Gospels (72) - Matthew 26:36-40, Mark 14:32-34, Luke 22:39-44 & John 18:1

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Gospels

Rusty's Notes

John 17:21
21 May they all be one (intimacy), as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.[1]

• The goal is not horizontal relationships with others.
• It is with Christ… and horizontal relationships are benefited from the vertical.

 
John 18:1
1 After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.[2]

• Picture of Google Map – Path to Garden of Gethsemane
• Picture of Kidron Valley from the south
• Picture of Olive Tree in Garden of Gethsemane

 
Matthew 26:36-46
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (Mark 14:33 – James & John),

• Matthew 17 – Transfiguration
• Matthew 16 – Peter given the keys to the Church
• Matthew 12 – Cast a dumb demon out of a man and was charged with doing this under the spirit of Beelzebub.

he began to be sorrowful (grieved) and troubled (distressed).

• He knows what is coming but he has never experienced what was coming.

38 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.”

• Mark 14:33-34 - 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
• Never experienced this level of stress before.
• 34 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.”
• Jesus came close to collapsing His physical frame.
• He asks His 3 super hero disciples to stay awake and pray for with Him
• Luke 22:44 - Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

 
39 Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping.

• The men Jesus was counting on to support Him were passed out cold.
• What was POS saying to Jesus?
• The unredeemed Jewish leaders turned their back on Jesus.
• Judas has turned his back on Jesus.
• His 11 are ALL asleep.
• Jesus even gets to a point of feeling distant from the Father. “Why have you forsaken Me?”
• Who understands your pain and suffering more than Jesus?
• Who did Jesus have left on his side?
• Angels
• Luke 22:43 - Then an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. (ministering to Jesus)
• We don’t become angels.
• Isaiah 49:1-13 –
• 1 Coasts and islands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The Lord called me (Jesus) before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.

2 He made my words like a sharp sword; he hid me
in the shadow of his hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; he hid me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in
whom I will be glorified.”
4 But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have
spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.
5 And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the
womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him;
(Romans 11:11) - 11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.[3]

• The relationship the Church has with Jesus will cause the Jews to be jealous enough to cause them to turn to Jesus as the Messiah.

 
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my
God is my strength--
6 he says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

• This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to one who is despised, to one abhorred by people, to a servant of rulers: “Kings will see, princes will stand up, and they will all bow down because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel—and he has chosen you.”
• This is what the Lord says: I will answer you in a time of favor, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
• saying to the prisoners: Come out, and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves. They will feed along the pathways, and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
• They will not hunger or thirst, the scorching heat or sun will not strike them; for their compassionate one will guide them, and lead them to springs.
• I will make all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up.

12 See, these will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Sinim.
13 Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.[4]
 

• This angel was serving as encouragement to Jesus.
• See the bigger picture
• It is interesting that we started out this message the explaining of how to have friends.
• On a physical level, you can be surrounded by a lot of earthly friends… the odds are, they will fall asleep on you and fail you at your most critical hour.
• On a spiritual level, you need to zoom out and see that you are surrounded by a much greater source.
• There is a battle going on all around you today.
• There are angels that are fighting for you and wanting to minister to you today.
• They might even take on the form of a friend today.
• You are surrounded!
• Who is surrounding you today? Who do you see?

Zoom out… it is the only way to walk through the battle.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 17:21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 18:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 11:11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Is 49:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.