19. Gethsame and the Cup of Calvary

Sunday Morning Sermon
November 29, 2020
“Gethsemane and the Cup of Calvary”
Mark 14:32-36
Pastor Mark Mudge

32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”
35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

The title of this sermon is “Gethsemane and the Cup of Calvary.” We have the plan to divide this text into two parts. The first part: we’re going to look at (Mark chapter 14) verses 32 through 36; and really focus in more on 36 this morning. This evening we’re going to go over the big view of verses 32 to 42 and what happens in the totality of the Garden of Gethsemane.

So, the focus today is Gethsemane and the Cup of Calvary, what Jesus prays in verse 36. And so, in order to understand that, what we’re going to do is we’re going to look at the setting, what happens beforehand in verses 32 to 34, and see how it’s a sorrowful setting in arriving at Gethsemane. And then we’re going to look at in verses 35 and 36 Christ’s prayer and the cup of Calvary. And most of our focus is really on what Jesus says in verse 36. So, let’s begin to enter into this story and enter into this time.

For those who are new perhaps to Cornerstone, I want to be able to say that here the Word of God is upheld and the Word of God, the Bible, is believed in every word. And so, because of that, teaching and preaching happens by a verse-by-verse studying of the Word of God. And because there’s a verse-by-verse study of the Word of God, and we genuinely believe the Word of God, we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and as our only hope. That means that what we do is we pay great attention to every word and action that Jesus has done because we find our Lord, our Savior, our God here. And so, pay attention to every detail as we go through this text. And then it will give us great understanding of the most important things in life if we truly understand these words. God has given these words to us to teach us and guide us about the only hope of salvation.

And so, we have verses 32 to 36. And when we see here Gethsemane… Why do we want to visit Gethsemane? Have you ever gone to a lookout? My wife and I found a particular lookout in Hawaii on our honeymoon that we enjoyed. We were overlooking a canyon. And we always remember and mention that lookout. Because we’re from Florida we like to go to the mountains for vacation. People from the mountains like to go to Florida for vacation. And so, since we’re from Florida originally, we like to go to the mountains for vacation and find nice lookouts.

A lookout works in a way where you can see a great amount in short amount of time and identify. And the truth is Gethsemane... why do we want to visit this garden today? Because it’s like a lookout. From this lookout we can see Calvary. We can see some very important things. We can see Jesus using an illustration, figurative language of a cup that teaches us about Calvary. So, we visit today Gethsemane in order to get a better view of Calvary.

Let’s enter into the setting. Verses 32 to 34, we see a sorrowful setting. We read verses 32 to 34 again, it says: Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

So, here’s the setting. In the book of Mark – remember this book is all about the Lord Jesus Christ telling us about His death, burial, resurrection, and His ministry. And we can divide it into three parts. Chapters 1 to 8, we see His ministry in Galilee. Chapters 8 to 11, we see His road to the cross. And then in chapters 12 to the end, we really focus in on the last week.

Here we are in chapter 14, and Jesus has come in. He’s done a marvelous ministry, preaching the gospel, being a light to Galilee. Then He’s declared to the disciples in chapter 8 that He’s going to go to the cross and this is the purpose for which He came. At first, He’s opposed and He’s misunderstood, but they follow Him, they trust Him; and He heads for Jerusalem. And we see Him preparing the disciples in chapters 8 to 11 on the road to Jerusalem.

Then we get to chapter 12 and He arrives into Jerusalem. And at first the people celebrate and He teaches in the temple in chapter 12. And He’s opposed by the religious leaders. In chapter 13, He teaches a long discourse about His coming and the church age. We come to chapter 14 and Jesus is preparing the Last Supper and Judas leaves to betray Him. We see in verses 12 then into 21, Jesus celebrating the Passover with His disciples. In verses 22 to 26, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. Passover passes away and, in its place, we have the Lord’s Supper. Then they sing a hymn and go out to the Mount of Olives in verse 26.

On the road there, we read in verses 27 to 31: Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,’ (quoting Zachariah. Verse 28) But after I have been raised, I will go before you into Galilee.” Peter said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” But he spoke more vehemently, “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all said likewise.

So, on the road to Gethsemane we see this conversation taking place, a conversation full of prophecy and pride. Christ is graciously, kindly warning the disciples that this will take place; speaking of His resurrection in verse 28 and going before to Galilee. But in verse 29 we see that Peter didn’t hear anything about resurrection, anything about going to Galilee. Peter only heard that all of you will be made to stumble. And when Peter heard “all,” he heard “Peter will be made to stumble.” And so, in his pride he thinks, “You know, I’ve been the faithful one. I’m the one who’s taken lead here. And yes, I don’t know about these other guys who are with us. They may fall away, but I will not.”

And some of you may have thought that way before. Maybe if you have more time in the church or more time following Christ, you may think, “Oh yes, So-and-So may fall away in time, but they’re not as faithful as I am.” And so, we see great pride here, great self-dependence in Peter. And the other disciples follow him in his pride and in his sin. And so, we have a great contrast here coming up to Gethsemane between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus is preparing Himself for the cross, and the disciples, in their pride, thinking they’re already ready for this trial that will come.

And now we, in verse 32, we arrive at Gethsemane. It says: Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, – and so, we stop here for a moment. Jesus has gone out of the city of Jerusalem. He’s gone down a valley called the Kidron valley and He’s come to the bottom of a large hill or a small mountain – depends on where you’re from. Florida, it would be a mountain – And so, they come to the edge here and there is a garden, a garden that has an olive grove that is there. Perhaps someone that Jesus knew owned the garden. But He was able to have access to this place. And because of the trees and the thickness of the trees – olive trees are shorter, thicker, and grow old; they can grow old for many years – Jesus found that entrance into there was a nice secret place to pray.

Jesus in His sovereignty is preparing for the cross of Calvary. He needs to prepare Himself and He knows the disciples need to be prepared. And He knows that prayer is the way to prepare. He also knows Judas is out. Judas is out and about talking to the false teachers and preparing to betray Him now at this very moment. And in His sovereignty – truly God and truly Man – truly Man, He needs to prepare. Truly God, He knows what’s going on with Judas and how Judas knows that Jesus will be at Gethsemane praying. All this is in His plan. All is in His control. He freely gives His life as a ransom for many.

And so, He knows Judas is going to find Him there. Jesus has a good grasp of the schedule. He is never a man in a hurry and never a man behind. You always find Him on time, on time in everything that He does. And so, He arrives there just in time; time to be able to pray, time for Judas to do his evil plan and to prepare, and time to give a gracious patience with the disciples.

And so, we see here in verse 32, when they arrive at Gethsemane, they enter into this grove of thick trees, short olive trees. We also know that the name is Gethsemane which means “an olive pressed” or “crushed,” which communicates the purpose of the place. And to us we see more than just a name. We remember that here our Lord is crushed in this time of prayer as He considers the cup of Calvary.

What are the instructions He says in this sorrowful setting? In verse 32 He says, “Sit here while I pray.” And the implication is, “You need to be praying too.” They can kind of act as a buffer for Jesus to be able to have separation in case anyone comes in. They can kind of meet them and talk with them and say, “Jesus is praying now. He needs His time with the Father.” But also, they are to be there praying themselves. “Sit here – implying, ‘You have a responsibility too’ – while I pray.”

And so, He took Peter, James, and John with Him. He has a particular group, a particular plan. He has chosen, in His sovereignty, to prepare these three to be a special gift to His church, to be used in greater ways. And it’s the same way today. Sometimes God chooses men, calls men to ministry, and they have the blessing of siting with Him in study of the Word of God and to know Him, to be able to serve others, and to help other people know Him. And in this time, we see Christ’s gracious sovereignty to them. But He also has a lesson to teach to them because they’re very prideful as well. And they’re going to learn this lesson and tell this lesson to us through the book of 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and through the gospels.

And so, we receive grace in our sin in the same way they received grace in their sin. Jesus is patient to us by telling us this story; and we need it more than we know. And He was gracious to them; and much more than they knew at the time. And so, He takes the three. The three were allowed a greater privilege before as well. Only the three entered the house where Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead. Only the three were taken to the mount of transfiguration. And so now, we have the three here and Jesus is calling them to pray. Jesus is calling them to pray and He explains why. – and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
And so, here we see in verse 33, Mark, the gospel writer is helping us by describing what’s happened to Jesus at this time. He picks out two words, “troubled” and “deeply distressed.” They’re very similar words. The one, “troubled,” is describing how physically He’s beginning to be affected, distressed in mind. Maybe you’ve felt it before when you’ve felt very nervous or something was coming up. Maybe a test coming back from the doctor and you don’t know what it’s going to be and your body begins to be affected by what you’re thinking about. Jesus is beginning to have that affect. And “deeply distressed.” He is profoundly troubled, overwhelmed with sorrow and the burden and the distress of what’s happening. He has the great sorrows. If you remember, Psalm 22 is a psalm that describes the great sorrows of the Messiah that are beginning to happen to Jesus.
This is not a pre-atonement. This is not somehow a payment for sin, what’s happening at Gethsemane. But it is an expression of His righteous life which is part of our salvation. We’ll explain a little bit more a little later. This is not a pre-atonement but it is part of His righteous life which is essential for our salvation.

And so, He’s greatly troubled and distressed. Albert Martin used an example in a sermon over this text of hearing of a husband who died. Let’s say we’re going to pick out – sorry Pastor Michael – we’re going to pick Pastor Michael. He dies and we know it. And so, Pastor Marc and Pastor Jerome know it and they’re going to go and tell Nancy. She doesn’t know it. So, when they tell her there’s an initial shock and then a deep sorrow that takes place.

You understand in that illustration how that would happen in the wife? Jesus, coming up to this edge, this precipice of Calvary, has that shock emotion/effect that He’s here. He’s arrived. It’s time. It’s already in motion. Judas is on the way. The cross is already prepared. The Sanhedrin is getting ready. They know what’s coming. They’re getting the whole group together. Jesus knows it’s all coming into plan now. He’s on the edge. And yet there’s also a deep sorrow. We see His true humanity in this time in Gethsemane.

He says in verse 34, we hear Him begin to speak, and He said to them, (He said to His disciples) “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” This is perhaps the only time we see Jesus asking the disciples for help. It’s been the other way around the entire time, in every aspect. And yet, in His humanity He is asking, He’s explaining what He’s going through in a very brief way in verse 34; explaining His deep sorrow perhaps looking for a little sympathy.

I don’t think this is hyperbole where He says, “even to death.” ‘I’m so sorrowful I feel like I’m not going to continue to live,’ He’s saying. ‘So, stay here and watch. Stay here and watch.’ He’s saying for them obviously to physically stay there but for what purpose? To watch, to be vigilant in prayer; to be alert, spiritually alert. This is going to be a great time of temptation. They need to be prepared to be dependent.

It’s not as though somehow you give prayer and it turns out like it’s a battery that charges up the battery or something. This prayer and this watch is an expression of humility and grace, that God is ready to be offering grace to them to help them through this time and to obey. But they must exercise their own responsibility and express this humility and dependence on Him. And so perhaps in their pride they think, “Yes, yes, yes.” And pridefully they think, “Yes, I’ll be faithful to pray.” But because of their pride that we saw on the road to Gethsemane, they are truly not prepared and truly not prepared to stay and watch.

When we see this sorrowful setting – we start back now and see verses 32 to 34 – we would consider and some unbelievers have asked this question at this point: Why was Jesus such a coward? Why was Jesus such a coward? Other people die. In fact, we have a historic example in France in the time of Henry the IV, someone was preparing to get their head cut off and they said boldly declaring, “Look at how I don’t have any fear. I’m going to the guillotine without fear like Jesus that coward.” And then that person died boldly.
And so, other unbelievers have asked that same question, “What’s the matter with Jesus? Other people have died for different causes. People have died for governments. People have died for revolutions. People have died all the time. People have died all the time on the cross. This is not the first Jew to die on the cross. Many Jews died on crosses. Many people died in history on crosses. Why is Jesus so afraid?” Well the answer is in the next point.

We finish the setting, the sorrowful setting in verses 32 to 34, and now we pick up at the Lord’s prayer and the cup of Calvary in verses 35 to 36. We read in verse 35: He went a little farther, and 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. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” Let’s focus in on what happens to Jesus and then what He says. What happens to Jesus in verse 35 and what He says in verse 36.
In verse 35 it describes: He went a little farther, and fell on the ground. This “little farther” is described in the other gospels in Luke “about a stone’s throw away.” So perhaps if you’re thinking, you’re on the walkway here and you think about the other group of trees in the middle of the parking lot, you could throw a stone easily from the walkway to that group of trees. You can think Jesus went about that far away from Peter, James, and John – and He collapses.

The verb that’s described here, “and fell on the ground,” is normally a verb that’s describing a repeated action, or ‘He kept falling to the ground.’ It’s as if He’s stumbling at this point, as if the sins of the world are upon His shoulders. And He prayed that if it were possible – we begin to see His actions – He’s praying that if it were possible that the hour might pass from Him. When we see the “if it were possible,” we remember it was not possible. There was no other solution.

The atonement is an absolute necessity. If you’re going to go to heaven when you die, this is the only way. There is no other way. There is no other religion. There is no other Savior. There is no other person. There is no other way to go to God, be right with God. You can’t make it by your own works. You can’t make it by your repentance. You can’t make it by attending church. You can’t make it by being a good person. This is the only way.

– if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him, He says. And so, we have a summary of what He was praying, what He’s looking for. This is not the first time that this prayer or thought had come to Jesus in His humanity. In John chapter 12, verses 27 to 28 it reads: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

Jesus had predestined this hour in His sovereignty before the world began. Truly God, truly man, He comes. And as Hue Martin said in his book, “The Shadow of Calvary,” he said, “Jesus, if He were not to respond this way it would show that He is not human.” For Jesus to pray, “Oh yes, give Me this cup. Let this hour come,” would show that He is not human. But He is truly man; essential, fundamental, necessary for our salvation. We learn who He is and what He is doing in His great work here. By Him stumbling, by Him asking that if it were possible this hour might pass from Him.

There is no conflict in the Trinity here but an expression we see of the greatest submission. Submission is not at its highest and purest form when you want to submit. Wives, this could be a point, or children to parents, when you want to submit and you submit, it’s not really the submission that it needs to be. It’s when you don’t want to and you do it anyway because you know it’s right. We do that much in our lives. We know that something is right and at the moment we don’t want to do it. As simple as visiting the dentist or as something like preaching the gospel to someone. We do what is right trusting the Lord – trusting the Lord. Jesus in His righteous life manifested that in His compassion on us to help us in our times of need.

In verse 36 – now, this is where we really wanted to get to. In verse 36 we hear His words. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me; nevertheless, not what I will but what You will.” He begins with “Abba Father...” Not an irreverent term, but a term expressing obedient surrender, an unconditional submission. He’s using this simple, eager Aramaic term to be able to cry out to His Father, to express His love, dependence, reverence; and yet also obedience and surrender that He will submit, acknowledging His role in the relationship of the Trinity. “Abba Father!”

And then He says, “...all things are possible for You…” – He is saying and praying, if there is another way that is morally consistent with Your will, if there is another way that You can accomplish Your purposes, please let’s have this other way. Theoretically, God can do whatever He wants. But He won’t do whatever He wants. He will only do what’s in accord with His righteous character.

So, we can apply that to a common misunderstanding today. People today think, “Oh, I will ask to God forgive me and that’s all that I need to do. God is a forgiving God and all I need to do is really be genuine and ask Him to forgive me.” No. God is righteous and just. Because He is just, holy, and righteous He cannot just forgive you. Forgiveness doesn’t work that way. Atonement doesn’t work that way. Salvation doesn’t work that way, because it would be against God’s goodness and greatness. He would be a sinner to save that way. He cannot save that way. Jesus is here praying, “…all things are possible for You...” And He thinks and references. He says, “…Take this cup away from Me…”

So, here we arrive at the cup of Calvary; Gethsemane and the cup of Calvary. Here we’ve gotten to the point and now we can understand why Jesus has so much sorrow. It is about this cup. It is about this cup. That He is dreading this cup. He is sorrowed. He is troubled and deeply distressed. It’s about what’s in the cup. It’s explained that His soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. And as Luke describes, in His prayers, He is praying and sheds something as in blood in His sweat.

Why? Why does Jesus come to Gethsemane? The cup is coming. Why does He have this deep distress? The cup is coming. Why does He say to His disciples, “Stay here and watch”? The cup is coming. Why does He fall to the ground as if the sins of the world are on His shoulders? The cup is coming. “…Take this cup away from Me…”

The cup is not a literal cup. You can’t go to heaven and pick up the cup and look at the cup. The cup is a symbol. It’s a symbol of something. It’s a symbolling of something finite. All of the sins that all of the believers, all of the elect had committed and would have committed in the future. If you are in Christ, all of your sins are in this cup. If you’re not in Christ, the cup is for you.

And so, we read here, “…Take this cup away from Me…” Maybe we can get some help from the Old Testament to understand why is Jesus speaking of a cup to speak of Calvary? Well, we saw in chapter 10 of Mark, in verses 38 and 39, Jesus had had a previous conversation with the sons of Zebedee, James and John. And He had asked them in verses 39 to 40, “You will indeed drink the cup that drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized…” He spoke of a cup here.

We see in the Old Testament, there are more references to a cup. In Psalm 11, verse 5 to 6. It says, He will rain coals (on the wicked); fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. (Psalm 75:8) For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is mixed red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely it’s dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.

In Isaiah 51, verse 17 to 21, God spoke of the cup of His fury. Jesus’ agony is not simply because of the physical pain or being deserted on the cross. It is because of the cup as in the Revelation. Let’s read the Revelation, chapter 14. We’ll read verses 9 to 11 to get an idea of the cup; more explanation of the cup. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and who receives the mark of his name.
Don’t get distracted now by mentions of the beast and his image. Focus on the main point. The main point is that unbelievers drink this cup of the wrath of God poured out full strength. That is what we’re wanting to get for today. We’re wanting to see that this cup is describing a righteousness. Because God is good, He has this cup. This cup is not a bad thing. This cup is a good thing and it is your greatest problem. It is a good thing and yet it is your greatest problem. The cup of indignation.

Like in Jeremiah 25, God says, the cup is filled with ‘the wine of My wrath.’
In Ezekiel 23, verse 32 to 34, it says, the cup of horror (ruin) and desolation
In Habbakuk 2:16, speaking again of wrath, he says, The cup of the Lord’s (Yahweh’s) right hand –
The cup is all of the judgment, all of the wrath that God has for every sin that has ever been committed. And we remember that God has counted every sin, and has known every evil thing done in the dark and in the light. No politician can hide their evil scheme. No child can lie in secret to their parents without God knowing. Everything is known by Him.

Two hundred years ago a little woman commits sins in evil words of bitterness in Venezuela, and God knows it all. A hundred years ago an old man died in Russia, full of immorality. He died and God knew every sin. And now today in Kentucky, lives a young girl who’s deceiving her parents in her home now, and God knows it all. God knows it all. And He has judgment. Because He is good, He must judge. Because He is good, He has a cup. He has the cup of His wrath, the cup of His indignation. “Indignation” is a word that we read in Revelation 14 to describe how this cup is a good thing. He is indignant. Indignant means that He needs to be angry.
For Him not to be angry with the wicked He would be evil. He would be like Eli in the Call to Repentance. We learned of Eli who let sin go on. And we see that now in the “Me Too Movement,” right? where when churches or governments or people hide sexual abuse, then later on it’s revealed. God has a way of bringing these things out and this is a shame. And people will say, “How could you cover that up? How could you be an Eli? What evil it is!” God does not cover things up. God does not sweep things under the rug. God counts every sin and has a just punishment for every single sin.

This cup is a good thing, but this cup is our greatest problem. This cup, what will it mean for Christ? What will it mean for Christ? Christ is on the edge here of Calvary, and it’s as if He can feel the heat of hell, or smell the sulfur of hell. Hell is a place that exist, a real place that exist to punish people. It is a way that people who do not trust in Christ – it is the way that they drink the cup for all eternity. It is the way that they will for all eternity continue to drink the cup. And sadly, in a room this size, some of you will for all eternity drink that cup in hell. Some of you here, Christ will drink it in your place. This is the great divide. This is the great divide. You will drink the cup, or Christ will drink the cup for you; but the cup will come.

And so, Christ comes recognizing in His humanity the need that He has for His deity to uphold Him in this time. He, being a perfect example, also gives us the guidance of how we should depend upon Him. And He will also in this suffering, as part of His righteous life – remember, we’re not in atonement, but it is part of His perfect righteous life to depend upon the Father here in this time. And because of this, He becomes the great intercessory Priest in our place. And tonight, we’ll look at more of His intercessory role as priest that is connected with this text. That’s an effect of what happens here, but for now, we consider the meaning of the cup.

“…Take this cup away from Me,” He prays. And so, the cup is the wrath of God. The cup is the righteous indignation. All the punishment that should be poured out on us. And Christ, when He goes to Calvary, and in those three hours He suffers on the cross of Calvary, and cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He takes the cup to His lips and He drinks of the cup. And He drinks all of the cup, down to its very bottom, down to the dregs, the last that’s in the bottom of the cup. He doesn’t leave one sin of His elect unpaid for. ‘This cup,’ Jesus says, ‘please take it from Me.’ In His human, sanctified, perfect will, He must pray this way. He must respond this way.

You understand that… I was driving the car, trying to think through the impact of this. How could you realize the impact of this cup? What if we just put you in hell for sixty seconds, would you understand the impact of this cup? Would you come out more appreciative? Surely, we don’t have to play games like that. Surely, we can by faith read this and trust this and see simply by the way that Jesus is responding that He has never responded this way at any other time, in any other situation. Surely, this time, just by the way that Christ responds, can we not see the importance of what’s happening here? Can we not see that this cup is our greatest problem? Can this text not affect us and teach us that our sins deserve punishment? If Jesus, the bravest Man could come to this point and be here, praying this way, should we not be grateful and thankful to Him?

Here we see Him coming to submission, coming to trust in His Father when He says, “…nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” Do we see the conflict of decree and desire here, where He knows that this is decreed and yet, in His desire, in His humanity, He has a true genuine, sinless, desire to have another solution? But because there is not, He’ll drink it, He’ll take it, He’ll trust the Father, and He’ll do this great work.
We see here that He focuses in on the Father’s will as an expression of trust and love to His Father. In John chapter 4, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work”. In Philippians 2:8 it describes Jesus, that: He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And because of this humbling, He is our perfect High Priest, the Intercessor, the Mediator that we so desperately need. Because He came to this point and it was not – to say it lightly – it was not easy. And so, He trusts the Father and takes upon Him this cup – this cup.

We’ve seen here today, in verses 32 to 34, a sorrowful setting. A sorrowful setting in Gethsemane. And then in verses 35 to 36, we see Christ’s prayer in the cup of Calvary. But what is this to us? Another story? Another story for us to hear? How should it affect you? How should it change you? How should you think about it? How should you apply?

And so, we see once again, this story is not just a story for us. But this is the most important thing that has happened. This story of Jesus going to the cross and His response here, this explanation of the cup, is the most important thing for us to understand. And so, it is a great call for us to see our need, our great need to repent and believe in the gospel; to continue to repent and believe the gospel. This is our great need. When we see the cup, we see that Jesus takes this cup at Calvary and pays for all of the sins of all of those who would repent and believe in Him. We see our greatest need and our greatest hope.

When we’re discouraged, then we think of this truth. When we’re tired, we think of this truth. When we’re tempted to enter into sin, we think of this truth. When we are in our greatest need, we return to this and we say, “I should be in hell now, not sitting in Cornerstone, worshipping the Lord. I should be in hell now. I should have died. If God gave me what I deserve, I should have died and be in hell. But instead, He drank the cup for me! The cup had my name on it! It was not His cup! It was not His cup! It was my cup and He drank it. It changes all of life. It changes all of life.

What do we have that we can give? We give all of our lives, all of our souls, all of our time, all of our emotions are for Him now. He is our Lord and our Savior, our God. How can we not give Him all? How could I come here and not speak of Him? How could you leave and not speak of Him? How could we not take this time to glorify Him, to worship Him, to sing songs to Him? He deserves everything! He deserves everything!
And our sin is manifested in a great way when we see this cup and we pass by as if it’s a product in a store window. When we pass by or we see in our pride and we don’t admit our sin or our need. We’re much more like Peter than we are like Jesus to confess the truth. We are much more like Peter. And in preparing for this sermon that was the scary thing for me, that these truths would become old or pass by once again, and that I could think about the cup and how He drank it all with indifference. That’s the great sin, the great sin of idolatry. Let’s worship the Lord. Let’s respond by worshipping the Lord, and repenting, and believing the gospel.

Another application is that we should see the seriousness of sin – the seriousness of sin. If you’re an unbeliever, see the seriousness of sin and seek Christ as your only hope! He drinks the cup! He’s the only One who can drink it all! You will take it and it will take forever for you to drink it. You will never drink it. You will be forever in hell drinking it. But He offers His grace now, while you are alive.

If you are a believer, don’t be deceived by all the lies of the world. The world in every way, shape, and form is going to try and tell you, “Oh, you have excuses for sin.” “Oh, sin is because of….” or “It’s not sin, it’s a mistake” or “It’s a condition.” And you think in a million ways why sin doesn’t matter. And the world wants to tell you in a million different ways why you can have excuses or why it’s not really that bad. “It’s not really that bad!” In this cup we see, yes, it is! Yes, it is! This is reality. What’s on the TV, what’s on streaming, what your coworker says, or students say, or your teacher says, that’s not the truth.

Here’s the truth. This building and this place exist to be a pillar and foundation for the truth. And here’s the truth: Yes! Every sin, every sin is significant! And so, let’s cast all our hope on Christ. Let’s take the seriousness of sin and apply it in our lives. Let’s repent. Let’s look for help. Let’s help our brothers. The arrogant one is like Peter. “I won’t fall.” Why wasn’t Peter thinking about His brothers? You think, “I don’t need group.” Well, maybe you don’t need group, but maybe your brother needs you to be there. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your brother. Be the church for your brother at least. You see how we’re like Peter? We think more of ourselves, and in reality, self-deceived.

Lastly, last application. We trust, we trust in Christ. We continue to trust in Christ. We’ll speak more of this tonight, but how good is He? How good is He in His kindness to the disciples? How good is He to help them? How good is He to call them to watch? How good is He to pray and to be our High Priest? How good is He to drink this cup in our place? And how good is He here, where He obeys? He obeys.
And remember that when Jesus dies on the cross, He not only takes the wrath of God for every single sin, every single sin counted and drinks that cup, He not only does that, but in our union with Him, He gives us of His own righteousness. All of the ways that the disciples disobeyed, He obeyed in the garden. And He give His righteousness, His own righteousness to the disciples. He says, “You didn’t obey, you didn’t watch and pray. I prayed in your place. I obeyed in your place. And in salvation, our sins are not only taken by Him on the cross in the cup of Calvary, but He gives us His righteousness. He gives us His righteous- ness. And His obedience here is part of His righteous life that is for our salvation. Let’s trust in Him and abandon all pride and all self-trust.
What we’ve seen today is we’ve taken a glimpse into Gethsemane. We’ve looked at the sorrowful setting and we’ve seen Christ’s prayer. And in the true heart of Gethsemane, we see the cup. The cup. And we see here from Gethsemane, we have a better view of Calvary to understand Christ and His gracious salvation of sinners. We’re sinners and we need Him. Let’s pray.