Overwhelmed
with Sorrow
Jesus
cared a lot. He cared for people - both
good and bad - children, elderly, the sick, the suffering, the dying... Jesus cared for everyone on this earth. He cared for them so much, in fact, that he
didn’t care about anything else. He
loved them with a love that only a perfect God could muster. He took care of them with a passion that was
deeper and more profound than any emotion that any person could ever experience. He longed for them. He ached for them. He yearned for them because he wanted so
badly to see them in heaven.
And so
when those he cared about so much rejected him and ignored him and even hated
him, it broke his heart. He wasn’t
overwhelmed with anger when they didn’t believe him; he wasn’t overwhelmed with
disgust when they turned his back on him; instead, he was overwhelmed
sorrow. A thick, dark, all-encompassing sorrow
that penetrated to his very core. And so
he couldn’t just walk away. He couldn’t
simply brush it off and move on. He had
put too much time and too much effort into saving them. He just cared for sinners too much.
That
sorrow of Jesus is never more vivid than on that infamous Thursday evening
after he and his disciples had eaten supper together in an upstairs room. Jesus was leading his faithful followers outside
of Jerusalem that night as he had done many times before, but this time it was
different. This time Jesus’ mood was a
little more somber and his temperament was a bit more restrained - not because
of what had already happened but because of what was about to. “They
went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here
while I pray.” He took Peter, James and
John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the
point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Jesus
was deeply distressed and troubled because he knew what was about to happen. Jesus knew that one of his own disciples was
in the process of gathering a mob of men to meet him in the Garden. Jesus knew that he was about to be
betrayed. Jesus knew that all of his
disciples would run away from him. Jesus
knew that his own countrymen would condemn him, that the government under which
he lived with crucify him, and that his own Father in heaven would abandon him
to the horrors of hell. If you knew
those things were about to happen to you, wouldn’t you be deeply distressed and
troubled? But Jesus wasn’t deeply
distressed and troubled simply because he didn’t want to go through that
physical pain; Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled because he cared so
much for those people who would do it to him and for those he would do it for! He was overwhelmed with sorrow because he
cared so much for sinners.
Why Should
Jesus Care about Us?
Which
must have been an item of interest to someone like the devil. The devil was certainly there that night,
undoubtedly tempting Jesus. And I
wouldn’t put it past him to have whispered into Jesus’ ear that evening: “Why
do you care about them, Jesus? They
aren’t worth it! You are about to be
betrayed by one of your own and you know that your so-called children in the
future will betray you countless times throughout their lives! You are about to stand before corrupt
courtrooms already set against you and you know that those you are doing it for
will fail to stand up for you time and time again! You are about to be scourged, beaten, mocked,
hit, spit upon, and crucified! Do you
really think that those who will claim to believe in you someday would actually
do that for you? Come on, Jesus! You’re smarter than that! Those sinners aren’t going to be worth it! Just walk away. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to go through all of this
pain. Just walk away. You don’t have to care for people like that
because you know that they aren’t going to care for you.”
If they
devil would have said something like that, I would have a hard time arguing
with his logic. Because I do turn my back on God’s Word on a
regular basis! I do fail to stand up for Jesus time and time again! I don’t
sacrifice much of anything on behalf of my Lord! I don’t
always care for my God and what he wants!
I’m not worth it! I’m not worth his efforts and time and
love. There isn’t really any reason why
Jesus should care for me like that. And
so there is nothing I would have been able to say to convince him to go through
with it that evening. In fact, I might
have agreed with Satan: “He’s right, Jesus!
I’m not worth it! Don’t do this
for me. I don’t want you to go through
all of that pain for someone who isn’t going to live up to your love. I wish I could tell you that I’ll always be
faithful and loyal and true, but I can’t.
There’s no way I can. You
shouldn’t care so much for me. You’ll
just end up being disappointed and overwhelmed with sorrow all over again. You should probably just walk away now before
Judas shows up and it’s too late.”
Jesus Cared to
the Point of Death
But
Jesus didn’t walk away, did he? He knew
what was coming, but he didn’t leave.
Instead he knelt down in that garden and he prayed. He prayed hard. He prayed passionately. And he waited. He waited for Judas to arrive and to give him
that hypocritical kiss on the cheek. And
he waited there because wasn’t there in that garden for himself in the first
place; he was there in that garden for us.
And he stayed there even though his soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to
the point of death.”
What an
interesting thing for Jesus to say. This
wasn’t mere hyperbole; this ended up being prophecy. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Jesus knew where he was headed. Jesus knew what was inevitably going to
occur. He was going to die. And it was going to be a gruesome, bloody,
horrific way to die. But he was not
going to shy away. He was not going to
back down. He was not going to try to
get rid of that deep, dark sorrow that was weighing on him in the Garden of
Gethsemane; he was going to carry it all the way up to the cross and
beyond. Because he cared for sinners so
much. He cared for you so much.
He had
to care about you if he was willing to undergo all of that nastiness! He had to care about you if he voluntarily
shouldered that kind of sorrow! Because
that’s not a pleasant thing, is it? To
be immersed in a sadness and a depression that affects your entire way of being
is not a fun thing to go through. It’s
miserable. It’s almost
insufferable. Many of you know that kind
of sorrow. Many of you have gone through
it. Many of you may even be going
through it right now. But that is exactly
what your Lord went through for you - and to a degree that even you can’t
understand. But that’s how much Jesus
loved you. It wasn’t just the physical
pain; it was the emotional, the psychological, the mental, the inner agony of
sorrow that no one else can see and no one else can truly know expect the
person who is in the middle of experiencing it.
And Jesus experienced it in full.
And he did it because he loved you.
Because he cared for you. Because
he wanted to take you to a place where you will never have to feel that sorrow ever
again. And he will. That’s what you have to look forward to. While Jesus looked ahead to being surrounded
by an angry mob that Thursday night; you get to look forward to being
surrounded by believers and angels in heaven.
While Jesus looked ahead to his arms being stretched out on a cross; you
get to look forward to being wrapped up in your Savior’s arms. While Jesus looked ahead to death; you get to
look forward to life. And it’s all
because he cared for you. He cared for
you so much. Amen.
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