quitting a job or starting a business, it can seem like a heavy weight has been placed on one’s chest.

It’s even more difficult when we have a pretty good idea what the future holds.

Jesus was sorrowful and deeply distressed because He knew His future included bearing the weight of the sins of every human being who ever lived. Jesus knew what the future held for HIM and for us. He was troubled, as any human being would be (even a perfect one) by the prospect of what lay ahead.

But Jesus did not retire to Gethsemane to pray and then make His own informed decision. Rather, as is clearly shown here, in a completely self-less way, He left His destiny, His future completely in the hands of someone else:

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

We shouldn’t misunderstand Jesus’ words. He didn’t say – “I don’t want to do this, Father.” We shouldn’t see unwillingness, but an innocent request. “If there is another way to accomplish your plan, then let this suffering pass by me. However, the decision is yours, not mine. I want what you want, Father.”

As a human being, Jesus realized that His future was in the hands of the Father. He willingly submitted to the Will of God. He did so – because we did not.

 If forced to decide between keeping our friends or being faithful to God and His Word – would we choose God’s Word?

 If forced to decide between a good relationship with my child or being faithful to God – would blood be thicker than Scripture?

 If forced to decide between success in life and in the business world or playing an active role in our children’s lives – would parental responsibility take a back seat to earthly success?

 If forced to decide between taking vacation time for ourselves and our families or setting aside the same time to serve the LORD – would the LORD come first?

If you think that it would be easy to make the right decision in those examples then you aren’t living in the real world! We don’t naturally make the right decision for the right reason.

We don’t have to try to be self-centered we are from birth. We don’t naturally decide in favor of God’s Word. Even when we make decisions that seem self-less – would we do so for the right reason?

It was the fact that we do not place the LORD God at the center of our lives – that led Jesus to let someone else choose His destiny, His future. As Jesus said (John 10:11, 18):

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

When we hear in the Passion History all that Jesus endured, we should not feel sorrow for HIM. If we feel sorrow it should be because our sins made His suffering and death necessary.

Jesus did not suffer so that we sorrow, but so that we REJOICE! For (2 Corinthians 5:19,21):

…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing (counting) their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation…For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus let the Father determine His destiny, His future – because He knew that it was the only way you and I might have a real future. For because of sin, we had no future. For every human being is by nature and deed sinful.

Unless our sins are removed and we are made right with God then we would have nothing ahead of us but eternity in hell! However, God who is rich in mercy would not let that happen! He charted our futures, and worked our Salvation through the suffering, death and resurrection of His Son.

May God grant that we are never deceived into thinking that we can by our actions change our relationship with God or make up for our sins. If we were to chart our own futures, we would have no real future. For we can by nature choose to reject God’s gift and proudly think we are good enough.

It is only by God’s grace through faith that we trust in Christ and find ourselves right with God, Justified. It is by faith we understand that our eternal futures are in the hands of Jesus.

For…Only Jesus, the Son of God could make complete payment for your sins. Only Jesus would let someone else determine His destiny – so that we might have an eternal future with Him.

Amen.