A Daily Walk

John Randall: Listen, are you struggling today? Are you overwhelmed today? Did you come in with a sense of heaviness and burden by what's unfolding in your life right now? Do you know that Jesus knows what that feels like, and he can help you today? He can assist you today.

Don't think that you're the only one and no one else has ever experienced it. Nobody knows what this feels like. Listen, Jesus does.

Announcer: Calvary South OC is pleased to present A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall. We'll be in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26. Jesus is on the road to the cross and about to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. It would be right here that he would be betrayed by one of his disciples. And if you've ever been betrayed by someone close to you, well, you know how awful that is. Few things in life are as painful as that. So, let's see how Jesus handled it all.

John Randall: Beginning in verse 31 this morning, follow along as we read from the Word of God. Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."

And Peter answered and said to him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you." And so said all the disciples.

In the 26th chapter of Matthew, with every verse that we read now and with every page that we turn, we get closer to the cross. Jesus and his disciples had gathered in an upper room there in Jerusalem to celebrate their final Passover meal together. On that night, many things took place.

It was during the Passover meal that Jesus got up from the table and he girded himself with a towel and he began to wash all of the disciples' feet. When he had concluded, he said that this was done as an example for them to follow in serving one another.

Then Jesus made a startling announcement that one of the disciples would betray him to the religious authorities. Now, the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 22, verse 3, that Satan entered Judas. And then it says in John chapter 13, verse 2, that the devil already put it into the heart of Judas to betray him.

Jesus then dismissed Judas from the table, and the Bible says he went out into the night. Once Judas had departed, Jesus then instituted for the first time Communion. He took the bread and he gave it to the disciples and said that this was to remind them of his body that was to be crucified for them. He took the cup and he said that it was to remind them of the blood that was shed for them in the New Covenant that had now been instituted.

Following the partaking of Communion, Jesus and his disciples made their way toward the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, John's Gospel, chapters 14 through 17, inform us that as they walked from the upper room toward the Mount of Olives, Jesus delivered his final teaching to his disciples, where he talked about the coming of the Holy Spirit, a place prepared for them in heaven, a peace that he would provide them with, a joy that they could experience.

John also wrote down for us our Lord's High Priestly Prayer for unity in John chapter 17. But on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus and his disciples crossed over what is called the Kidron Valley. And the name Kidron is a reference to the darkness or the murkiness of the water that flows through that valley.

When the lambs were sacrificed at Passover, their blood would actually run down a channel from where they were sacrificed into the Valley of Kidron, and the water would be murky and dark. Some say that the banks of the Kidron were stained with the blood of the lambs. So, just imagine this: Jesus and his disciples leaving the upper room, crossing over the Kidron, seeing the murky water of the lambs that were being sacrificed, knowing that he would be the lamb to sacrifice his own blood in just a matter of time.

Not only did Jesus cross over the Brook Kidron, but many years earlier, King David also had crossed over the Brook Kidron when his son Absalom had betrayed him. David and his men and family fled, and they crossed over the Brook Kidron and escaped up through the Mount of Olives. But here, so many years later, the Son of David also betrayed, crossing over the Kidron, making his way up to the Mount of Olives and to the Garden of Gethsemane in this context.

On their way, Jesus made an alarming prediction that we just read. He said that all of the disciples would be made to stumble. There wasn't one exception among the 11 disciples. He said all of them would stumble and be scattered. The word for "stumble" here is the word *skandalon*. It's actually where we get our English word "scandal," and it means setting a trap, stumbling.

In fear for their lives, all of the disciples would actually desert Jesus. To underscore this prediction, Jesus quoted from the Old Testament passage of Zechariah, chapter 13, verse 7, citing that when the shepherd was struck, all of the sheep would immediately scatter. But then Jesus added this word of encouragement to this troubling announcement as he mentioned he would rise from the dead. "But when I rise from the dead, when I rise."

Unfortunately, the disciples didn't process that part of the prediction. In fact, Peter was especially disagreeable with the words of Jesus. And he answered and said to him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble." Here we find that Peter pridefully contradicts the words of Jesus.

He had set himself above the other disciples by saying even if all of them had denied the Lord, he would never do that. "It's not going to happen to me," thought Peter. Peter felt that he was the exception to the words of Jesus. He assumed that he was stronger than he truly was. He felt that he was on a different level spiritually than his colleagues.

Perhaps the reason is because of his past experience. He did walk on water at one point. These guys didn't. "I was the only one to get out of the boat, so there." Also, Jesus had given him the keys to the Kingdom, not to them, but to him. And also, he changed his name. So, I mean, come on. He's got an advantage over all the rest of these losers. He's definitely not going to stumble in this way.

Listen, it's a danger to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. To think that if the Lord says something that clearly applies to all, somehow we're the exception. "That's not me. That's everybody else, but I don't struggle with that. That could never happen to me." Listen, these become Peter's famous last words: "I will never."

The Bible warns in Proverbs chapter 16, verse 18, it says that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. In his pride, Peter had not taken into consideration the previous warnings that Jesus had actually given to him. Luke's Gospel, same night, Luke's Gospel, chapter 22, this is what Jesus said to Peter a few hours earlier.

He said, "Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith shall not fail; and when you return to me, strengthen your brethren." But he said to him even then, "Lord, I'm ready to go with you, both to prison and to death." Peter was confident in himself that he was ready, not just for prison, but "I'm ready to die."

Jesus says it a second time in verse 34. Assuredly, like, listen up. I'm saying this to you. Listen to me. Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And notice again, Peter said, "Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you." So said all the disciples. The suggestion that Peter could deny the Lord once, let alone three times, seemed unbelievable.

He could never see himself making that mistake. But listen, by the time the disciples reached the Mount of Olives, it was probably near midnight. According to Jesus, within a very few hours, Peter would deny him three times. Before 3:00 in the morning, Peter would have denied the Lord three times. And it actually happened just like Jesus said.

Now, you can't be too hard on Peter. He did love the Lord. He wanted to be that man who could die for Jesus, and one day he would be. But at this moment, he was self-confident. He was prideful, and he contradicted the very words that Jesus spoke. Always a danger.

We need to understand that if it weren't for the grace of God this morning—listen carefully, church—if it wasn't for the grace of God, we would all stumble. We would all fall. If it wasn't for the sustaining grace of God in our lives and his empowering of us through his Spirit, we would be back in the pit of this world. Don't make the mistake of looking at another brother or sister who's failed and think, "That would never happen to me." It's only the grace of God that it hasn't happened to you.

It's the grace and the mercy of God that sustains us even at this moment. Walk humbly with our God, the Bible exhorts us. Cling to him. Praise him for the grace that sustains us.

Verse 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.' And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee"—of course, that's James and John—"and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me.'"

The Garden of Gethsemane, located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives—and Gethsemane is a word that means "olive press." In those days, they would take olives and they would crush them completely in order that the oil could be produced. And this garden, no doubt, was a place that Jesus and his disciples had come before for a time of refreshment and retreat away from the crowds. But on this particular evening, it was a night of anguish as Jesus was being crushed under the coming agony and weight of the cross.

And when he arrived in the garden, he asked eight of the disciples to sit down, and he took Peter, James, and John and went further into the garden. And these three—Peter, James, and John—seemed to form that inner circle with Jesus. They were the ones on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were the ones that were brought in when Jairus's daughter was raised from the dead. And now they accompany Jesus further into the garden to intercede with him.

And at that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, it says that Jesus began to experience an inner struggle. The disciples had never observed this before in Jesus. Matthew records a few things about our Lord's condition. There are three different verbs actually that are used to describe the anguish that Jesus felt. He felt sorrowful. It means to be distressed, to grieve, to be anguished. It means to be troubled, to be in anxiety, to be full of heaviness. And it means to be exceedingly sorrowful, horrified, to be dismayed.

The picture that is given to us in the Garden of Gethsemane is that of an overwhelming sense of loneliness that Jesus has in his hour of struggle. In fact, a man by the name of G. Campbell Morgan, who was a commentator from generations ago, he describes the progression of Jesus away from the crowd and toward the loneliness of the cross. This is what he said.

He said, "There Judas had forsaken him. He went with the remaining 11 to Gethsemane, and there he left eight of his disciples and took the faithful three with him into the cultivated olive garden. Then he left the three and retreated to prayer alone. The incidents relating to the whole scene emphasize the loneliness of Christ as he prepared to take upon himself the sins of the world."

I point this out to show you that Jesus knew in his humanity what it was to be sorrowful, what it was to be overwhelmed, what it was to feel anguish, to feel a heaviness that life can bring. And he knew it in a far greater capacity than you and I will ever experience in this world. In other words, he knows what you're going through today, friend.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 2 concerning Jesus, "Therefore, in all things he was made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are being tempted."

Listen, are you struggling today? Are you overwhelmed today? Did you come in with a sense of heaviness and burden by what's unfolding in your life right now? Do you know that Jesus knows what that feels like, and he can help you today? He can assist you today. Don't think that you're the only one and no one else has ever experienced it. Nobody knows what this feels like. Listen, Jesus does.

Last night, I received a message that there was a member in our former church in the southeast of Florida. When he came in, he was a young man and so was I. But he struggled greatly with mental illness, depression. And I remember on more than one occasion when he would come in and perhaps his medication had been altered slightly and it affected him.

He could be completely docile and work his job and do everything and everything was fine. And then there were moments when he would come in just frantic, breaking down, weeping convulsively, and we would pray with him and encourage him, walk him through this valley that he was in. And he remained faithful to the Lord, faithful in fellowship, serving the Lord.

But as sometimes these things go, he hadn't slept for many hours, struggled with insomnia and depression, and was away for work and in a moment of weakness made a fatal mistake and ended his life. And you just think, "Man, it's heartbreaking." And you think, "Man, if he would have just turned to the Lord in that moment."

So, what I'm saying to you this morning with a heavy heart is if that's you, if you're struggling in that way and you have those thoughts, listen, turn to Christ. Turn to Christ and find that he is sufficient to help you, to give you strength. There's a reason to live. There's a purpose for your existence. Don't believe the lies of the devil.

Jesus was crushed in the garden. Luke tells us in his account that his sweat became like drops of blood. He was so vexed and overwhelmed through the circumstance that he was in that the capillaries on his forehead began to burst and blood began to run down. And he prayed that the Father's will would be done.

It says that Jesus went a little further, and he fell on his face and he prayed, "O Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." Then he came to the disciples and he found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation."

He said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." And again, a second time, he went away and he prayed and he said, "O my Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done." And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

So he left them, and he went away again. And 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. Rise, let us be going. My betrayer is at hand."

Here we find Jesus three times agonizing in prayer in the garden and saying each time, "Not my will, but yours be done." And each time he went back and found the disciples asleep. There was no other way, folks, for us to be saved. Jesus said, "If there is any other way, if there's any other way that I don't have to go through this and experience this, then okay."

But there wasn't another way. This is the only way that humanity could be saved from eternal separation from God—was for Jesus to suffer and to take upon himself all of the sins of the world in that moment on the cross. And if he didn't, then humanity would be lost.

And so, Jesus submits to the will of the Father. In fact, again, the writer of Hebrews gives us New Testament commentary as to what Jesus was experiencing in the garden at this moment. In Hebrews chapter 5, it says this: "Who, in the days of his flesh"—that's his humanity—"when he, Jesus, had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard because of his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered."

There in the garden, just offering up prayers and cries and if there's any other way. In his humanity, he's feeling what we can barely scratch the surface of—what it would be like for him to be ultimately separated from the Father. And yet he submits to the will of the Father. And listen, folks, in that moment, having submitted to the will of the Father, everything was about to change. You may recall that human history began in a garden.