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[0:00] I do truly appreciate it. Can't sing that last song without thinking of Lance.! I always think of Lance when we sing it.

[0:11] ! We come to a very, very sacred text.

[0:32] Now, I say that. Every text is sacred. But this one seems to be as if we're entering a holy, holy place. A holy ground where our Lord Jesus demonstrates to us his humanity.

[0:54] Most clearly. Most clearly. And I think we gain great encouragement. That if he struggled, no wonder we struggle.

[1:11] Yes? So let's read this holy text and then we'll pray and we'll jump into it. We're in Luke 22. I'm going to read from verse 35 through 54.

[1:23] If you're able, please stand. Here's a read. Gospel of Luke chapter 22, beginning at verse 35. And he said to them, When I sent you out with no money bag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?

[1:44] They said, nothing. He said to them, But now, let the one who has a money bag take it, and likewise a knapsack.

[1:54] And let the one who has no sword sell this cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me.

[2:05] And he said to them, And he put in love with no miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle miracle And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

[3:12] And when he arose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said to them, why are you sleeping?

[3:27] Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation. While he was still speaking, there came a crowd. And the man called Judas, one of the 12, was leading them.

[3:42] He drew near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword?

[4:01] And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, no more of this.

[4:12] And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and the elders who had come out against him.

[4:24] Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me then.

[4:37] But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house.

[4:50] And Peter was following at a distance. So it reads, let us pray. Father, open our eyes to see the holy words recorded for us here.

[5:06] Open our hearts, oh Father, to receive what you would have for us. And I pray most of all, Father, that you would help us to see Jesus.

[5:18] Help us see Jesus. In full display here. Our Savior. Our Shepherd. Lord, who laid down his life for us.

[5:31] Help us see him. That we might love him all the more. That we might follow him all the more fervently. That we might seek to pray like he prayed.

[5:46] This we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. In 1995.

[6:06] Now that was, I think I figured it out, it was 30 years ago. In 1995, I had the privilege to go to Israel.

[6:18] I saw Capernaum, where Jesus lived. I rode on a boat. About the size of the boats that they had back then.

[6:31] On the Sea of Galilee. Went out to the middle of the lake. And turned off the engine. And read about this. Read the stories of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. I visited Bethlehem.

[6:45] Jerusalem. I saw the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. I saw the Holy of Holies inside of the mosque.

[6:59] I saw Golgotha. Before I went, I had read an article in the Biblical Archaeological Review. Which talked about and showed pictures of the real Gethsemane.

[7:15] Gethsemane is not a garden. Gethsemane, the word means oil press. Gethsemane was a place. It was buried under, not buried, but it was under, it was a cave underneath the ground.

[7:29] In the midst of the Mount of Olives. It was a place that, it's what Luke says, he went to the place. He's talking about the place.

[7:40] Not the garden, but they went to this place where they slept at night. And Judas would have known where this place was. The chief priests and the elders and all the others wouldn't have known this.

[7:55] But this is how Judas could betray Jesus because he knew where Jesus was staying. It was a big mount. Lots of olive trees. Not like today.

[8:09] It is one of the most authentic sites in Israel. Where Jesus was known to have stayed during that last week.

[8:22] Few have known about it. Few have seen it. Although I think it's more popular today. But the oldest pilgrims, those who would come journey to Israel to see the sites.

[8:37] The oldest pilgrims from the first and second centuries talk about this place. This holy place. And I got to see it. My tour guide, who had been giving guide people tours of Israel, did not know about it.

[8:56] So we had a day off on a Sunday. And my brother and I wanted to go around. And that's when we saw the Holy of Holies inside the mosque. And that's when we went to the Gethsemane.

[9:08] Because my tour guide didn't know about it. So I generally knew where it was from the article. And asked a few locals, you know, where's the Gethsemane?

[9:19] And they pointed to the garden. I said, no, not the garden. The Gethsemane. Oh. They said, oh, you got to go down and, you know, go under these. There's churches everywhere over there.

[9:32] Find your way through the maze of churches. I think it's under the Church of Mary. This is very, very cool. And it was just a cave room.

[9:43] And you could see where the old beam used to come out of the wall. That would be used to push down on the olives, you know, to press the olives. So, therefore, Gethsemane, the oil press.

[9:56] And here in Luke 22, this holy ground is the place where Jesus experienced his own olive press. His soul press, so to speak.

[10:10] Before we get to that, there's a transition piece here in verses 35 to 38. We see a transition. And we notice a change.

[10:22] Jesus says to them in verse 35, you know, remember when I sent you out and I told you, you know, to not take extra stuff. And trust God to provide for you, et cetera, et cetera.

[10:34] And now he says in verse 36, there's a change. But now, but now let the one who has a money bag take it. And same with the knapsack.

[10:44] So you need to provide. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. You need a sword. So he says there's a change. Now you need to provide.

[10:56] Now you need to be ready. So why? What is the change? What changed? Well, verse 37. He says here, here's the reason. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me.

[11:07] He was numbered with the transgressors. That's why. You kind of go, okay. What does that mean? He's numbered with the transgressors.

[11:18] Well, it means he, he, this, this, he's quoting a text from Isaiah 53 verse 12. And he's saying that the Messiah would be numbered with the transgressors.

[11:31] He'd be reckoned with the transgressors. He'd be associated with criminals. He would be seen as a sinner himself.

[11:42] He would be rejected as such. So in other words, Jesus is saying things are going to change. For a while in his ministry, he was popular, right?

[11:55] He was popular everywhere. Not with the, not with the religious leaders, but with the people, he was popular. And he's saying time is coming now where I will not, popularity will be waning and persecution will be increasing.

[12:07] And when that persecution increases, when I'm cut off and when I'm treated as a criminal, things are changing for you. You do your ministry a little different.

[12:18] Now you need to be ready. You need to be ready. You may even need to take a sword. You're thinking, what? Jesus is talking about. Conceal and carry.

[12:36] Well, notice the disciples say, okay, hey, hey, hey, we got two swords. So we know Peter had one and we know that probably Simon the zealot had the other one.

[12:49] And so they say, hey, here we have two swords. And he says, that's enough. So, so in other words, if he's talking literally about carrying a sword, he's saying, don't overdo it. With a group of 12, two's plenty.

[13:04] I don't know for sure if he's talking about physical sword defense. A lot of scholars think he's thinking metaphorically. But if so, why didn't he correct them? Swords come up in the next passage as well.

[13:23] That's not the point of the passage. The point is there's a change. Be ready. Even to the extent, perhaps, that you will need to carry against the persecutors.

[13:38] Just maybe not to necessarily engage them with, but to threaten them off. Put a sign on your door. I'm a member of the, what's the organization?

[13:54] NRA. NRA. There we go. I have that. I forget. Anyway. So there's a change coming.

[14:05] So that's just interesting. That is a text unique to Luke alone. Verses 35 to 38. Only Luke describes that conversation there.

[14:15] Now we come to verse 39. Where Jesus now goes to the place. And the place, he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives.

[14:26] And his disciples followed him. And when he came to the place. The place. Now Luke doesn't name Gethsemane here, but the other gospels do. In fact, Matthew says, comes to the place that is called Gethsemane.

[14:41] Not the garden, but the place. The place called the oil press. So this is where they were staying. And about a stone's throw. And I can tell you, because I've been there.

[14:52] When you're at the Gethsemane, about a stone's throw away is the garden where he prayed. And the other gospels tell us that he took three of his disciples with him.

[15:05] He took Peter, James, and John with him. Luke doesn't tell us that. But he took Peter, James, and John and went about a stone's throw to pray. So they're praying together. So Jesus is praying. And the disciples, the three, are supposed to be praying with him.

[15:19] They fall asleep. But this is why we know what Jesus said when he prayed. Because they were right there with him. That's how we know. So, what happens?

[15:34] So here's the trial that Jesus is facing. As he leaves the upper room, he comes to Gethsemane. Now his heart is heavy. The other gospels describe how he began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

[15:50] In fact, one of the gospels says he tells them, my soul is deeply distressed. And Luke gives us a picture of how distressed he is because he's sweating drops of blood.

[16:02] Jesus is distressed. So in Gethsemane, in this place, we see how Jesus handles his distressed and troubled soul.

[16:16] He responds in two ways. One, in verse 42, here in Gethsemane, he prays. He pours out his soul. He pours out. I don't know a better description of what he does other than pouring out his soul.

[16:33] He's praying, but he's doing it by pouring out his soul. He lets the Father know everything that's on his heart. And then secondly, as he resolves that, he then, as he's still speaking to the disciples about keep praying, that's when Judas and the crowd comes.

[16:54] And there he lays down his life. The disciples are ready to fight for him, but he stops it. And he says, let this happen.

[17:07] This needs to happen. He's laying down his life. As he told Pilate later, he could have, he had at his disposal 12 legions of angels. You know, if it was about a physical fight, there'd be no, there'd be no battle.

[17:22] I don't need Peter and Simon. I could take, I'll take Gabe and, you know, Michael and let those guys take care of this. But he lays down his life.

[17:33] So there's two ways that he's handling his trial. He goes through the prayer first and then he's enabled by that to lay down his life. So let's look at the first response, which I would describe this way.

[17:45] In great distress, he pours out his soul to the Father. How do you handle your own distressed and troubled soul? When your soul is agitated, when you are in anguish, when you are in agony, when you are discouraged and depressed and downcast, how do you handle that?

[18:05] What Jesus does is he pours out his soul to his Father. Okay? And the first thing we see is his true humanity. Look at verse 41.

[18:16] He withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed. And he prayed, saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. We see his humanity.

[18:28] He struggles with the cross. Do you see what Jesus is doing here? He's asking for the Father to remove the cup. And we could say, but theologically, doesn't he already know that he has to go through this cup?

[18:40] Of course he does. So why would Jesus say, remove the cup? If he already knows he has to go through this. Why?

[18:53] Because he's truly human. He is truly human and truly divine. This is a mystery. But here we see the reality of his true humanness.

[19:06] He wants out. In his humanity, he wants out. Now what is this cup? He removed the cup.

[19:18] He's not asking to remove suffering. I don't think Jesus was afraid of the cross, just as the physical suffering element. Many believers in Christ have gone through crucifixions and other burnings and horrible, horrible things, and gone through unafraid.

[19:36] Because they're failing. What is the cup? Remove the cup. What's in the cup? What is the cup that Jesus had?

[19:47] It'll be on the cross. It will be on the cross. But what will it be? What is he so terrified by? Well, the cup is the wrath of God. The cup is the wrath of God.

[20:00] I don't think we know the wrath of God well enough. We don't really like to talk about God's wrath towards sinners. But Paul describes us, before we are born again, we are under the wrath of God.

[20:13] All humanity exists under the wrath of God. That's why we need a Savior. Why the wrath of God?

[20:23] The wrath of God because we've rebelled. Because we've turned against God. Even those who haven't heard the gospel have turned against God. Romans 1 tells us that God has made himself known through creation.

[20:37] And he's made himself known in our own conscience. But what do people do? They suppress that. They push that away. And they foolishly get other ideas so they can, oh yeah, see, see, see, evolution, see, see.

[20:53] You know, all kinds of foolish notions to think that they can outthink God. But by doing that, they've rebelled against the very clear message God has given every single person.

[21:06] That he exists. And we are accountable to him. We don't like that. So we rebel. Nobody's telling me what to do. Right?

[21:18] So that's the wrath. Jesus is going to carry the wrath on the cross. It's not the physical suffering on the cross. It's not the nails through his wrists. It's not the nails to his ankles.

[21:29] It's not the spear in the size. It's not the crown of thorns. It's not all the whippings that he endured and the beatings that he endured that scared him. And what scared him was on that cross he was going to endure the wrath of God.

[21:41] He would know what the wrath of God was. He would never know what that would be like.

[21:55] He'd never been there before. He'd never experienced. Remember what he cries out? Lord, oh Lord.

[22:05] Why have you forsaken me? Right? He'd never known that. He'd always been united with his father.

[22:16] He'd never known separation. And here in his final moments before that night, he's having that final supper, that fellowship with the father.

[22:27] Even on the cross he's having fellowship with the father. But at some moment there's a separation. One of the songs put it, the father turns his face away. Right? I don't know if that's theologically accurate, but we get the picture.

[22:41] He wants out. He wants to avoid it. He wants to escape it. Who wouldn't?

[22:53] And what we learn from this, be encouraged by this, beloved. What we learn from this is it's not wrong to ask out. It is not wrong to ask to get away from temptation, to get away from the trial that's coming.

[23:08] It's not wrong to ask that. Because it's being honest before the father. You're going to the father. You're just telling him what you want. You're telling him what's on your heart.

[23:19] You're telling him what's in your soul. This is what I'm struggling with. I don't want to go through this. That's not sinful. In fact, that's righteous.

[23:34] That's honest. And so Jesus models this for us. It's an honest human desire that is expressed to his father. And yet notice that's not the primary thing in his prayer.

[23:48] What Luke records for us in verse 42 is twice Jesus says your will. Right? So first he says, father, if you're willing, remove it.

[24:04] But not my desire, but yours. So twice he says your desire, your will comes first. But I got to tell you mine. And that's okay.

[24:16] In fact, I believe by doing that, that enables him to say the rest. Because he's in that prayer, he's confessing.

[24:29] You know how powerful confession is? Remember John 1, if we walk in the light as he is in the light. Right? And if we're in the light, we confess.

[24:40] If we're in the light, his light exposes us. Right? And instead of running from that light and hiding like what we naturally want to do, we stay in that light and say, yes, that's who I am.

[24:52] And that's what cleanses me. That's what enables me to take the next step. I don't know if we believe in that confession that much.

[25:07] Confession is powerful because we're saying it out loud to the father. And by saying it out loud to the father, we're not choosing to escape and hide it. Amen.

[25:20] So he does that. So, but his primary desire is to do what the father wants. Not what I want. Not what I desire, but what you want. And remember, Luke just gives us this brief description.

[25:34] In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has to go back to this prayer again and again. Three times. He resolves it.

[25:46] Checks on the sleeping disciples. Goes back. And he's got to deal with it again. Goes back. Checks on his sleeping disciples. Comes back a third time in Matthew.

[25:58] Three times. How hard this had to have been for him. We cannot even imagine. But the encouragement is this, beloved.

[26:09] If it was so hard for Jesus, no wonder it's hard for us. Don't be discouraged that it's hard. It is hard.

[26:21] It is hard. And the only way through it, as Jesus says to them twice, is keep praying that you'll not enter temptation. Keep praying that you'll not enter temptation.

[26:34] Keep on praying. To get through it. Then we notice something unique. And again, only Luke has this, verse 43 and 44.

[26:48] There appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. Well, that seems odd. That's part of the reason it's not in all the old manuscripts. It's like, well, why would I do that? How come Jesus gets an angel?

[26:59] Why? Where is it? Did that happen? Did an angel come? And then the second part, verse 44, that being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

[27:12] So in a lot of the old manuscripts, that's not in there, because the thinking is that it seemed way too human. And that maybe part of the early church didn't want, that just didn't seem like Jesus, too human.

[27:33] He was human. So there's a division. There's early, early ancient manuscripts that don't have these two verses.

[27:44] But there's some other really, really ancient manuscripts that have it. So, it's here. You might even have, do you have brackets around it in any of your translations?

[28:02] Okay. Some of those try to show that that's not in all of it. But I think it's real. I think it's real. Angels, do angels come?

[28:13] Well, when Jesus had gone through the first temptations by the devil, remember? He'd gone through the three, you know? Then an angel came. Luke doesn't tell us that, but Matthew and Mark tell us that.

[28:26] That an angel came after he overcame his temptation. Do angels minister that way? Yes. To believers? Is it just Jesus? No.

[28:37] So you think angels come to believers? Mm-hmm. Amen. Amen. Yeah, Hebrews says, right? Hey, sometimes you don't even know. Right.

[28:48] You didn't even know that you're entertaining an angel. Yep. Amen. Why? Because they can appear as men. And Hebrews tells us that they are ministering servants set to serve saints.

[29:01] Now, if an angel comes, are you going to know it? Was that? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You'll hear stories of believers who have been in situations where it's like somebody showed up and helped them through it.

[29:16] And who was that person? Never know. Yeah. Sometimes your agony, your distress, your struggle is so desperate, you're seeking the Father.

[29:30] One of the ways the Father encourages you is by sending an angel. You don't maybe know this. Maybe it's Fred or Larry.

[29:42] No, I know angels named Larry. Bill. No, I know angels named Bill. Anyway, that's not a big deal.

[29:53] The next verse, verse 44. Notice how intense his agony was. In agony. In agony. In anguish. In anguish. So the angel comes and he's still in anguish.

[30:05] This is how deep this is. He's still in anguish. He's still in agony. He's still distressed. In fact, he intensified. Because he's in agony, he intensifies his prayer.

[30:17] He prays more for him. The harder it gets, the harder he prays. Oh, may we learn from that. And it's so intense that he's sweating drops of blood.

[30:34] That is a rare physiological condition that can happen when a person is maxed out in their stress.

[30:47] That they have hit a point where the capillaries burst.

[30:59] And it mixes with the sweat and it falls down like drops of blood. In fact, is drops of blood. Animals experience this.

[31:11] Great trauma. And humans experience this. And apparently Jesus did. And I think the more we understand or try to understand what he was in fact facing, who wouldn't experience that?

[31:27] Who was human? And then to his disciples. Okay. So he comes through that.

[31:39] Verse 45. When he rose from prayer, he came to his disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow. Now Luke's the only one that tells us that the reason that they're sleeping, the reason that they fall asleep is sorrow.

[31:55] Well, he doesn't tell us what that sorrow is. Sorrow, pain, grief. I imagine they are overwhelmed. They are confused.

[32:07] They're unsure of what's going to happen. They've heard Jesus saying these things. Remember, they're not always connecting the dots. And maybe they're not totally listening because they don't want to hear that.

[32:19] And there's some kind of grief and sorrow going on. They're overwhelmed. They're exhausted, certainly. But this is an emotional. And so they're sleeping for sorrow.

[32:33] Have you ever slept for sorrow? You were in sorrow and so you just. Yeah, you're. I mean, sorrow is a whole other level of right impact on you. And maybe sleeping is an escape from that.

[32:49] Because I can't deal with that. So I will just take a nap. Huh? That makes sense. To just avoid it. And maybe that's what these guys are doing.

[33:01] They hear Jesus say, can you stay with me? Can you stay with me? Can you pray with me, guys? And they can't. They can't.

[33:14] They're too overwhelmed. They're just too. So Jesus tells them again, keep on praying. Here's his critical imperative.

[33:26] Keep on praying, guys. Keep persisting. This will protect you from temptation. Keep praying to awaken yourself to what's coming up. Because they sleep.

[33:37] Without prayer, they're not ready. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, right? And so without prayer, they're not ready. They're not ready for what's going to happen just in the next few moments.

[33:51] They're not ready. When the soldiers come, most of them will flee. Peter will follow, but then we know Peter has another temptation coming that he's not ready for.

[34:07] Right? So that's just the way it is. He's trying to help them keep praying that you can be ready.

[34:18] And prayer is for us, isn't it? I mean, prayer is for us. We don't have to inform the father of what's going on. He already knows. But prayer is for us. It's for us to work through the issues.

[34:29] It's for us to learn to depend on him. It's our way of leaning on him and gaining wisdom and gaining perspective and awakening this soul that wants to just sit down.

[34:47] J.C. Ryle. I like to read J.C. Ryle. Here's what he says. It is a striking fact that both the Old and New Testament give one and the same remedy for bearing trouble.

[34:59] What does the book of Psalms say? Call upon me in the day of trouble and I shall rescue you. What does the Apostle James say? Is anyone among you suffering?

[35:11] Then he must pray. Prayer is the remedy which Jacob used when he feared his brother Esau. Prayer is the remedy which Job used when property and children were suddenly taken from him.

[35:23] Prayer is the remedy which Hezekiah used when Sennacherib's threatening letter arrived. Prayer is the remedy which the Son of God Himself was not ashamed to use in the days of His flesh.

[35:35] In the hour of His mysterious agony, He prayed. If we want comfort in affliction, then let us take care that we use our Master's remedy.

[35:47] Whatever other means of relief we use, let us pray. The first friend we should turn to ought to be God.

[36:01] The first message we should send out ought to be to the throne of grace. No depression of spirits must prevent us.

[36:13] No crushing weight of sorrow must make us speechless. If a prime device of Satan to supply the afflicted man with false excuses for keeping silent before God.

[36:26] It's a prime device of Satan. Let us beware of the temptation to brood sullenly over our wounds, Mr. Bill.

[36:37] If we can say anything else, nothing else we can say to the Father, I am oppressed, be my security.

[36:51] Or I like to pray, this last summer I've been praying some of the Psalms. Psalm 6, Psalm 13, that will give away what I'm praying about. Psalm 6 says, be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing.

[37:08] For some reason that word struck me. Languishing. Well, this was not Jesus' first battle with facing his own death.

[37:21] Just a few days before, John 12 records Jesus saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

[37:37] But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his soul loses it. Whoever hates his soul in this world will keep it for eternal life.

[37:50] If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. And then Jesus said, Now, is my soul troubled?

[38:05] And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.

[38:18] Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. Hear those words again. Jesus first confesses, Now is my soul troubled.

[38:31] Then Jesus prays, Father, save me from this hour. Let this cup pass. This was a pre-Gesemite in John 12. Let this, Save me from this hour.

[38:42] And then he comes to himself. No, but for this purpose, I come to this hour. Yet not my will with thine be done. Father, glorify it. So Jesus, in this walk, Has been praying through this kind of prayer all along.

[38:58] It's not just when he gets to Gethsemane. He's been praying this all along. Struggling with, Save me from this. No, this is why I came. Surrendering.

[39:11] Same response. Soul troubled. He confesses, he prays. That enables him to renew what he's there for. How do we respond? To our own soul trouble.

[39:23] Are we anxious? Are we disturbed? Are we despairing? Are we depressed? Are we cast down? Are we anxious? Are we worried? How do you deal with it?

[39:36] How do I deal with it? Let us follow our master. Now we see Jesus Unable to handle the second response. And that is, He willingly endured The deceitfulness of corrupt men.

[39:49] As he lays down his life, As they come to arrest him. I want you to see what he's doing. He's willingly enduring The deceitfulness Of crooked, Corrupt men.

[40:07] Judas And the Pharisees. They're both deceitful. Notice this. Okay? First we see, First deceit we see is in Judas. A ruse.

[40:18] Judas comes. When he comes, He wants to kiss Jesus. What is a kiss? Well in those days, A kiss was a gesture of honor, Of friendship, Of affection.

[40:31] But here, Does Judas have honor, And friendship, And affection for Jesus? No, He despises him. He's his enemy.

[40:44] A kiss? And Jesus calls it out, Doesn't he? Will you? Are you? Really? A kiss? And I get the impression from Luke That Judas comes up, And Jesus maybe does one of these.

[41:03] Are you going to try that? Uh-uh. You ever done that to somebody Who's a betrayer? I did that once. Guy came up to hug me.

[41:16] Uh-uh. I know who you are. I literally did that. I don't know if it was right or not. But I wasn't going to play into the hypocrisy.

[41:30] Jesus knows. He knows. He calls out the hypocrisy. You're the traitor. You're the enemy. You're the faker. Then we have the reaction. Here's our disciples.

[41:40] Love these guys, Don't you? Verse 49. When those around saw what would follow, Because here comes the crowd. There's swords and clubs. And what Luke doesn't tell us, There's also a cohort of Roman soldiers, Which is 600 Roman soldiers, Also there, Besides the temple guards, And besides the chief priests, Besides the Pharisees, Besides the elders.

[42:03] There's a cohort of Roman soldiers there. Judas had procured. How dangerous did they think Jesus was?

[42:18] But I love the disciples. Here they go. Verse 49. They see what's happening. Shall we strike with the sword, Lord? Because Peter's got one.

[42:30] Simon's got one. We're ready. And Peter does not wait for an answer. Peter acts out. Now Luke tells us it's just one of them. But what we know from the Gospel of John, It's Peter.

[42:42] Peter takes out his sword. Well, before he takes out his sword, He strikes. Notice there's two actions. Verse 50. One of them struck the servant of the high priest, And cut off his ear.

[42:54] Two actions, not one. He's not swinging wildly, And the guy ducks, And he, you know, It's not one of these. No. He strikes him. And I believe takes it, Let's see his right ear.

[43:08] Or is it, Is it Peter left that? I don't know. Peter's not messing around. He meant what he told Jesus, I'm ready to die for you.

[43:22] I mean, 600 soldiers, Two swords, Let's go. That's Peter. He loves Jesus. Well, and Jesus is on his side, So I mean, And in the Gospel of John, Remember, The 600 Roman soldiers are there, And remember, They ask, Jesus says, Who are you looking for?

[43:41] Looking for the Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. And remember, Jesus said two words. He said, I am. Remember what happened? Who? John says, They all fell down.

[43:54] 600 professional Roman soldiers Fall to the ground. Because Jesus said, I am. Which is the ancient. Name of God.

[44:07] I am. They all get back, That's not going to give it. Jesus, Now who are you here? Who's in control here?

[44:20] Love that stuff. So here's these guys. So Peter takes action. Then Jesus intervenes, Verse 50, And Jesus said, No more of this. Literally what Jesus said, He didn't say no more of this, Like he was disapproving of what, What Peter was doing, And what, What they were doing, Taking the swords out, Because he'd already told them to bring a sword.

[44:41] He intervenes, And what he literally said was, Let it be unto this. Let it happen, guys. Let them take me.

[44:52] Let it be. I don't think he's rebuking Peter. I think he's saying, Let it be. This is how it has to go.

[45:03] Love you, Peter. Now you've created a mess, So I've got to go pick the guy's ear up. So, He cut it off, So is it dirty in the ground? Is he, You know, Or does he just touch him and make a new ear?

[45:19] Doesn't matter. It's Jesus. He does it however he wants to do. He's laying down his life, see. Let it be. And then the second deceit comes.

[45:31] He's already dealt with Judas. Now he deals with these, These religious leaders. He exposes their bogus plot.

[45:44] 52, He says to the chief priests And the officers of the temple And the elders Who had come out against him. He says to them, Have you come out as against a robber With swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, You did not lay hands on me then.

[45:59] But this is your hour. And the power of darkness. He notes.

[46:11] He rebukes. He exposes. Note the stealth. They come late at night. They're during the day. They don't want, They're under the cover of darkness. They don't want the publicity. They fear the crowds.

[46:26] And Jesus notes, Not only is it their hour, Yeah, you get an hour. You get to do this, What you want to do. You get to do this.

[46:38] But what also is behind this Is the power of darkness. It's Satan's hour. He's been waiting for this. And he's chomping at the bits And he believes he's got the sun.

[46:52] Which we were told all the way back in Genesis 3.15. Remember Eve and the serpent? Remember the serpent? And the Lord said to Eve, No, said to the serpent, Right?

[47:07] The seed of the woman And the seed of the serpent. The seed of the serpent will Bruise the heel of the Of the seed of the woman. But the seed of the woman Will crush the head Of the serpent.

[47:25] You, Satan, will trip up My son. But he's going to Destroy you. With his resurrection. Remember? His resurrection.

[47:36] Where did Satan go? Down to earth. All done. Now he's mad. So death, power of darkness.

[47:46] He's behind that. And we know, As Paul tells us In Ephesians 6.12 That we're still dealing with that. That's what we don't fight A physical war.

[47:56] We'll fight a spiritual war. And we're fighting against The darkness. So God's greatest purpose Is fulfilled Through Some of the most evil acts.

[48:12] In history Against Christ. Judas' Evil act. The Pharisees' Evil act. It's all fulfilled From what God's purpose was.

[48:24] Isaiah 53. He was despised And rejected by men. A man of sorrows And acquainted with grief. And as one from whom Men hide their faces. He was despised And we esteemed him not.

[48:37] By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And as for his generation Who considered that he was Cut off out of the land Of the living. Stricken For the transgression Of my people.

[48:50] And they made his grave With the wicked And with the rich man In his death. Although he had done No violence And there was no deceit In his mouth. Yet it was the will Of the Lord To crush him.

[49:03] He has put him To grief. When his soul Makes an offering For guilt He shall see his offspring He shall prolong his days The will of the Lord Shall prosper in his hands Out of the anguish Of his soul He shall see And be satisfied By his knowledge Shall the righteous one My servant Make many To be accounted Righteous And he shall bear Their iniquities Therefore I will divide Him a portion With the many And he shall divide The spoil With the strong Because He poured out His soul To death And was numbered With the transgressors Yet he bore The sin of many And he makes intercession For the transgressors God's purpose Was that Christ Would be despised

[50:03] Rejected Suffer Die He would die To bear the iniquity Of us To justify sinners It was the Lord's will To crush him That he Would be The sacrificial offering For guilty Rebels It would be The innocent one Who suffers The holy one Who's rejected Who would be treated Wickedly By evil men This was God's plan It was God's intention It was God's purpose In order to declare Unworthy rebels To be right with God This was God's plan To humiliate His son He so loved The world Full of sinners That he gave His only

[51:03] Son To this Jesus Did this Willingly It was not easy For him To do it He did this For undeserving Rebels He laid down His life So that we Would be forgiven All of our Wicked Evil Rebellious Stubborn Selfish Acts So Do you see How serious Your sin is And have you Turned To Jesus As your Lord

[52:04] And Savior Let us pray Father we thank you For this This Passage That makes us Ponder More deeply Our Lord Jesus We rightly Often put him On such a Pedestal Right We We Think of him So So highly That in Passages like this That make us Come back to the Ground and see That in his Flesh In his Humanness How much He suffered How much He's like us How because Of what he Went through He can Understand Us He alone In the Godhead Has sympathy Because he's Been through it So what a Grace Father we Thank you That you Would send Your son That we

[53:05] Might have Such a Sympath High Priest One who Understand Who gets It Thank you So cause us To love Jesus All the More And cause That love For Jesus To make Us To Make us Stand To make Us Fight To make Us pray When we Don't want Pray To make Us Pour out Our soul When all We want To do Is sleep May it Be Jesus That moves Us May it be Your spirit That draws Us to Him This we Pray in Christ's name Amen Amen Amen Thank you.