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An Olive Grove Called Gethsemane
by Steve May
Text: Mark 14:32-42
Topic: How to experience God’s presence in suffering
Big Idea: If you will pray as Jesus prayed, “God, not my will, but yours be done,” you will find the courage and the strength to follow him in obedience.
Keywords: Overcoming; Troubles; Trials; Passion of Christ; Prayer; Obedience
Introduction:
- Illustration: May opens with a lengthy discussion of the newly released movie, The Passion of the Christ, in order to introduce a quote from producer Mel Gibson: “I went to the wounds of Christ in order to cure my wounds.”
- Isaiah 53:5
- Mark 14:32-42
Jesus was alone in his agony, but you are never alone in yours.
- Mark 14:33-34
- The disciples had never seen Jesus so distressed before.
- Matthew 20:18-19
- Jesus was alone in his agony, but you are never alone in yours.
- Hebrews 4:15
- When you face times of sorrow—when you face your own private Gethsemane—you can call on him, and he will hear you.
Sometimes the only way out is to go all the way through.
- Mark 14:35-37, 41-42
- -Matthew 26:42-43
- -Luke 22:43-45
- -2 Corinthians 5:21
- Jesus knew this was God’s plan, and he was filled with horror at the thought of enduring it.
- Illustration: May quotes commentator David Garland: “In Gethsemane, Jesus meets the dreadful silence of heaven. There is no reassuring voice from heaven...no dove descends...God has already spoken, and his Son must obey.”
- Illustration: To illustrate how dreadfully silent God can seem in our trials, May recaps the story of Joni Eareckson Tada, making her an example of someone who surrendered to enduring the painful parts of God’s will.
Prayer gives you power over temptation.
- Mark 14:38
- Illustration: May weaves the Gospel account with a scene from The Passion of the Christ to illustrate how prayer enabled Christ to crush the tempter beneath his feet (Genesis 3:15).
- Illustration: May quotes a Christian friend’s realization that praying in times of struggle isn’t just a cliché, but a powerful tool.
- Prayer removes the obstacles to obedience.
- Through prayer, God changes us.
Conclusion:
- Jesus must have told the disciples the details of the events of that lonely night.
- It takes a Gethsemane experience to fulfill the call of God on your life.
- Big Idea: If you will pray as Jesus prayed, “God, not my will, but yours be done,” you will find the courage and the strength to follow him in obedience.
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