Overview
Jesus Christ was sorrowful in the Garden of Gethsemane not because he was surprised by the cross, but because his death was coming through the betrayal of one of his closest friends. In this Love of Christ Conference session, Victoria Finley walks through Matthew 26 and shows the moment from an unusual angle: the love Jesus Christ showed the men who were with him. He asked Peter, James and John to watch with him, found them asleep three times, and did not cancel them or send them away. He taught them instead, watch and pray, and then stood in the gap for them when the arrest came.
Transcript
Welcome to the Love of Christ Conference: The Illustrated Love of God
I get to look at all your beautiful faces. It’s really great to be here. All right. Yeah. Yeah, baby. So, good evening, my friends.
Bonsoir. Mes amis et venus. Que vous venez. So if you’re thinking I’m speaking in tongues, I am not. That is French for good evening, my friends, and welcome, and God bless you, because it’s my pleasure to be here, as always, to be amongst friends. And tonight we have just had such a magnificent teaching about Jesus Christ and his friend Lazarus.
I mean, that was fantastic. Another hand for our buddy and our friend Tom. That was fantastic, Tom. Thanks for queuing up tonight. It was really beautiful. And, you know, all of these teachings in the Gospels that we’re handling this weekend, ladies and gentlemen, are all designed to show us the illustrated love of God through the love and the life of our brother, Jesus Christ.
And tonight, I pray, will be no different. So if you’d like to join me, I welcome you to turn to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26.
Turning to Matthew 26: A Private Moment in the Garden of Gethsemane
And so I’m going to share with you a very private moment that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, had in the Garden of Gethsemane. And for me, I don’t know about you, but for me, I had always looked at this record about his life and his agony and his struggles, which are very real in the Garden. But recently I began to look at it from another perspective, and that was the love that he had for the people that were with him. So just imagine about 2,000 years ago, on a night very much like this, and likely, as Tom shared with us, in Bethany. It would have been a beautiful spring day, much like the day we had here, fellowshipping. And the evening would have been chilly, very much like what we have been enjoying this weekend.
And they had a pretty rough day. They had been together, the 12, with Jesus Christ. They had a very full day. And we’re going to see that their day was filled with a lot of time together and a lot of interesting pressures on their lives and how Jesus Christ handled it and how compassionate he was when we see in the Garden, and you might remember the record, and in fact it’s in several records in the Gospels. You can make a note, Mark 14, Luke 22, a little bit in John 18, and some of those chapters around that section of John. But primarily we’re going to be in Matthew 26 tonight, and just the way that he handled himself.
And this weekend we heard a lot about the capacity that we have in Jesus Christ with that magnificent gift that we have and how we can take our heart and stretch it out and be bigger. But how do you do that when you are under immense, enormous pressure, like there is a steamroller rolling over all of you and you can hardly catch your breath? It gives me chills to think about. You all know the record of Gethsemane and what Jesus Christ did, but honestly, think about the people that were with him. So let’s look. It was a big day. This record now, when they move into the Garden of Gethsemane, is on the heels of a lot of what Tom shared.
They had been together, they had a meal, he did communion with them, remember? He washed their feet. But he also began to see that the end of his life was going to come through the betrayal of one of his friends. And it overwhelmed him in his heart and his soul, as it did the other disciples. I believe Tom went to that record where Peter said, Hey, the one that loves you, next to him on the bosom, who is it that’s going to betray him? Remember that? All right, so we’re going to pick it up in verse 36 of Matthew 26. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray a little bit further on. So he left a little contingency there.
Keep in mind, God shows him earlier in the day that the capture and the plan to arrest him and come after him, Jesus Christ is becoming very aware that the minutes are ticking. This is now the eleventh hour, and he knows it. And the clock is ticking.
Sorrowful and Very Heavy: Why the Betrayal Took His Breath Away
So he takes with him, verse 37, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and it’s James and John. And he began to be, look at this, sorrowful and very heavy. He was grieved and distressed. And in Luke chapter 22, it says he was in agony. That’s the word that’s used. He was squeezed with mental pressure in his heart and his soul.
And we also know, if you read around the surrounding sections of this word, he knew his life was going to end. We heard it. He knew it was coming. But the means and the method by which it was going to occur, particularly the betrayal of someone within his inner circle, was overwhelming. And it says, and he began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Verse 38.
Then he said unto them, to Peter, James, and John, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. The thought of what was going on right now, being plotted against him, particularly the betrayal, he knew he was going to give his life. That was no surprise to him. What took his breath away was that it was going to be a betrayal. It was really something for him to swallow. He says, tarry here and watch with me.
Tarry Here and Watch With Me: Jesus Christ Asks His Friends for Help
Just take a look over at verse 22. Not only was he exceedingly sorrowful, it says, and they were exceedingly sorrowful, and began every one of them to say, Lord, is it I? Peter, James, and John now were in right there by the trees, the olive trees in that beautiful little section of the Garden of Gethsemane that he liked to go to. They were really grieved. The disciples didn’t have the magnitude and the scope of what Jesus Christ knew from God that was about to happen. He had been telling them, but what was really taking their breath away is that somebody on the inside was going to betray their Lord and Savior. So he says to them, watch with me.
He’s asking for their help. He says, I’m so sorrowful, I’m grieving, I’m pressed beyond measure. I’m grieving so much unto death. I need you, Peter, James, and John, to stay right here next to me and watch my back. Danger lurks. Just before this, he said, hey, do you guys have swords? Remember that? They were armed.
That’s not something he did every day with them and told them to have every day. He told them because he knew danger was coming, and he knew the clock was ticking. He asked for help. What about you and I? When we’re pressed and grieved and there is so much intensity in our life, do we withdraw and say, everybody get away from me? That’s human nature. Jesus Christ was like, no, I need help. I need help.
I need you guys to come and watch my back. You got my back? They’re like, yeah, brother, we’ve got you. Verse 39.
John 13: Troubled in Spirit That One of You Shall Betray Me
You know what? Hold your finger here and go to John 13. I want to show you something in John 13. John chapter 13. Please. John 13. This is an insightful verse.
Verse 21. When Jesus hath thus said, he was troubled in his spirit, and testified and said, verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. It really disturbed his soul. This kind of broadsided him. He knew he was going to give his life for me and you and for the people that he lived with every day. He was willing to do that.
What took his breath away was that it was going to be through a betrayal of one of his closest people. That’s hard to fathom, isn’t it? There he was. Go back to Matthew 26, please, with me.
Let This Cup Pass From Me: The Prayer in the Garden
Chapter 26. So he leaves them on watch, and he says, you guys keep my back, okay? And he went a little further, verse 39. And he fell on his face, and he prayed, and he said, oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Sometimes I just get really welled up when I think that God lets me see this very private moment of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When he needs help, he needs support, and he goes and he has a private moment with his God and his Father.
And he says, Lord God, is there any other way? Right? And he’s thinking, I need a little safety zone. I got the boys watching my back. This is a very private moment, one of the last minutes of his life that he is a free man and that he has privacy in prayer, and he knows it. Look at verse 40 with me. And he cometh unto the disciples. So he had a few moments in prayer, a little further off.
We don’t really know how long he was in the garden. It’s evening now. They had finished dinner, and he knew the clock was ticking.
Why Peter, James and John Fell Asleep on Watch
He knew Judas. Judas said, Is it I? And he said, You know it is. Go do what you need to do. And Jesus Christ knew that he left. He knew that Satan had entered his heart, and he knew that it would not be long before he and his disciples would be in great jeopardy. So he stole a few minutes away, and he had the very closest people that he could trust with his life right there with him.
So he cometh again, and he finds Peter, James, and John asleep. Now, they’re literally, they fell asleep. They fell asleep. Many times when I have read this record, I thought, Man, what a bunch of losers. If I was on call for Jesus Christ, I would stay awake, you know, because I’m so great, and I really think it’s so awesome that they got to be with Jesus Christ. How could they fall asleep on the job? Oh, man, what a day they had.
The pressure is unspeakable. I pray to God I never live through the day that these guys lived through. So a little bit of compassion is in order, Victoria, you know. It wasn’t like their boss and their master turned his back, and then all of a sudden, hey, the boss is gone, let’s take a siesta. That’s not what they did. They were on watch.
To be on watch is to be alert and vigilant, ready, looking, expecting. You are on watch. You know danger lurks.
Could Ye Not Watch With Me One Hour? Reading It Without All Caps
It was just too much. And Jesus says unto Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour? That’s one way to read it. You know, it’s the thing about text messages today, you know. If somebody texts you in all caps, it’s like they’re yelling at you, right? Do you see that? I love you, you know, all caps. Whew, that’s loud, right? You know what I’m talking about. I read this in King James.
It’s like, what, you can’t watch with me even one hour, Peter? When you read a bunch of background on this, it’s like, Peter, were you unable to stay awake and watch? Jesus Christ lived through the same excruciating news as they had. Plus, now the intimate knowledge God is giving to him of what lies ahead just minutes. He is about to be confronted and captured. It is a rough day in Bethany. He understands the heaviness of it. It says they were in agony.
It was so bad that when Jesus Christ was alone in the garden praying, another section of Scripture says, an angel came and ministered to him. That’s how rough it was. He needed an angel to minister to him. He knew it was heavy. He didn’t come and yell at them in all caps. What, were you unable, Peter, to watch for an hour? And then he teaches them because he knows his moments are really limited.
He Did Not Cancel Them: Compassion Instead of Correction
And this is where his love shines because I don’t know how he could do it. When I think about what he did in prayer, and God lets me see that, in the privacy of this man’s prayer life. And then he comes back, and he’s so kind to these guys. He asks them for help. And they were unable to give him all of their help. But they were there.
They didn’t run away and hide. They stayed there. And he didn’t diss them. He didn’t cancel them. He didn’t say, get out of here. He let them stay because he loved them.
And then he taught them because he understood the temptation that they were under. Look at verse 41. He teaches them. He says, watch, brothers, and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. We’ve all read that a lot of times, have we not? Look at Luke chapter 22 with me, please.
Luke 22: Ye Are They Which Have Continued With Me in My Temptations
Keep your finger in, Matthew 26. Look at Luke chapter 22. What a beautiful heart Jesus Christ had for these people. He did not all cap them in the garden. He did not. He tasted their misery.
He tasted the pressure that they were under. And he was so kind to them. Verse 28, Luke 22. 28, look what he says. This is the same day. A different account of it in Luke, but this is the same day.
Earlier in the day, he says in verse 28, ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. He commended them, for they had stood with him in his ministry. Temptations is adversity. Temptations are adversity. And, you know, we all face adversities. Keep your finger in, Matthew, because it’s kind of already there, and go to Proverbs with me, ladies and gentlemen.
You know, Jesus Christ tasted our infirmities and theirs, and their adversities. He knew what it was like to live through and move through the pressures that we will face in this world. It is why he could take on all of it for us and redeem you, so that you and I do not have to sink under that pressure.
Proverbs 24:10: If Thou Faint in the Day of Adversity
And so he taught them, watch and pray. There’s how you do it. You stay alert, you stay in tune, you stay vigilant in your life, and you keep yourself in prayer with your God and Father. That’s what he told them to do through adversity. Look at Chapter 24 of Proverbs. All of us have and do struggle with something.
Look around the room. There isn’t one person in this room that does not struggle with something. I promise you. From the day you were born to the day you take your last breath, we will struggle to be tempted to fail, to sink, to let down our guard. And I promise you I can’t imagine that Jesus Christ didn’t think about this verse in Proverbs 24. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but I don’t see how he couldn’t.
Proverbs 24, verse 10, it is one of my favorite verses. If thou faint, sink, relax, become disheartened, sink, falter in the day of adversity, or trouble, or pressure, or temptation, thy strength is small, narrow, your reservoir will dry up. And he taught them we can’t do that. I love that verse. It encourages me. It doesn’t confront me.
It encourages me to be strong in the Lord my God. Finally, my brethren, be what? Strong. Turn back to Matthew 26 with me, please.
The Spirit Indeed Is Willing, but the Flesh Is Weak
So verse 41, he says, Watch and pray that you enter not into adversity, trouble, affliction. Don’t allow yourself to become strengthless, where the adversary can come and take you out. It’s what happened to Judas. It just happened to Judas. This is so fresh in their mind. He says, The Spirit indeed is willing.
The Spirit of God upon them, the Spirit of God inside of you, is eager, willing, and able. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. But the flesh is what? Weak, strengthless. Jesus Christ understood that human nature will always struggle with the spiritual nature. So what does he do? He leaves them. He doesn’t dis them out.
He doesn’t kick them out of the garden. He goes away again, verse 42, a second time, and he prays again. And this is a tough time in his life. He comes back again. And you know what? They’re asleep. Their eyes closed.
The word for that, they’re literalized and they’re figurative eyes. Have you ever been so exhausted in your life you just cannot keep your eyes open? It’s just too much. And he understood that. For their eyes were heavy, verse 44. And he left them there. And he went away again, and he prayed the third time, saying the same words.
The Third Time: Sleep On Now, and Friend, Wherefore Art Thou Come
Verse 45. Then cometh he to his disciples the third time, and he said unto them, Sleep on now. And he said unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is what? Betrayed. That really bugged him. Into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth what? Betray me. And while he yet spake, he was hardly finished right there with these guys. While the words were coming out of his mouth, he knew the urgency of the moment. And he needed those guys. And he didn’t dismiss them.
He just loved them through it, and he taught them. Because he knew what would lie ahead now. He’d been in the garden, and God must have tuned him in to what was really coming down the pike. And then he stood in the gap for them. When they came to arrest him, Jesus Christ said, Look, you got your beef with me. Let these guys go.
And he knew what was going to happen to Judas because the guilt and the sin and the shame that was going to come over Judas, who he loved. He said it was better for him that he had never been born than to do what he did. Because he knew how bad it was going to be for Judas. Not because he couldn’t forgive and love him, but he knew, God told him, and it was overwhelming to him. But he did what he had to do. He got his mind set where it needed to be.
Ladies and gentlemen, this has to be one of the most vulnerable and delicate moments of our Lord and Savior’s life, and we get to glimpse into it. And he has prepared us for when our adversity strikes, and it will. And I will not faint, will you, in the day of adversity? Because he took it on so that I can have a full reservoir and that my spirit can be eager and willing and mighty so that I can endure and get past it, just like he told those guys. It’s beautiful. So he says, verse 47, and while he yet spake, this is beautiful, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came. Look at that, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude.
Verse 50, And Jesus said unto Judas, What? Friend. He called him a friend. Friend, wherefore art thou come? Or do what you come to do. He knew it. He knew it. Then they came and laid hands on Jesus.
Hebrews 2:18: He Is Able to Succor Them That Are Tempted
And I want to show you something in closing in Hebrews chapter 2, please. Please come with me to Hebrews chapter 2. You know, there’s a lot of great scriptures about how Jesus Christ loved and how he took it all on for us. A lot. But this particular verse in Hebrews chapter 2 really just seemed to speak to me about how he took care of these guys in the garden. Because think about it. You know, Peter, James, and John could have been one of us here 2,000 years later.
Maybe trimmed their beards, got them a pair of, you know, Nikes, you know, gave them a cool T-shirt that the ladies got for us, and he would blend in. Like, we could have been in the garden with Jesus is what I’m trying to say to you. When I was growing up, I was brought up in Greek Orthodox Church, and it was all in Greek. I didn’t understand any of it, so I didn’t have a hard time when I finally read the Bible because I didn’t know nothing that they taught anyway because it was all in Greek. But what I do remember about the Greek Orthodox Church is all of these icons. They were big on icons, and lots of dark colors and very medieval-looking artwork, and all of the apostles and disciples had these big halos over them.
They looked super spiritual and all that kind of stuff. No, they were like me and you. They didn’t look like that. They looked like me and you. It could have been us in the garden. See what I’m saying? And they could have been, and how would we have felt? How would you have felt to have fallen asleep on your Lord and Savior when he asked you to watch his back? But you know what? He loved them right up out of it, and he said, come on, boys, this is how it’s done.
You watch, you stay on spiritual alert, and you stay in prayer. And remember that that Holy Spirit in you is so mighty. And don’t worry about your human nature because you already know that’s not what’s going to sustain you. It’s that gift to us of Christ in us. It’s just beautiful. So I think about this verse in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 18.
For in that he, Jesus Christ himself, has suffered, being tempted. We read in Luke 22 that he had adversity in his life, and those disciples stood with him. He tasted their adversity. That’s why he could say to them, were you unable to stay awake and keep watch? Was this just too much for you? He understood it. He wasn’t criticizing them. He wasn’t kicking them in the gut because they fell asleep.
Why? Because he himself had been tempted. He is able to succor them, to nurse them that are tempted. And ladies and gentlemen, if we think in the day of adversity our strength is small, and I know the thing I want to leave with you tonight is that your strength is not small, nor is mine, because I have the capacity of Christ in me to do all things and to give God the glory to be an honor to him and to do what he has called me to do, just like Peter, James, and John got to do after that night in Gethsemane. God bless. Thank you.
Key Takeaways
- Jesus Christ knew he would give his life; what overwhelmed him in Gethsemane was that it would come through the betrayal of a friend.
- Under enormous pressure he did not withdraw from people. He asked Peter, James and John for help and told them to watch with him.
- When he found them asleep three times he did not diss them, cancel them or send them away. He let them stay because he loved them.
- His teaching to them under temptation was simple: watch and pray, because the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
- Proverbs 24:10 warns that fainting in the day of adversity means small strength, a reservoir that dries up.
- Hebrews 2:18 says that because he himself suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Jesus Christ so sorrowful in the Garden of Gethsemane?
He knew his life was going to end, and that was no surprise to him. What took his breath away was that it was going to come through the betrayal of someone within his inner circle. Matthew 26:38 records him saying his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death, and Luke 22 says he was in agony, squeezed with mental pressure in his heart and his soul, so heavy that an angel came and ministered to him.
What did Jesus Christ say to Peter, James and John when he found them asleep?
He did not yell at them or kick them out of the garden. He said in Matthew 26:41, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He had asked them to watch his back, they were unable to give him all of their help, but they stayed, and he let them stay because he loved them, and then he taught them how it is done.
What does Proverbs 24:10 teach about the day of adversity?
Proverbs 24:10 says if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. To faint is to sink, relax, become disheartened or falter, and small strength means narrow, a reservoir that dries up. It is not a verse of confrontation but of encouragement to be strong in the Lord. Because Jesus Christ took the pressure on for us, our strength is not small and our spirit can be eager, willing and mighty.
Scripture References
Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 18; Matthew 26:36-38; Matthew 26:22; John 13:21; Matthew 26:39-45; Luke 22:28; Proverbs 24:10; Matthew 26:41-50; Hebrews 2:18
