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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. Our focus 
this morning is on verses 36 to 39. Certainly as we enter into the 
Garden of Gethsemane, this is holy ground, and it would do 
us well to remove our shoes. We are in the presence of God 
incarnate, wrestling in prayer with His Father on high. I'll 
read verses 36 to 46. 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, 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. He went a little farther and 
fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it is 
possible, let this pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, 
but as you will. Then he came to the disciples 
and found them sleeping and said to Peter, what, could you not 
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter 
into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, 
but the flesh is weak. Again a second time he went away 
and prayed, saying, oh my father, if this cup cannot pass away 
from me unless I drink it, your will be done. And he came and 
found them again, found them asleep again, for their eyes 
were heavy. So he left them, went away again, 
and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 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. See, my betrayer is at hand. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, help us, God, to 
gather in your presence now as we consider the Son of God revealed 
to us in this section of Scripture. Lord, there are exceedingly mysterious 
things in this passage. We would pray for the aid of 
the Holy Spirit to guide us into a deeper appreciation of what 
our Savior went through on our behalf. God, certainly we see 
him in this passage with that soul sorrow, that distress, that 
resignation to submit himself to the Father's will. God, all 
of this for us men and for our salvation, and in this we greatly 
rejoice. Fill us now with the Holy Spirit 
and help us to see these things. And God, may this section speak 
multitudes to those who are outside of Christ. May they see in Christianity 
a Savior who does save, a Savior who has gone to the uttermost 
in order to secure the salvation of His people. Lord, we pray 
that the Holy Spirit would work faith in the hearts of sinners 
this day. that in this place today would indeed be the day 
of salvation, that you would be glorified, that you would 
be honored, that you would be praised in the salvation of souls. Again, forgive us for our sins 
and forgive us of our transgression. And we ask these things through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. I agree with J.C. Ryle in his introduction to this 
particular section. In his expository thoughts, he 
says it is a passage which undoubtedly contains deep and mysterious 
things. We ought to read it with reverence 
I think that is a good and accurate description of how we ought to 
approach Gethsemane. The structure of the passage 
is quite simple. Essentially, the Lord Jesus prays, 
verse 39, the disciples sleep. verses 40 and 41. Jesus prays 
a second time, verse 42, and the disciples sleep, verse 43. Jesus prays a third time, verse 
44, and the disciples sleep again in verses 45 and 46. Now I think it is right for us 
as God's people when we survey Scripture to try and find practical 
application. But I want to caution us against 
the sort of application that moralizes Gethsemane. I think 
we're in this passage to be sure, but it's not in the sufferings 
of the Son of Man. It's in the sleep. It's in the 
sluggishness. It's in the weariness and the 
failure to watch and pray of the disciples. We ought not to 
take our sufferings and try to see some sort of an equality 
or a connection with what our Lord underwent. Now, we do suffer, 
and I don't want to minimize that, and I think that Gethsemane 
is a helpful place for us to take our weary and our suffering 
souls, but there are things going on in Gethsemane that you and 
I will never have to face, and that, because our God sent His 
Son into this world to live, to die and to rise again on our 
behalf. So as I said, we're going to 
just take up verses 36 to 39 this morning because I want us 
to consider the Savior's first prayer in the garden. And I have 
several observations here. First, we'll notice the setting 
of the Savior's agony. Secondly, the sorrow of the Savior, 
and then thirdly, the supplication of the Savior. Now, there is 
some Christology, doctrine of Jesus Christ, that is in this 
passage that we ought not to neglect. I'm going to lean on 
some of the brothers in the past to try and hopefully elucidate 
or demonstrate what's happening in the life of the incarnate 
Son of God. But in the first place, note 
the setting of the Savior's agony. Verse 36, then Jesus came with 
them to a place called Death Now, it literally means oil press, 
and it was an oil orchard probably on the western slopes, the lower 
slopes of the Mount of Olives. And the parallel passage in Luke 
22 tells us that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives as he was 
accustomed. So this was something or a place 
that Jesus frequented. In fact, this was the way or 
the means by which Judas would know how to find them. In John 
18.2, it says, And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, 
for Jesus often met there with His disciples. And that's the 
subject of the following narrative. It is the arrest of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And then notice, with reference 
to the setting, the disciples, what Jesus does with them. Notice 
in verse 36, he says to eight. Now at this particular point, 
there are 11 disciples. We surmise that Judas has left 
now, and that he is indeed gathering together the troops that'll be 
necessary to arrest the Son of God in Gethsemane. So Jesus has 
11 disciples with him, and he tells eight of them to sort of 
sit at the entrance to this particular garden. Many interpreters see 
a link here to Genesis 22.5. Remember when Abraham takes Isaac 
up to Mount Moriah for worship. When Abraham takes Isaac up to 
Mount Moriah for sacrifice, he tells his servants to wait here 
while the lad and I go and worship. And some see the similarities 
in terms of the account. And then notice, of the eleven, 
the eight are stationed probably at the entrance of the garden, 
and then he takes three specifically. The three disciples that accompanied 
him into the garden were Peter and the sons of Zebedee. Now, 
Peter and the sons of Zebedee means Peter, James, and John. Now, it is interesting that these 
are the three disciples who had witnessed the transfiguration. 
Remember in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 17, Jesus was transfigured 
before these three men. Peter, James, and John saw as 
it were our Lord peel back his humanity and demonstrate his 
glory. One man is well observed, the 
same three that witnessed his unveiled glory at the Mount of 
Transfiguration, now witness his unveiled anguish, the depths 
of his sorrow, the depths of his distress. These are the audience 
that he has with him in this particular situation. And it's 
also intriguing that of these three men, Peter, James, and 
John, each of them asserted that they were willing to die for 
the Lord Jesus Christ. If we were to go back in Matthew 
20, when these men, James and John, are sort of jockeying for 
position, Jesus says, you don't know what you're asking. He says, 
I have a cup to drink and a baptism to undergo that you are not able 
to undergo. And they say, or they claim there 
in 20-23, we are able. And then most recently here, 
when Jesus announced the desertion and the denial, Peter affirms 
his willingness to die with the Lord Jesus. Notice in verse 36, 
Peter said to him, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny 
you. You ought not to miss the irony 
in this particular section. These men who swear that they're 
ready to die with Christ cannot watch and pray with him for one 
hour. You want the example? You want 
the moral of the story? We're not the suffering Christ 
in the passage. We are the sluggish disciples 
who will swear our fidelity to our Master in terms of our willingness 
to die for Him. But when it comes to watching 
and praying for but one hour, we can't keep our eyes open. 
You see, that is a demonstration of the weakness and the frailty 
of man. That is a demonstration as to 
why the Son of God underwent what He underwent in order to 
save us from our sins. Thankfully, He was able to watch 
and pray. Thankfully, He was able to intercede 
on behalf of the Father. Thankfully, He wrestled, and 
thankfully, He resigned Himself to doing the will of the Father 
in heaven. Now notice, secondly, the sorrow 
of the Savior. The text tells us his internal 
distress. Notice in verse 38, I'm sorry, 
verse 39. Verse 37 says, he took with him 
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful 
and deeply distressed. It's a pretty amazing statement, 
isn't it? He began to be sorrowful and 
deeply distressed. We read specifically at the outset 
of worship Psalm 42, and then we sang Psalm 43, because in 
the Greek translation of those psalms, the same language is 
used. What the psalmist is writing 
about in terms of soul anguish is experienced here by our Lord. 
And brethren, as we meet this particular expression, He began 
to be sorrowful and deeply distressed, we ought not to be caught off 
guard. It was announced by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53.3 
that Christ would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 
And what you ought to appreciate is that the closer he gets to 
the cross, the closer he gets to this cup, the closer he gets 
to this hour, we'll speak on that in more detail in a few 
minutes, the closer he gets to those things, notice he's sorrowful 
and he's deeply distressed. He echoes the psalmist, why are 
you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within 
me? But thankfully, our Lord does 
what the psalmist prescribes to his own soul. Hope in God, 
for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. 
Oh my God, my soul is down within me. You see, he will tell, according 
to verse 39, his disciples about his sorrow and distress. but 
he ultimately isn't looking for them to fix it. He tells God 
about his sorrows. He tells God about his soul distress. He unburdens himself before the 
throne of his Father. That's what we ought to appreciate 
in this particular section. The Son of God, as he nears the 
cross, is, according to his humanity, rightly sorrowful and rightly 
distressed at the prospect of the cross. Now note, he says 
this very specifically to the disciples. Then he said to them, 
my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death, stay here and 
watch with me. It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? He doesn't hide it. He doesn't walk around and mope. 
He doesn't, you know, get broody or moody. He tells them specifically 
what is happening in his soul. And the whole language and the 
whole emphasis by Jesus upon his disciples seems to indicate 
that he wants companionship at this most crucial hour. See, 
He is truly man, and I think that is one of the take-home 
lessons of this particular passage. The Lord's true humanity. The Fathers rightly recognize 
that whatever is not assumed is not redeemed. If He doesn't 
assume man, if He is not truly man with all of the essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin, then 
He doesn't successfully save man. And you see this expressed 
by the Son of God to His disciples, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, 
even to death. Stay here and watch with me. 
Now this soul sorrow is according to His humanity. I just quoted 
our confession. He has all the essential properties 
and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin." We need to 
grasp this fact, brethren. I think far too often we treat 
Christ as a superman. Christ and His humanity is not 
superman. Christ and His humanity identifies 
with us fully. Christ in his humanity is one 
of us. Christ in his humanity does take 
on all the essential properties of man, all the common infirmities 
of man, yet without sin. He's not just a superman wearing 
a cape and somehow able to do the various things that he does. 
This reality of the approaching hour that meant this cop, again 
we'll look at that in just a moment, meant sorrow for our Savior. And the language is very strong. 
He'd already vocalized some of his own soul distress earlier 
in the week. In John 12, 27 he says, now my soul is troubled 
and what shall I say? But look at the language that 
we have in verses 37 and 38. Sorrowful and deeply distressed. He says, my soul is exceedingly 
sorrowful even to death. This sorrow is indeed natural 
in light of what's going to happen to him. And this sorrow is even 
unto death. And I think this highlights his 
anguish. I don't think it means that he 
actually wants to die to escape it. In fact, D.A. Carson makes 
this observation. It suggests a sorrow so deep 
it almost kills. Not that Jesus is so sorrowful 
he would rather be dead. You see, I think that's how we 
might respond. Boy, I'd rather die than have to undergo these 
particular things. That's not his point. That's 
not what he's suggesting. He is saying the sorrow and the 
distress and the exceeding trouble that has befallen him is even 
unto death. This stuff may even kill me. Again, when we identify the cup, 
I think we'll have more of an understanding as to why he expresses 
himself in this manner. Now let's move to the supplication 
of the Savior in verse 39. This will occupy the rest of 
our time this morning. Note his solitariness. The eight 
are stationed probably by the entrance to the garden. He takes 
Peter, James, and John with him, but then he leaves them at a 
particular point, and according to Luke's gospel, he goes about 
a stone's throw away, and there he prays. And I think France 
is accurate when he says, the intriguing blend of secrecy, 
leaving the majority of the disciples behind, and yet his taking of 
Peter, James, and John with him, suggests a strong need for human 
companionship. Beautiful, isn't it? You see, 
the idea is not, well, you know, he's just able to go it alone 
because he's Jesus. He wants his friends with him. 
It's not sinful. It's not wrong. It's not bad. 
It's not wrong to unburden your soul to your friends. He's able 
to say, as man, my soul is exceedingly troubled, sorrowful. Does it 
make us any less than man? If it does, then Jesus is less 
than a man. You ought to be able to unburden 
your heart and soul to at least a Peter, James, and John in your 
life, as our Lord Jesus Christ does. He goes on to say, it suggests 
a strong need for human companionship, but even they will be kept at 
a distance. This is a private transaction 
between Father and Son. And notice his posture, he falls 
down on his face. He went a little further and 
fell on his face and prayed. We have seen something intriguing 
concerning what men do when they come into the presence of God 
Almighty. Think, for instance, from Wednesday night, 1 Kings 
chapter 19, what happens when Yahweh speaks to the prophet 
Elijah. He takes his mantle and he covers 
his face. What happens when the angels 
in the presence of God Most High in Isaiah 6, they have six wings 
and they cover their feet and with two they fly and with two 
they cover their face. And we see Isaiah the prophet 
himself cry out, woe is me for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean 
lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Now Jesus is 
not bemoaning his sin here. This falling down on the face 
does however suggest reverence for the majesty of God Most High. You see, Jesus didn't just wander 
into the prayer room with the Father and say, how you doing? 
You see, there is a jocularity and a frivolity that oftentimes 
marks our prayers that is not consistent with the Savior. The 
Savior knows with whom He traffics. The Savior knows with whom He 
trucks. And the Savior reverences the Father. I would suggest that 
is a lesson we ought to derive from this, because far too often, 
as I said, we treat God as if He's just a bit of a bigger one 
of us. We want to put our arms around Him, we want to get buddy-buddy 
with Him, and while God indeed is a friend for sinners, He is 
the God of absolute, unrivaled, unparalleled majesty, sovereignty, 
and supremacy. And how dare us lowly worms come 
into His presence the way we would come into the presence 
of a fellow? We need to respect God. We need to appreciate the 
divine majesty. And so what Christ does in falling 
on his face, he esteems the divine majesty, and as well, I think 
it indicates something of his own brokenness, his own soul, 
sorrow, and the distress that he is undergoing. Now note his 
petition very specifically. He addresses my father. He taught the disciples in Matthew 
6 to pray, Our Father. And certainly, Christ is our 
elder brother by redemption. We have been adopted into the 
family of God. Hebrews 2 does tell us that Jesus 
is not ashamed to call us brethren. But as Jesus expresses Himself, 
My Father, He's highlighting something more there, I think, 
than just this whole idea of, well, certainly not for Him adoption, 
but the reality that He is the eternally begotten Son of God. 
that he is in this particular place and he addresses his father 
with this intimacy, he is indeed Christ the Son by nature. Now note the petition. He says, 
oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, 
not as I will, but as you will. Let's just slow down for a moment 
and let me preface this section with a few remarks. We have problems 
in the church today. I don't mean in our church, though 
we do. I'm sure we do. Every church has problems, but 
there are problems in the church today in terms of Trinitarian 
theology, what's called theology proper, the doctrine of God, 
and Christology. We have men, respected theologians 
in our day, that are teaching things that are absolutely contrary 
first to scripture and to what the church has always understood 
those scriptures to teach. So as I said, there is Christology 
here. We're going to slow it down. We're going to unfold some 
things. that are very important for us 
to understand. I'm going to quote several authors 
from the past to try and help explain what we find in this 
particular prayer. I mean, think about what Christ, 
the Son of God, is praying to the Father. Oh, my Father, if 
it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not 
as I will, but as you will. In the first place, just some 
general observations. The petition reveals the two 
wills of Christ. Now, the Trinity has one will, 
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. These three are one God, 
the same in substance, equal in power and glory. So there 
is one will amongst the members of the Trinity. Christ in the 
work of mediation, Christ as he assumes humanity, Christ as 
he identifies with us in all the essential properties and 
common infirmities thereof, yet without sin, is truly man. and the Council of Chalcedon 
recognized in AD 451 that Christ had two natures. We call that 
the hypostatic union. Now, the temptation at this point 
might be for you to say, well, I'm going to just tune out because 
this is all theological stuff that I really don't understand. 
I'm going to do my best to explain it. If you're in a lecture about 
math, you would try and pay attention and listen. I suggest to you 
the doctrine of Christ is far more important than any math 
you will ever apply yourself unto. But the Council of Chalcedon 
taught that Christ was one person, two natures. That's called the 
hypostatic union. Hypostasis, a subsistence, a 
personal act of being. These two natures are joined 
together in the one person. There was a group called the 
Monothelites. The Monothelites simply means 
the one-will people. The theological identifier is 
monothelitism, and it simply means that. Mono means one. Theleo 
or thelos is will. And so there were these persons 
that taught that Christ had one will. Now certainly that doesn't 
jive with what we find here. And so it does eradicate the 
true humanity of our Lord Jesus. Thankfully, the Third Council 
of Constantinople in AD 680 and 681 determined that monothelitism 
was heresy. You see, back in those days, 
they didn't play games, they didn't care about your delicate 
sensitivities, they didn't care if it offended you to be called 
a heretic. Do you know how Cyril addressed 
Nestorius after he was exiled, or the church addressed him after 
he was exiled? They called him the new Judas. You see, if we 
did that today, people would just cry in the streets. But 
this idea of monothelitism was considered heretical. There are 
two wills in the person of Christ. Two natures, two wills. And this 
text affirms that most clearly. As well, as mentioned before, 
the petition is perfectly consistent with his humanity. Saint Cyril 
of Alexandria said, but having been made flesh, John 1.14, he 
allows the flesh to feel what belongs to it. And therefore, 
being truly a man, he trembles at death when it is now at the 
door. You see, we can't say, well, 
why is he doing this? He's God, because according to his humanity, 
he's going to drink the cup of God's wrath. Tell me how you 
would respond. Would you be sorrowful? Would 
you be exceedingly distressed? Absolutely. We might have a difficult 
meeting lined up for tomorrow, and it causes a great deal of 
perplexity in our souls. We might have an awkward encounter 
with somebody in the mall, and it just reduces us to ashes and 
rubble. We might see the competing political 
sign that we don't agree with and cry out in the public square. You see, we don't respond well 
to these particular things, and yet we have trouble with the 
reality that He is sorrowful and deeply distressed. He is 
facing something that no one else ever faced. Our confession 
again in chapter 8, paragraph 7 says, Christ in the work of 
mediation acts according to both natures, by each nature doing 
that which is proper to itself. In other words, knowing what 
we know about the wrath and fury of God the Father, represented 
by the cup, knowing what we know about what's going to happen 
subsequent to this particular prayer in Gethsemane, knowing 
all this, it's perfectly acceptable and righteous, and this is the 
response we should expect, that there would be soul sorrow in 
the heart of the Savior, and there would be exceeding distress, 
or he wouldn't be human. He wouldn't be a man. The point 
in the prayer is not, does Jesus know what really is and is not 
the will of the Father? The point in the prayer is to 
demonstrate, at least theologically, his true humanity. It's like 
when he teaches concerning the coming of the Son of Man in Matthew 
24, 36, in the parallel in Mark chapter 13. He says, the angels don't know, 
or only the Father knows, the Son doesn't know. The ignorant 
Son there. We saw there that it just highlights 
or demonstrates His true humanity. Our Savior so identified with 
us that He was characterized as a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. He's so identified with us that 
he essentially sings Psalm 42 and 43 in Gethsemane. He so identifies 
with us that he has this exceeding soul sorrow and this great distress. The parallel in Luke's gospel 
tells us that while he prayed, great drops of blood pressed 
out of his very being. And then as well, we ought to 
appreciate the petition undeniably affirms his true humanity, a 
true man facing what Christ faced would pray this way. Wouldn't 
he? Is everybody with me? You ask 
the question, what am I supposed to learn from Gethsemane? How 
to suffer? Yeah, but way over here. You know what you're supposed 
to learn from Gethsemane? Our Savior identifies with us 
in all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, 
yet without sin. As I said, we're always quick 
to march into biblical texts and try to grab pieces of application 
for me. We're kind of like bargain shoppers 
if Walmart were to put up a big sign, everything half price. 
We would run in there and we would pull things off those shelves. 
And people do that with the Bible. What does it mean for me? You 
know what this passage means for you? Worship, praise, adoration, 
stand in awe and be amazed at your God. That's the take home 
lesson of this passage. I just want to read John Gill 
here. The petition undeniably affirms his true humanity. Gill 
says that he might be freed from the present horror of his mind. 
That's why he prays, Oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup 
pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, 
but as you will. The prayer is consistent. He 
says that he might be freed from the present horror of his mind, 
be excused from the sufferings of death, and be delivered from 
the curse of the law and wrath of God. Which request was made 
without sin, though it betrayed the weakness of the human nature 
under its insubordinable load, and its reluctance to sufferings 
and death? And he says this, which is natural. You see, brethren, if Gethsemane 
wasn't in the Bible, we might wonder, was he really man? Because 
what would man do facing the cup of God's wrath? He would 
be sorrowful, he would be exceedingly distressed, and he would pour 
out his heart before the Father in prayer. This is precisely 
what we should expect in light of the fact that our Christ became 
man for us men and for our salvation. And this petition reminds us 
of the importance of His true humanity. Westminster Larger 
Catechism says, question and answer number 39, it was requisite, 
that means it was required If any words pass you over this 
morning and you want to talk afterwards, find me at lunch. 
I'll try and explain what monothelites or the monothelites are and monothelitism. One will, it's pretty easy to 
grasp, deniers of the two natures of Christ, two wills of Christ. 
But here it's required that the mediator should be man. that 
He might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, 
suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a 
fellow feeling of our infirmities, that we might receive the adoption 
of sons and have comfort and access with boldness unto the 
throne of grace. And one commentator makes this 
beautiful observation. It's sort of a play on the fathers. 
What was not assumed was not redeemed. This one man says, 
take away Jesus' humanity and you take away humanity's salvation. That's not an understatement, 
brethren. It was requisite that he be man. Absolutely necessary. You know what Gethsemane screams 
to you, or it should scream to you? He, in fact, is true humanity. He, in fact, is man. When you 
hear him say, my soul is sorrowful, And he says, even unto death, 
realize, brethren, that this is Christ, according to His humanity, 
preparing for the great work of redemption. And that brings 
us to some specific considerations concerning the petition. Notice, 
O my Father, if it is possible, So, let this cup pass from me. In the first place, we ought 
to observe the cup refers to the wrath of God. There are many 
passages of Scripture that demonstrate this, not least of which are 
found in Psalm 11, 5 and 6, Psalm 75, verse 8. Isaiah 51, 17-18, Jeremiah 25, 
15-28, 49-12, 51-7, Ezekiel 23, 31-33, Habakkuk 2-16, Lamentations 
4-21, and then in the New Testament, I've already referred, Matthew 
20, are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink? 
You see, the disciples said, yeah, we're ready. Jesus says, 
oh, you're going to drink a cup. You're going to be baptized, 
but it's not going to be the same as what I undergo. The cup, 
in context, is the cup of God's wrath and fury. You see it in 
the parallels in Mark and in Luke, Mark 14, Luke 22. You see 
it in John 18 when Jesus says, am I not supposed to drink the 
cup that's been ordained for me? You see it in Revelation 
14, Revelation 16, Revelation 18. In Psalm, the cup is symbolic 
to the wrath and fury and judgment of God. You see why he says, 
my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. You see and understand 
now why Christ expresses himself thus at the throne of grace. If it is possible, let this cup 
pass from me. The reality that he's going to 
drink to the dregs, the bitterest cup of wrath that there ever 
was. Gil says it's this cup of fury, 
cursing, and trembling. I submit that this cup explains 
to us very clearly the reason for his soul's sorrow and exceeding 
distress. Remember that Jesus knew, according 
to his study of scripture, what was his lot. Isaiah the prophet 
53.10 says Yahweh was pleased to bruise him. He knew that was 
coming. We saw last week in our studies 
in Matthew 26, verses 31 to 35, the prophet Zechariah chapter 
13, verse 7. What does Yahweh say concerning 
His companion? Concerning the man who is His 
companion, one who is His companion by nature, the Lord God Most 
High will smite him, will strike him. Christ knows that's coming. 
as well. Christ knows the way in which 
Matthew 1.21 and Matthew 20.28 is going to come to pass. What 
are we told at the naming of Jesus? You shall call His name 
Jesus. Why? Because it's just a common name. 
It's in the top ten of the baby name books that is going around 
Israel in those days. No, you shall call His name Jesus, 
for it is He who will save His people from their sins. Jesus 
knew how that was going to be accomplished, again, by his reading 
of the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 speaks substitutionary 
atonement so loudly and so clearly, only liberal theologians can 
miss it. Which, just by way of an aside, if the death of Christ 
is only exemplary, this passage makes no sense. This passage 
makes sense based on substitutionary wrath. This passage makes sense on a 
biblical understanding of atonement. Many have rightly observed. Why 
is Christ in this frame? Martyrs have marched to their 
demise with great joy. Martyrs have gone happily to 
the flames. Martyrs have gone happily to 
the cross. Martyrs have gone happily to 
the firing squad. And yet here, Jesus expresses 
a bit of a hesitancy because martyrs know nothing of this 
cup of God's wrath. You see, on an exemplary or a 
moralistic reading of the Bible, this passage, verse 39, makes 
no sense. Why would the Savior pray thus? 
Why wouldn't He just demonstrate what it is to be a willing martyr 
for the cause? Because He's going to drink the 
cup of God's wrath. Christ knows, Matthew 20, 28. 
It's intriguing. This is the last statement pronounced 
by our Lord, and then they make their trip to Jerusalem. It's 
Matthew 20, 28. Even as the Son of Man did not 
come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom 
for many. Matthew is an exemplary or perfect theologian. I mean, 
look at that insight. Christ declares this, the next 
geographical movement is to go to Jerusalem, the place where 
Christ will do that very thing. He will give his life a ransom 
for many. Christ knew that. Christ understood 
what the contents of the cup was all about. And as suggested 
earlier, the cup differentiates from martyrs. The cup is the 
result of Christ bearing the sins of his people. No martyrs 
ever done that, have they? I suggest you and I could joyfully 
march to our demise as martyrs. We're not bearing the load of 
sin for every other human being or every other one of the elect. 
What does 2 Corinthians 5.21 tell us concerning our Savior? 
God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. What does that 
mean? Does that mean that Jesus actually 
engaged in moral perversity? Jesus actually lusted after women? Jesus actually committed murder? 
Jesus actually committed theft? Jesus actually lied? No! It's 
the language of the law court. It was imputed to Him. It was 
reckoned unto Him. It was accounted unto Him. That 
sin that is ours is heaped upon the Son of God. Show me a martyr 
that knows anything of that. 2 Corinthians 5.21, the Father 
made Him, the Son, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we 
might become the righteousness of God in Him. Or Galatians 3.13, 
what does it tell us? That Christ has suffered, or 
Christ has become a curse. What does that mean? It means 
God took our sin and heaped it upon the Son, and in Him punished 
us. Substitutionary atonement. As well, Christ is different 
from martyrs in the realization of the execution of divine justice 
for the sins of his people. Now, I submit that I would say 
most of us in this room have some conception of the judgment 
of God. If you don't, wake up. Because 
God is a righteous God. God is a just God. God is a holy 
God. And the prophet says, he will 
by no means clear the guilty. You can start in the book of 
Genesis and just review at a very cursory level and see God's aversion, 
his opposition, his settled revulsion against sin. You see it in the 
flood. What happens when the earth is 
populated with exceedingly corrupt and violent people? What does 
God do? He sends the flood, save Noah 
and his family. Everybody else is dead. You see 
it in the judgment of God, even upon his covenant people, the 
northern tribes and the southern tribes of Israel. So we all at 
least have some, at least a faint appreciation of what God's judgment 
means. Those of us who by God's grace 
and had been saved, we've come to appreciate, wow, look at what 
we've been saved from. Look at the sorts of things that 
Jesus says in a description of hell and everlasting punishment 
and judgment. Those of you who are not saved 
need to ponder this perhaps a little more closely. You see, the modern 
conception that God is this old fellow up in heaven and he's 
got this long beard and, you know, he's got a bit of arthritis 
and he's got his cane and he's going to deal with you as a gentlemanly 
old sort of grandfather, that's just blatant lies. I don't know 
where that ever came from. Well, it comes out of the corruption 
of man's heart, to be sure. We project, we throw up there 
what we want. So this is a proof, you know, 
that the Bible is indeed of divine inspiration. What men in their 
right minds would have portrayed or developed this God? You and 
I in our sin would develop a God that was that gentlemanly old 
grandfatherly figure with a cane and a crutch and a bit of a limp 
and a bit of a back and a bit of a thing that says, well, I'm 
just going to indulge you, my little children, in whatever 
it is you want. That's the kind of God we would 
develop. We wouldn't have developed the God revealed to us in Isaiah 
the prophet, chapter six, where the angel's job is to sing, holy, 
holy, holy. You see, we read that in Isaiah 
six, and in our minds, it's three times. Wow, they said it three 
times. This is their job. This is what 
they do. This is a 24-7 activity. They're angels whose function 
is to ascribe holiness and majesty to God. They don't confer it, 
they don't bring it, they don't make it, they recognize it and 
declare it. There's a variant reading in 
Revelation, the particular chapter escapes me, but in the majority 
text, it's nine times. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, 
holy. Holy, holy, holy. And I suspect 
most North Americans, when they read that, get to just after 
about the first or second holy and just skip to the end of the 
line. Again, remember, their job is to do this. Holy, holy, 
holy is the Lord of hosts. You see, that's the God scripture 
sets before us. If you are not a Christian here 
this morning, you need to understand, you're not gonna drink the cup 
of God's wrath in the way that Jesus drank it on the cross, 
but you will certainly face the wrath and fury and judgment of 
God. You need to see in this passage 
the only lifeline, the only help, the only salvation that exists, 
because the teaching of the Bible is simple. God is that holy God 
so clearly described. We are unholy men and women. We are terrible human beings. 
I suggest people are gonna get tired of me saying that, and 
they're gonna be like, I'm not gonna go to that church anymore. 
That guy always says we're terrible. I wish I could report otherwise. I wish I could say, well, you're 
really nice. I mean, on the one hand, you're 
nice, but on the other hand, you know with me that we're terrible. 
This is the bad news. God says don't commit idolatry. What do we do? We commit idolatry. 
God says don't blaspheme his name. What do we do? We blaspheme 
his name. We use the holy name of God in Jesus as if it's a 
filler in a sentence like um. We reduce the lofty one of Israel 
to filler in a sentence like he's um, or like he's like, or 
like he's a. These are all fillers we use 
in sentences, and we do that, or at least some do that, with 
the name of God most high and the name of Jesus. God says keep 
the Sabbath day. Remember the Sabbath day? To 
keep it holy. Boy, we just don't like that, 
do we? I mean, we'll put up with a whole lot of stuff, but don't 
you claim our time. Isn't that what the fourth word 
does? God says, give me a day. That's not give me a day like 
go work in the salt mines and sweat and die and suffer. No, 
it's give me a day to be with me. But we still don't like that. God says to honor and obey your 
parents. Kids, do you do that? Do you 
obey them? Do you do what they tell you? 
Do you do it with the right attitude and the right disposition? God 
says don't commit murder. Okay, maybe we're not out on 
the clock tower with a 30-06 and a high-powered scope taking 
people out. But what's our hearts like? Do 
we hate people? Do we call them names? Do we 
speak ill of them? God says we're not supposed to 
engage in porne, sexual immorality. Young men, young women, old men, 
old women, how are we doing with reference to the seventh word? 
You see, God must punish sin, not just some sort of generic 
sin out there, but particular concretizations of it vis-a-vis 
the violation of God's law. God says don't steal. Sure, you 
may not embezzle, you may not go to Walmart and help yourself 
to what they've got, But I think it's pretty much an epidemic 
thing today that we take money for time not worked. Somehow 
that's okay. We cheat on our taxes. Brethren, 
I got big problems with government. Huge, massive problems. Terribly 
large problems. But Paul says to pay your taxes. And Paul lived at the time of 
Nero. Now, Nero at that time wasn't 
as bad as he would become, but he was still Nero. And Paul says, 
pay your taxes. We're told not to lie, bearing 
false witness. We're told not to covet. You 
see the bad news? God is holy, holy, holy. We're 
unholy, unholy, unholy. We transgress that law. We do 
not conform to that law. The beauty of Gethsemane teaches 
us this. One went before us. One drank the cup of God's wrath. One exhausted God's wrath on 
behalf of his people. It wasn't just an example so 
that we'll feel ooey and gooey when we read this particular 
passage. It was substitutionary atonement. Christ stood in the 
place of sinners. That execution of wrath fell 
upon Him. He took it. He exhausted it. 
He drank the cup down to its dregs. And in that, we have salvation. You see, if you're not redeemed 
this morning, you're not a saved person, you're not a believer 
in Jesus, you're what the Bible calls a sinner, or lost, or not 
found. The way of salvation is to believe 
on Him. The way of salvation is to look 
to this One who said, My soul is sorrowful, exceedingly sorrowful, 
even to death. He drank the cup of God's wrath 
so that all those who believe in Him will have everlasting 
life. That's good news. So you see, 
we cannot reduce the sufferings of Jesus to the martyr's death 
or impugn Him with some sort of evil because He didn't march 
joyfully to it. But He expresses His sole sorrow. Calvin, I think, summarizes what 
I've been attempting to say. He said, he had no horror at 
death, therefore, simply as a passage out of the world. That's the 
martyr, isn't it? The martyr only sees death as 
passage out of the world. And if we are faithful martyrs 
and we are faithful believers and we understand the truth, 
passage out of this world means what? Entrance into the world 
above. That's why martyrs sing joyfully 
when they march to their demise. That's why Thomas Hawks raises 
his almost melted stumps and says Christ is Lord of the fire. 
He is able to look beyond that to the age to come or the world 
to come. So Calvin's right. He had no horror at death, therefore 
simply as a passage out of the world, but because he had before 
his eyes the dreadful tribunal of God and judge himself armed 
with inconceivable vengeance. And because our sins, the load 
of which was laid upon him, pressed him down with their enormous 
weight. There is no reason to wonder, therefore, if the dreadful 
abyss of destruction tormented him grievously with fear and 
anguish." See, Calvin and Gil, these brothers are right. It's 
natural to expect that one who is indeed man would have this 
sort of soul sorrow, this exceeding distress. But let's move on quickly 
and finally to his resolve, his resolve. Notice he makes this 
prayer. Oh, my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass 
from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Boy, 
there's great links to the Lord's Prayer. In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches 
us to pray, our Father, doesn't he? How does he address the Father? My Father. Jesus teaches us in 
that Lord's Prayer to pray that God's will be done. Christ prays 
that. And as we go through the rest 
of the chapter, the rest of the section rather, and hopefully 
just the coming next week, we will see that he's essentially 
taking that petition to pray for protection, pray that the 
Lord would not lead you into temptation. That's the emphasis 
that he's pressing upon the disciples in this watch and pray. So Christ 
acknowledges the primacy of the Father's will. The Trinity, as 
mentioned earlier, has one will. Christ, in the work of mediation 
according to His humanity, resigns Himself and submits Himself to 
the Father's will. This resolve to do the Father's 
will is seen in what's called the active and passive obedience 
of Christ. Psalm 40, verse 8, I delight 
to do your will, O my God, and your law is within my heart. 
That's what Christ is all about. Now, interestingly enough, in 
Psalm 40, he swears that. He takes that oath before he's 
obliged to fulfill it because he hasn't entered into the work 
of mediation yet. It's prospective. It's looking 
to the future. several men here. Matthew Poole 
says, the first clause, let this cup pass from me, the first clause 
is but the expression of the natural, but not sinful, infirmity 
of his flesh, the latter a perfect resignation of his will to God. 
John Calvin sees in this last clause Christ's voluntary resignation 
to the Father. He says, in this passage, therefore, 
His obedience is again described to us because He could not have 
appeased the Father but by a voluntary death. And our own beloved C.H. Spurgeon said, for as much or 
for much as His human nature shrank from the cup, still more 
did He shrink from any thought of acting contrary to His Father's 
will. Beautiful, isn't it? He did shrink from the cop so 
much more was he not going to shrink from doing the father's 
will. And brethren, this becomes sort of the basis for the following 
narrative. Because when they come to arrest 
him, what does he do? He doesn't resist arrest. Imagine 
if you wandered out of the bank sometime and the RCMP surrounded 
you and they started to put the handcuffs on you and you hadn't 
robbed the bank. Boy, that would be an event, 
wouldn't it? that they would probably shoot 
us, because we'd, I didn't do it! You know, the last thing 
you want to do is wave your arms in sort of that rabid fashion 
when policemen have guns, you know, lodged at you. Christ doesn't 
resist, but it's intriguing that he says, I certainly could have, 
verse 53, do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he 
will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels? But he 
doesn't resist arrest. As well, when he's led as a sheep 
to the slaughter in his trial with the Jews and the trial with 
the Romans, what does he do? He doesn't give a defense. He 
doesn't try to argue his way out of it. He's resigned to do 
the Father's will. In fact, he only makes one statement 
that is contrary to what they are accusing him of, and this 
actually hastens his condemnation. That's in 2664. As well, he will, in fact, press 
on. As the prophet said, he set his 
face like a flint. He has come to live. He has come 
to die. He has come to be raised. As 
France says, in Gethsemane, the die is cast. Well, brethren, 
I hope that makes some sense out of what we find and what 
Ryle calls a passage that contains deep and mysterious things. We ought to be careful, however, 
of categorizing everything in the category of mystery, because 
what is revealed is for us and for our children, and it behooves 
us as individual Christians, as a church, as pastors in churches, 
to labor to get the doctrine of Christ right. If we have men 
in seminaries botching these things up, it will trickle down 
from the seminaries, through the pulpits, into the pews, and 
we will find that we are worshiping a Christ that the Bible has never 
set forth. It would do us well to study 
the Creed of Chalcedon. It would do us well to see how 
the church has articulated biblical truth throughout the centuries 
and ages. It would do us well to not be so hasty and quick 
to refashion things and to reformulate things and to be innovative. Brethren, may I suggest to all 
of us that we labor to learn the language. We labor to learn 
the language. We always want to take the easy 
way out. We really struggle with the concept 
of reading and studying. Can you put it on Instagram in 
a picture? That'll be far more helpful for 
me. Laziness, in terms of receiving the truth, is always a bad thing. I realize not all of us are the 
brightest bulbs in the chandelier. I realize that not all of us 
are able to traffic with those hefty, lofty truths. But brethren, 
seminary professors sure ought to be able to, and pastors in 
churches sure ought to be able to, and brethren in the pews 
ought to labor to. What does Jesus say in terms 
of the importance of the doctrine of Jesus? He says, if you do 
not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. I'm not giving 
you permission and I'm not giving you license, but you can be wrong 
on a few things when it comes to the Bible. Again, don't go 
out and say, hey, I'm going to be wrong. I'm going to be wrong 
on the seventh commandment. No, no, no, no, no, don't do 
that. You know, there's differences in terms of the last times. There's 
differences in terms of, you know, church life, Presbyterianism, 
Baptists, or Congress. There's differences that we can 
live with. But listen to our Lord's words. If you do not believe 
that I am, you will die in your sins. The I am there, I think, 
hearkens to the prophet Isaiah, and it hearkens back to the burning 
bush in Exodus 3.14. It's the revelation of who God 
is. And Jesus says, if you don't 
believe that I am, you will die in your sins. So I think it's 
important for us to understand this idea of the person of Christ. 
We need to understand His work, the cross work, the atonement, 
substitutionary curse bearing. We need to get all that. We need 
to understand Him in His person, one glorious person, two natures. This second person of the blessed 
Trinity came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation. 
We really need to understand these things, brethren, and I 
think Gethsemane, at least on a Christological level, is a 
window by which we can appreciate something concerning His true 
humanity as well. This passage condemns heresy. How does John describe Antichrist 
in 1 John 4 and 2 John 7? I really believe Antichrist, 
when John uses the term in his epistles in 1 and 2 John, didn't 
mean Henry Kissinger, didn't mean Barack Obama, didn't mean 
Hillary Clinton, and that's tough to admit in some of those things, 
but it was a Christological heresy. He says there are many antichrists. And one of the aspects of that 
Christological heresy is a denial that Jesus has come in the flesh. Now you say, who would do that? 
Well, there was a group of people called the Gnostics. It wasn't 
full-blown Gnosticism when John wrote, but there was probably 
already seed form Gnostics around. Gnostics taught that the body 
and the physical were bad. What's really good is the internal. 
What's really good is the soul. All this other stuff is just, 
you know, it's all gonna perish. So God coming in the flesh was 
an oxymoron. There was a subset or a type 
of Gnostic called a docetist, and a docetist simply meant someone 
who believed that Jesus only appeared to be a human. So John 
tells us those who deny that Jesus comes in the flesh or has 
come in the flesh is an antichrist. Brethren, I wouldn't be surprised 
if there are persons in churches, good churches, that would deny 
Jesus came in the flesh. Now they may not do it like I 
just did, but these odd duck views that he was just a sort 
of a superman, that he really didn't go through the sorts of 
things we went through. What does the author tell us 
in Hebrews? He wasn't at all points tempted, 
just as we are and yet without sin. You see, we often look at 
Jesus in our time of temptation. You want some practical application? 
Here it is. We're in the bargain bin at Walmart. We're going to 
pull something off for us. You want something? Here's what 
we are tempted to do. We sin, or we're tempted to sin, 
and we give in to that sin. And then we say, well, Jesus 
is God. Yes. But in his resistance against 
the devil in Matthew 4, in his resistance against this departure 
from the will of God in Matthew 26, he is acting according to 
his humanity. He is functioning as man. You see, we want to say, well, 
Jesus is God. That's why he isn't addicted 
to porn. Jesus is God. That's why he's 
not a gossip. Jesus is God. That's why he doesn't... 
Brethren, he is functioning according to his humanity in the New Testament. 
Don't blame Jesus as God for your sinful porn addiction. He 
was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin would 
have no significance whatsoever if the Apostle's emphasis was 
he's God. It has significance because the 
Apostle's emphasis is that he's man. And brethren, as man, he 
resisted. As man, he withstood. As man, 
he combated the devil in the wilderness and he held fast. We see in this passage the obedience 
of Christ. This is part and parcel of what 
the author in Hebrews 5 is telling us. Jesus learned obedience through 
what? Through suffering. You know where 
the author points to, to validate his claim? Gethsemane. As well, the obedience of Christ 
is displayed in His willingness to submit to the Father's will 
and drink the cup of wrath. And then just again, stepping 
back, looking at something theologically here, think about Adam and Jesus. I have told you many times, I 
hope that you could recite this or rehearse this, that there 
is some big things going on in the Bible in terms of Adam and 
Jesus. Jesus is the last Adam, isn't he? Paul tells us in Romans 
that Adam was a type of him who was to come. Adam was in a garden. What did he do? He sinned. He 
violated the law. He rebelled against God. Jesus 
is in the garden and what does he do? He resolves himself to 
do the Father's will. D.A. Carson is beautiful here. 
He says, in the first garden, not your will but mine, change 
paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. 
Now, not my will but yours brings anguish to the man who prays 
it, but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man 
from Gethsemane to the gates of glory. Behold our Christ in Gethsemane. And then finally, the sufferings 
of Christ in this particular passage ought to lead us to praise, 
to adoration, and to worship. Why isn't that a practical application? How do I become a better me? 
How do I become a better husband? How do I become a better father? 
How do you become a better woman, wife, mother? How do you become 
a better child? Worship God. See, if things are 
right with God, then everything else kind of follows suit, doesn't 
it? That kingdom principle of Matthew 
6.33, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 
and then these things will be added to you. See, the church 
craves practical application at the expense of sound theology. Just tell me how I'm supposed 
to live. Brethren, Christianity isn't a just tell me how I'm 
supposed to live. Theory, doctrine must always 
drive the practice. This is why God tells his people 
of Israel not to worship Baal, not to worship Molech, not to 
worship Asherah, not to engage in that sort of thing. Because 
God knows what we worship we will become like. And if we worship 
a false conception of God, or we don't understand who the true 
and living God is, we're not gonna be good husbands, we're 
not gonna be good wives, we're not gonna be good anything. So 
let the sufferings of the Savior lead you to meditation, to contemplation, 
and to worship and adoration. And I'll finish here, if you're 
not a believer, believe. Look at the lengths the Lord 
Jesus Christ went to to save sinners. You see, you can accuse 
Christians of a lot of things. You Christians, you're hypocrites. 
You Christians, this. Yeah, we own it. You ever heard that? I don't 
go to church because the church is filled with hypocrites. I've never heard 
someone say, I don't go to hospitals because hospitals are filled 
with sick people. Praise God, hypocrites find their way into 
the church. Praise God Almighty that we have found our way into 
the church. You see, you can judge us for 
a whole host of things, and more likely than not, you're gonna 
be right. You can't ever, ever say something about Christ that 
is contrary. Oh, well, He doesn't really mean 
it when it comes to save sinners from their sins. He doesn't mean 
it. He's going to drink the wrath 
and fury and judgment of God the Father. He is going to have 
heaped upon Him all the sins of His people. He is going to 
feel the full weight of God's fury against sin. He doesn't 
mean it. So be very careful before you 
start to say, well, you know, that Bible really doesn't afford 
a way of salvation. It's the only way of salvation. 
If you're not a believer this morning, believe, look to Christ. 
God through the prophet says, be ye saved, all the ends of 
the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word and we thank You for this passage setting forth to 
us the glory of Jesus Christ and His humanity. How we thank 
You that He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we 
might become the righteousness of God in Him. We thank you for 
the Christian gospel, the Christian message, and we pray that wherever 
it is proclaimed today, sinners would come to Him, believe on 
Him, and know the joy of being found in Him. And we ask these 
things through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.