2/21,28/07 - Midweek Lent - Luke 22:39-46

IT IS HIDDEN IN OUR SAVIOR'S SIGHS
- Love required his whole attention
- Need requires our whole attention

Our midweek Lent services are all focused on the theme: Behold, the Hidden Glory of the Cross. Tonight, we see that glory of the cross hidden in the Savior’s sighs. And for that we must travel with Jesus and his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. There we see how seriously Jesus takes Lent. And there we see how seriously we need it. We look to the book of Luke 22:39-46: Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.  On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.  When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Do you see how seriously Jesus took Lent? Do you see how much he suffered? He goes off by himself so that he can be alone and not distracted. He falls to his knees and strenuously places his requests before his heavenly Father. The writer to the Hebrews even says that Jesus “offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears.” This was no ordinary bedtime prayer! This was not some half-hearted afterthought to ask God for help. He audibly cried out and physically groaned in agony! Pleading with his Father to take away the awful cup he was about to suffer.
Because Jesus knew what it would be like to drink that cup. In fact, he knew what was already happening. He knew Judas had already betrayed him and was now coming with the crowd to arrest him. Soon his disciples would all be scattered, soon the beating, the mocking, the spitting, would be begin. Soon his own people would condemn him to death, soon his faithful disciple Peter would deny even to know him. Soon there would be nails through his hands, through his feet. Soon thorns would puncture his skull. Soon he would be laughed at as he died. This was the cup he was about to drink. And so as a true human being he called to his God for deliverance. Out of love. Love for his Father. And because he loved his Father he didn’t tell his Father what to do. Instead, he prays, “not my will, but yours be done.” Completely submissive. Completely accepting to whatever his Father had in mind. And his Father had in mind not to take away the cup of inevitable pain, but to send an angel. To help him? Yes. But not to relieve him. The angel was there to give him strength so that Jesus could handle even more pain and suffering and agony and torment. And Jesus gladly accepted this decision. Not out of bravado or bravery. But out of love for his dear Father in heaven. And out of inexpressible love for you.
In fact, Jesus loved you so much that after the angel left him, still “being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Jesus cried out and groaned and pleaded so intently, so profusely, that he was pouring sweat. As if blood were already streaming down his face from that twisted crown of thorns. He suffered in that Garden for you. Out of love for you. Because he knew what this time in the Garden of Gethsemane would lead to. He knew how his suffering would ultimately end. He knew the outcome would be your salvation. And so he prayed. He prayed more vigorously than one could imagine - even though no one saw in that Garden the hidden glory of the cross but himself.
Surely, surely the disciples prayed with him. After all, before Jesus continued on about a stone’s throw away from where he would leave them, his command was, “Pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Surely the disciples listened to their Master. Surely they saw the anguish on his face, remembered the words he had spoken to them about the upcoming events, even heard his cries and groans as the sweat poured down his face. But no, the disciples somehow fall asleep! They decide to rest their eyes and their bodies and their minds as Jesus is passionately pleading for them and for us and for the world just a short distance away.
It must have pained the Lord’s heart when he came back and found them sleeping. But he does not chastise them. He does not shake his head in disgust and walk away because of the blatant disregard for what he was doing for them at that very moment. Rather, Jesus patiently repeats the words he spoke to them before, “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Yet another vivid display of the Savior’s mercy. Yet another vivid example of the hidden glory of the cross. Because that glory means Christ’s forgiveness and his compassion and his death & resurrection. That hidden glory of the cross means his love. And here in this Garden we see that glory hidden in the Savior’s sighs.
How seriously do you take Lent? How carefully have you listened to the Savior’s plea, “Pray so that you will not fall into temptation?” I’m afraid every one of us has fallen asleep with the disciples far too often. We have failed to heed his warning. We have failed to hear his cries and groans. We have failed to see the hidden glory of the cross in his impassioned sighs. Because we fail to watch and pray.
Oh, we may pray - but not always for that which the Lord asks us to pray for. We pray for things we want, don’t we? “Lord, I want this and I want this. I want you to do this for me. I want this to happen. I want you to do this within the time frame I set. Oh yeah, Lord, and thank you for what you’ve given me in the past.” That may be a little crass, but that’s the basic content of our prayers, isn’t it? We pray for what we want. We may occasionally pray out of thanks. But it is a rare occurrence when we pray not to fall into temptation. Usually the only time that even crosses our minds is when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. But even then, more often than not we say that prayer without even thinking about the words. And so as this Lent season begins, that’s why I am asking you: how seriously do you take it? Do you realize the danger of sin? Do you realize what the Lord had to go through because of it? Do you hear the Savior’s words, “Pray so that you do not fall into temptation?”
We need to pray. We need to pray this prayer because we need the one to whom we pray. We are weak. We are vulnerable. We are lazy. We are sleepy. We are pitiful. We are sinners. We are guilty. But we are forgiven. We are forgiven. Because although we might very well be sleeping along side the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, our Savior is just a stone’s throw away. Praying for us. Pleading for us. Suffering for us. And every once in a while, when we wake up from our spiritual slumber, we can almost, almost see the glory of the cross hidden in our Savior’s sighs. It is there, it’s always there, but for us sinners it’s sometimes hard to catch.
I do not want you to be fooled: if you do stay awake, watch, and pray, that doesn’t mean you won’t have trouble. That doesn’t mean you won’t have a cross to bear. On the contrary, you must pray because you have a cross to bear. That’s the life of a Christian! That’s the life of one following him who carries the ultimate cross! There is no way around suffering. But there is one who takes you through it. The one who has already been through it himself. The one who has prayed for you in the Garden - and still does. Pray to him. Pray for strength. Pray for perseverance. And pray that you would not fall into temptation during this season of Lent, because the devil and his angels are working overtime.
Why wouldn’t they? This is the time of year when more people than ever hear the clear gospel of Jesus Christ. They are taught exactly what Jesus did, from his suffering through his resurrection. And so if people are hearing the clear Word of God that works faith in their hearts, you can be sure the devil is doing all he can to off set that! He doesn’t want you to hear, he doesn’t want you to understand, he doesn’t want you to listen. And so he going to throw at you temptation upon temptation upon temptation. Hitting you at ever different angle, trying to make you slip, trying to make you fall. Do not take these attacks lightly. He is a formidable foe. In fact, he is more than we can handle. That’s why we need to hide behind Christ, the one who has already defeated him. That’s why we need to pray. That’s why we need to take this time of year as seriously as we ever have before. We need to pray not to fall into temptation because the devil doesn’t get older, he doesn’t slow down, he doesn’t lose a step. But neither does your Savior.
I hope that you take this time of year seriously. Spend time in prayer more than you normally do. Spend time in the Word of God - reading your Bible - more than you normally do. You need it. I need it. Because we are all in dire need of our Savior’s sighs. His sighs of comfort and reassurance. His sighs in which is hidden the glory of cross. May we listen to those loving and suffering sighs, follow them out of the Garden and onto the Mount of Calvary. Because there we will see the cross in all its shame - and in all its glory. There we will see our salvation.
Amen.

“May the Lord direct your hearts in to God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:5