John Gunter: Good to see all of you out this morning as we come together to worship God. Today, if you've checked your calendars, you would have seen that today is Palm Sunday. The discerning eye sees that I have worn the appropriate attire as well. Palm Sunday celebrates the day that Jesus comes into Jerusalem for the final time as people lined the streets and threw down palm branches saying, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And as celebratory as that was, we know the rest of the story, don't we? Because the next week is Easter, where we remember and read about Jesus' death, and it can quickly go from celebration to what has happened. And so today, we're going to be in Mark chapter 14 and starting in verse 26, where we'll see kind of the in between here. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount Of Olives, and Jesus said to them, you will all fall away for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.
Peter said to him, even though they all fall away, I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. He said emphatically, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. To kind of get your mind around the the scene here, here's the Mount Of Olives in Israel.
You can actually see the dome on the rock, that's the Muslim place of worship now where the temple would have stood, and so this is how close Jesus and his disciples were to the the temple at the time. And so this is what you're seeing is olive trees, the Mount Of Olives, but very close to the to the temple side. But what you saw here is that Jesus has gone, and he is he has decided that what needs to happen is to take these disciples into the Mount Of Olives and to begin this prayer. But before this, Peter says, and he makes up makes a statement here, I will not deny you. Have you ever thought about denying Christ?
You feel like day to day you have a decision whether or not to deny Christ. For a lot of us, we probably feel like that's more an internal thing than anything. Right? I could have said this, or I might should have said that, but it it might not be so overt. But in the moment, Peter says, as the kind of the mouthpiece for all the disciples, what you see is, I will never deny you even if all the rest of even if those people over there will deny you, I will not do it.
And it says, they all said the same thing. And Jesus says to Peter, before the night ends can you imagine Peter wrapping his mind around that? To to be so bold is to say, there's no way I will ever deny you, and Jesus looks at you and says, before the night's over, you'll do it three times. I imagine that was not in his mind at all. We know the rest of the story.
It continues on, when the when they went to a place called Gethsemane, he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch. And going a little further, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, Abba, father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. Now, this is one of the most powerful things in scripture to me. That Jesus, knowing what was ahead of him, prays to God saying, you can do anything, and I'm going to acknowledge that. You can do anything you want, and I want this thing to pass from me.
I do not want to go through this sort of of torture and death, but not my will, but yours. I think often when we pray, we we pray with our own will and not necessarily that of God, don't we? We have our desires, we know what we want, we know how God ought to work it out, and a lot of times, maybe most of times in my life, it seems like it goes much differently. He takes a different path than I would have chosen, but but often, as I look back on that, I understand better. Oh, man, I learned this in the moment.
I was able to be taught this lesson that I wouldn't have chosen, but I learned. But Jesus, as he's facing these things, he is distressed. How many have you ever been on your knees praying about something? You are ready to do whatever. Right?
I will get on my knees, will pray, I will do whatever. But yet, Jesus has the courage and the strength in a moment like this to say, not my will, but yours. Man, if we incorporate that into our church life, that means we're getting out of the way, doesn't it? But I don't have all the answers. That God, work it out in the way you want to work it out.
Man, I don't like praying like that. How about you? God, I really want this to work out, you know, especially if you're talking about something like the lottery. God knows that I would do a lot of good things with that money. You all know that.
Right? There are a lot of things in life that I think, hey, you know, if God would just do this for me, man, it would be great. Well, God knows those things we don't know, doesn't he? And that's behind everything. Right?
I would do this And then you read a story about all the lottery winners that have lost everything. They've lost family, nobody likes them anymore, they've lost all their money. Right? That's just one example, but think about all the things in your life that that that God that you've prayed to God about, that He's worked through, and again, it hasn't worked out exactly like you would think, but here you are, having learned a lesson. Not my will, but yours.
Let's see. Are we yeah. And verse 37. And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Man, that that's what he's talking about, what has just happened. Right? I am willing to do this, but, oh, I feel it.
I I feel it, you know, it's just weak. I don't know if I can. I I want to, and remember what the disciples have just done, we will not ever deny you. It's a great thing to say, but when your feet get put to the fire, what comes out? Right?
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed saying the same words. And again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were very heavy and they did not know what to answer him. You gotta remember this is in the time before Coke Zero and Red Bull.
Right? We can give them a little bit of peace. Right? And I don't know if they were drinking coffee out there from Starbucks. But Jesus just wants them to stay with him, he's got his inner circle with him, just seeking to have an encouragement in this time.
Can you imagine going into something like this? You've been through a surgery, like, where people are encouraging you, you have a procedure where people are praying for you, they're checking on you, all of those things, you you draw strength from that, don't you? And what Jesus is saying with his friends is, well, we're gonna sleep through it as he's on his knees praying praying to God. He said, and he came the third time and said to them, are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough, the hour has come, the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the 12, and with him, a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, the one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.
And before I continue there, remember when it says something like the the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, these were the church leaders coming with swords and clubs to get this mass murderer. No? Cheater. No? What has he done?
Nothing. But that's how the church people of the day show up. In verse 45, and when he came, went up to him at once and said, Rabbi, and he kissed him, and they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Do you remember the name of this person?
Malchus. Yeah. For whatever reason, Mark does not give us this. It's interesting because as we we started this series, we talked about how we believe Mark is giving us the words of Peter. And all of a sudden, Peter doesn't wanna say the name.
I don't know what it is. But anyway, that's what's happening. And Jesus said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? What what is all this? Why would you need to come with weapons to see me?
Okay? Day after day, I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let let the scriptures be fulfilled, and they all left him and fled. Every part of this feels icky, doesn't it? Partly because we we know what's going to happen, But can you imagine being in a scenario like this where all of a sudden you were under under capture for no reason?
Again, have you come out to get a robber? Is that what's happening here? Have you come out to get someone who's done all kinds of evil? No. Jesus said, I've been with you every day in the temple teaching.
You could have come and talked to me there, you could have gotten whatever. What he's pointing out is, you remember, we've read over and over, they quit doing or they would not do things, the church leaders would not do things because they feared the people. So guess who was at home at this point? The people. They were at home, probably cooking a meal, maybe already laid down for bed, and that's the time when they decided to strike.
And Jesus said, let the scriptures be fulfilled. And they led Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together, and Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priest and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
And so you see what's happening here. They didn't have a robber, they didn't have a murderer, they didn't have all of these things, and so what they had to do was to get people to come in and lie about Jesus. You ever had anybody lie about you? Raise your hand. How'd that feel?
Oh, uh-uh. Don't lie about me. At least tell the truth. Right? And so they had to bring in these people to lie about Jesus, but the problem was all these lies didn't didn't line up.
He had too many lies going different directions and it it didn't make sense, and that's what that's what's happening here. He said, his son stood up and bore a false witness against him saying, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands. Yet even about this, their testimony did not agree. And remember in class today, said, there's a lot of overlap. Alright.
Did Jesus say something like this? Yeah. You've heard this some something before. Right? Look at all these magnificent buildings around us, and Jesus said, there's not gonna be a stone left upon another stone around here.
And then he kind of flips the script and starts talking about the resurrection as well, like he will be killed and he will also be raised. And so they're they're trying to piece this together. I know he said this, but it in in what they understood or what they were trying to claim against him, it did not agree. It says, and the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?
But he remained silent and made no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, are you the Christ, again, the Messiah, the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am, and you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his garments and said, what further witnesses do we need? A little dramatic, don't you think?
But this is a show. We might say something like this is a dog and pony show. This is just something to make it look as if it's one thing or one way. Right? This guilt is so bad, I need to tear my clothes in front me.
If I did that, y'all would talk about that for months. I'd be here twenty years, and somebody would be like, you remember that Sunday you tore your shirt? Katie is getting nervous right now thinking, might do it. But that's what was going on here, is how can we shed a negative light on this person as much as possible to make them look guilty? And the problem is, is we still treat other people like this, don't we?
Sometimes we will lie, you've had people lie about you, we will lie, we will spread gossip. The the worst is social media because we can disseminate things very fast, kids get bullied because of it nowadays, because all we have to do is have one person lie and make something up and it spreads like wildfire. And that's what our Lord and savior faced right here. In verse 66, and as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, you also were were with the Nazarene Jesus. But he denied it saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean.
And he went out into the gateway, and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, this man is one of them. But again, he denied it, and after a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, certainly you're one of them, for you are a Galilean. They could hear it in his voice. Right?
He had his accent. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. And and Peter's kind of rising to the level of what you've just seen. That he's cursing himself, he's making a big deal, how how can I kind of be boisterous and make it seem like that's just ridiculous? Right?
This is I I do not know this man. And immediately, the rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, he will deny me three times, and he broke down and wept. Now, it helps us today to understand that Peter was restored later. Right? That Peter did weep in a way that was soul crushing, but it wasn't like this was the end of Peter's story, that he was lost and and gone from God.
Right? That Peter was reconciled to Jesus after his his resurrection. But what we see here is something I think we all deal with, I will never do that, and then we do it. Yes? Does it hurt your heart?
Does it cause you to break down and weep? Does it cause you to be sad when I will God, I will How many of you have ever said, God, I will never do that again? Or, if you'll just get me out of this, I won't do it. Yeah. And then it hurts our heart, hopefully, hurts our heart when that thing happens.
Now, I think that's a good thing because the problem is gonna be when you claim something, I will God, I will never, if you'll just get me out of this, I will do this, or I won't do that, and then you do that thing and you don't care. Now, that's a problem. But when you actually care, I think that shows, okay, alright, I want to be reconciled to God, and it shows a good heart. But what I want to point out to you this morning is something that I think we we have to fight against kind of in our culture and society because we what we face a lot of times is if you'll just be faithful, God will bless you with all of these material things. You heard that before.
Right? That's not new to you. What I wanna point out is is Jesus prayed in a way that I wish I prayed every night, not my will but yours. That he opened himself up to God and said, God, just admitting, claiming God, you can do anything, that I have a faith that you can do anything to control any situation, you can do whatever, but not my will but yours. You know I don't wanna face this, not my will but yours.
And what Jesus got was not, okay, we'll stop this, We'll give you a fancy house. We'll give you fancy clothing. We'll get you a You think they had designer donkeys or anything like that? We live in a bougie town here. All the things that they would have looked for in this in this time period.
Right? All the things that we think we'll be blessed with, Jesus prayed, not my will but yours, and he didn't have a good outcome in the way that we might think that would be a good outcome. Because if we pray today that we won't be killed, and we are killed, we see that as a tragedy. We see that as something went wrong. We pray over someone who's sick and they ultimately end up passing.
I think we're we're so tuned into death being the final answer that we think, well, that's the worst outcome that could have happened. Is it? Because when we assess this, is death is not the end. Right? We're coming we've got a room full of people this morning who have come here in faith believing that death is not the end.
Am I right? Amen? Yeah. And so we ought to live like that. Right?
Because if we understand that death is not the end, that changes everything. That I can go into a scenario like this and and be at the point where I don't wanna face this God, but I know your way is better than any way. That what the way you would pick for me is gonna be better than the way I would pick, and that way may not lead through prosperity, it may lead through hard times and tough lessons. Have you learned any of those in your life? Yeah.
But are you a better person on the other side of it? Yeah. His ways are better than our ways. Next week, we're gonna talk about what Jesus had to go through, but again, we understand right now on this side of the cross that death was not the end for him. And if you believe in him today, death is not the end for you.
I don't want you to leave here this morning. If you don't have a good relationship with with God, and you need us to pray for you, let's pray for you. What are we waiting on? Bunch of folks saying they have faith and we don't even pray together. If you haven't put on Christ in baptism, why not?
Seeing what Jesus went through for all of us, the things he faced for the benefit of all of us, who we know continue to do those things we've claimed we want to do. But yet, he loved us, that God loved us and sent Jesus, and Jesus cared enough about God's will and fulfilling all of this stuff that he would go through this for them. And so, through baptism, we experience the death, burial, and that's not the end, is it? Resurrection of Jesus. So if you haven't done that today, we'd ask you to do that as well.