April 5 - Matthew 26 - "Overwhelmed"

MPC 5th April 2020.

Jeremy Wales

It's a bit of an understatement to say the current pandemic has changed our lives. You might've heard one of the jokes going around: Whoever said one person can't change the world... never ate an under-cooked bat!

The world has changed. So much is different now. And for lots of us it's not clear exactly how we're meant to respond.

So it's got me curious about Christians in the past and how have they've faced things like this. Plagues aren't a new thing. Christians have faced them many times before.

How have they responded?

As I've been browsing the web - which I seem to be doing quite a lot these days - one of the striking accounts I came across was that of Cyprian and Dionysius, church leaders in mid-200s. Take a look at your bulletin and you'll see a couple of quotes from them. They describe how a deadly plague raged through the Roman empire. In many ways worse than the one we face. And of course the common response was simply that each person would flee for themselves. Which makes perfect sense. But many Christians stood out in choosing to stay behind and help the sick.

It wasn't that they were too dim to realise how disease spreads. They knew the risks. It was because their trust in Jesus gave them such a confidence and peace, even in the face of death, that they could care for others above themselves. Isn't that a beautiful picture of the difference Jesus can make?

And so the question that raises for me is: if that's how they responded, and if we trust in Jesus too, is that how we're meant to respond now? With confidence and peace and caring for others, not ourselves. Because if you're anything like me, that kind of confidence and peace may not be what you're feeling right now. You might instead be feeling overwhelmed. As you think how to manage work with kids at home now. Or how to manage without work now. As you think about your loved ones who are vulnerable. As you think about how none us really knows how long this whole thing will last and how life will be different afterwards.

Confidence and peace may not be what you're feeling right now. If so, you are least in good company. I don't mean with me! I mean with Jesus, as he face the worst himself. Next Friday is good Friday, where we especially remember the day Jesus died on the cross. So this morning we're looking at the night before Jesus died. In fact we're read from Matthew's biography of Jesus, and that reading gives us a window into his very last act... before he's arrested and killed. He's just had his last supper. And so he goes to Gethsemane, an olive garden. To pray. And what does Jesus himself find in the garden as he prays? Does he find confidence and peace? Is he "serenely happy", to use the words of Dionysius?

Well, follow it with me from verse 37.

Jesus took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul's overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death."

Far from confidence and peace. Jesus is so deeply troubled it's almost like the sorrow itself will kill him! That's why Jesus begs his Father in Heaven: to get him out of this! Over and over. see it there in verse 39.

My Father, if it's possible, may this cup be taken from me."

Then again in verse 42. Then again in verse 44. Three times Jesus begs his Father in Heaven: Get me out of what I'm facing right now.

So what's going on here? Why is this so incredibly hard for Jesus? Why doesn't Jesus himself have the confidence and peace he'sgiven to so many of his followers through the centuries?

As we look at this passage more closely we're going to see 2 reasons Jesus is overwhelmed here. And then those reasons why Jesus is overwhelmed will actually make two big differences for us now. The 1st reason Jesus is overwhelmed, is that he isn't just facing death, bad as that is. Jesus is facing "the cup". Did you notice each time Jesus prays. Verse 39, 42, 44. Jesus never asks that he be spared death. Jesus asks only that he spared "the cup". Now you might've thought that "the cup" is just Jesus' way of talking about dying. But it's definitely more than that. In the Old Testament, the scriptures Jesus himself read and taught from,

The cup is actually a well-known symbol. Take a look at your bulletin for a couple of references there.

There's Psalm 75 and Jeremiah 25 and we could add Isaiah 51 and Ezekiel 23. All Old Testament scriptures where "the cup" is actually a symbol. A symbol of all God's righteous anger against human sin, all God's just judgement against our wrong actions, stored up ready, to be drunk by those who deserve it. A symbol of what all of us deserve for rejecting God our creator, living for ourselves, mistreating each other. Yes, the very next day, Jesus will die.

But it's no normal death. Jesus will die to take the punishment for sin that we deserve. So in prayer he seeks his Father's reassurance... and instead he feels all his Father's anger at human sin... now directed at him. Instead of comfort, already he tastes the cup. He longs for God's love. But he feels God's anger. He looks to heaven. But instead he sees hell. That's the 1st reason Jesus is so broken here. Jesus isn't just facing death. He's facing the cup of God's righteous anger. And the 2nd reason is related.

The 2nd reason Jesus is so broken here, is that he still has a choice. Pretty soon the authorities will arrive to arrest Jesus. And he'll have already made his choice about whether to let them. But now, before they arrive, it's not too late to back out. So Jesus has to wrestle with the choice: do I still go through with this? And that choice is agony. Not only because of the cup he has to drink. But also because of the people he has to drink it for!!! See, for Jesus, as he tastes the cup, it's his darkest hour. And so he seeks support. Yes, from his heavenly father. But also from his closest friends. Did you notice, v37, after spending his last supper with his 12 disciples... when he goes the garden, he only bring his 3 closest friends. Peter, James and John.

Because who you bring for support is important. Lucy often reminds me of the birth of our second child, Xander. There I am meant to be supporting Lucy in the labour ward. But I fall asleep in a chair. And allegedly she has to work really hard to wake me up. Now, as I then remind Lucy: It was 3 in the morning, the lights were low, gentle music playing, it was very early-stage labour and I'm only human. I also remind her that she's had 2 other labours where I didn't fall asleep at all. 2 out of 3, 67%, that's not just a Pass, it's a Credit! But I don't seem to get much credit for that! Still, when it's not Lucy raising it, when it's just between you and me - oh, and I guess the internet - I probably can admit that is pretty selfish. Comfortably snoozing while your wife's in labour.

But as selfish as that was, Jesus' closest friends, they're next level, aren't they? Jesus is about to drink the cup of God's anger, for them. Three times he asks them to stay up with him. Three times they let him down. Look at verse 40: Jesus prayed. "then he returned to his disciples and found [not the support he needed, no he found] them sleeping. "Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour?" he asks Peter. It's the same again verse 43. It's the same again verse 45. Jesus looks for their support while he faces the cup for them. But their priority is their own comfort.

Now, do you look down on these guys? Or do you relate to them? Because I think they're really just pictures of us, aren't they? In all our weakness. With all our really good intentions to love people. That so often don't materialise. Don't we let people down??? Don't we overlook other people's needs??? Don't we put our own comfort ahead of helping???

So this is the terrible choice Jesus faces in the garden. It's as if God his Father is saying to Jesus. I'm not going to make you do this. It's your choice. And I want you to understand the choice you're making. So up here is the cup you've got to drink. The anger you've got to face. See how horrific it is??? Start tasting it now!!! And down here are the people you've got to drink it for. See how selfish they are??? See how unworthy they are??? Now make your choice! You can see why that choice is agony.

It's the 2nd reason Jesus is overwhelmed here. But the good news, the gospel, is that in the end... Jesus is overwhelmed. But he's not overcome. Jesus chooses what's best for us, not what's best for himself. In the end, Jesus effectively says to his Father: You've sent me into the world precisely to save these guys from the punishment they deserve. I really don't want to do it. But if this cup of your anger can't be taken away from them, unless I drink it for them... I'll do it. see what Jesus says in verse 42. "My Father, if it's not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

Now, there's so many ways this changes everything for us. But this morning I just want to highlight two. 1stone. We've heard a lot about God's anger this morning. We've had to. That's the cup Jesus faced. But the fact that God sent his Son Jesus to drink that cup for us - that's where we see the depth of God's love. Do you realise no one has ever loved you this deeply? I mean you may have had someone sacrifice for you, even though you didn't deserve it. My parents did that for me time and again. Lucy does that for me. But not like this. Jesus is faced with the full cup of God's righteous anger at our sin. He sees you at your most unworthy.

It's not too late for him to back out and he desperately wants to. And still, he loves you too much to think of himself. No one else can love you, like Jesus does love you. Think about this: in Jesus, you're loved by God so deeply it's actually gonna take all eternity for it to sink in properly. We should start letting it sink in now.

And so, last thing. A God who loves you like that, that's a God you can trust your future to. What Jesus did for us in the garden and on the cross - It doesn't take away all the suffering. In a world broken by sin. Followers of Jesus still have to face all that brokenness along with everyone else. We obviously still have to have face death. But what Jesus did for his followers here - it does mean the worst is now behind us. God's righteous anger is behind us. And our ultimate future, beyond the brokenness... is the love of God.

So if you're feeling overwhelmed... and it's understandable if you are... even so, trusting in Jesus actually can help you face this crisis with a confidence and peace you couldn't possibly have otherwise. Not because you know more than anyone else how it's all going to play out. But because you know that what comes after everything, is guaranteed by what Jesus has already done. And if we're confident in our ultimate future, at peace knowing nothing can ever shake that, that should free us up in the here and now to care for others more than ourselves. Knowing Jesus has already taken care of us.

We've heard some nice examples of that from Bo and Sarah and Taryn and Kyle. Let's find more ways we can care for others more than ourselves. Knowing Jesus has already taken care of us.

Much like the ordinary Christians described by Cyprian and Dionysius, who stood out from their society in a time of plague.

Wouldn't it be great if people saw the difference that Jesus makes in us, that they might be drawn to Jesus too.

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April 5 - Matthew 26 - "Overwhelmed"