Mark 14:26-43

The passage challenges us to think, are we living in response to our own desires or that of God’s?

And the application is for us to give thanks to God for Jesus Christ, because in him we can now and choose appropriately.

Desire.

At the very core of every person that ever walked on the face of this planet is desire.

Desires tell us that things aren’t right with “our” world.

Things aren’t the way,

“we” think they should be.

When we have our desires met,

it’s normally a pleasurable experience for us.

If our desires remain unfulfilled,

we suffer frustrations, anxieties, and all sorts of negative feelings.

As a result, desire can drive us to do, think or act in ways that are contrary to our beliefs,

no matter how strong that belief may be.

However, as well as desire, all humanity is graced with reason.

In our culture, we view desire as a reflection of our heart.

We understand desires as being “feelings” based.

Whereas reason is the workings of our mind.

Our basis for reason is thought.

We can take the time to think through the consequences of responding to our desires.

We can reasonably decide whether to respond by indulging in them,

or respond in contradiction to them.

In todays’ passage, we get to come along side Jesus as he wrestles between his own desires and that of God’s.

And as we see his struggle unfold, we are reminded that we are always challenged with the same battle.

Will we succumb to our own desires as the disciples did?

Or will we submit ourselves to the desires of God to have full reign over our lives?

The story begins.

The last rays of sunlight flickered away on an early Spring evening.

Jesus and the remaining eleven disciples sung their final psalm of the Passover.

For the disciples, Passover was usually a great time of celebration.

Through historical recollection they relived Yahweh’s gracious liberation of Israel from Egyptian slavery so long ago.

However, this time Jesus had brought a whole new meaning to the Passover story.

Jesus spoke about his body being broken and drinking his blood.

This didn’t make much sense to his disciples.

But things seemed to always work out for the group, so they accepted it for what it was.

Jesus then led the men downstairs and away from the upper room.

This made it easier for the attending women to give the place a thorough clean.

Their job was to ensure that nothing was left remaining of the meal as the law demanded.

The group meandered through the darkening streets of Jerusalem without much being said among them.

For the last 3 years these disciples had heard Jesus preach to them of a new kingdom.

He talked of their role as key players in it.

However, in the minds of these men, they misunderstood what that role was to be.

They thought that, in Jesus, they would be central to a new liberation for Israel.

The might of Rome did nothing to dissuade their desire and that of most Israelites,

to see the destruction of the Roman occupation.

They had now arrived in Jerusalem and were ready to fight for it.

Contrary to the disciples, it’s most likely that Jesus heart and mind was in a very different place.

Mark 24, verse 26 says, “…when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

The singing of Psalm 118, the last Passover psalm, was incredibly profound, that night.

It clearly speaks into the events that were taking place around Jesus and His disciples.

Early verses in it praise God for His goodness and protection.

With how Jesus’ disciples expected events to unfold, they were all on board with that.

Later in the psalm, verse 27 speaks of taking the sacrifice and binding it to the altar.

This was generally understood as obedience to the law,

but Jesus knew that this spoke of him.

And these men had no idea what was about to happen.

Jesus had painstakingly tried to explain it to them so many times, they just didn’t get it.

Now he was about to be bound and lay down His life as a sacrifice.

A sacrifice not just for them,

but for all humanity for all time.

There’s great and dreadful tension in this moment.

Jesus knew of the great joy of salvation for so many that lay just ahead.

Jesus also knew that the wretched cross was the only path to make salvation happen.

As they reached the Mount of Olives, Jesus quoted something from the prophet Zechariah, that shook the disciples to the core.

He said to them in verse 27, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’”

This was not what they expected to hear.

The disciples were ready to march in and take over the city.

If Jesus had just quoted where Zechariah speaks of Yahweh fighting the nations.

If he referred to Yahweh standing on the Mount of Olives,

that would’ve made sense for them.

But he didn’t.

Why did Jesus just say what he did?

Did he just have a momentary lapse of reason?

Was this some kind of test for the disciples?

Whatever the case,

this was not going to happen on Peter’s watch.

Or so he thought.

In an almost harsh reaction, Peter blurted out in verse 29,

“Even though they all fall away, I will not!”

In that moment, the desire of Peter’s heart was to stand by Jesus, no matter the cost.

He was ready for the fight, and he was made of the right stuff.

Alas, intention doesn’t guarantee performance.

Jesus was filled with love and compassion for Peter, far beyond what he could’ve ever understood.

From the very depths of his heart Jesus tells Peter in verse 30, “Truly, I tell you, this very night,

before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

Peter was blinded by his own desires.

Along with the others he sought to maintain his perceived objective of establishing a “Roman free” kingdom.

In verse 31 Peter emphatically cries out, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.”

And the rest of the disciples all said the same.  

However, this was not the time, nor the place to fight with Peter about what he desired.

A far greater battle lay just ahead.

With no further discussion Jesus led them from the top of the mountain into the Garden of Gethsemane that lay just below.

What was about to unfold echoed ancient history.

A selfish decision was made with catastrophic consequences for all humanity.

Whilst in the Garden of Eden, Eve stood below a tree and her desire was exposed.

It was God’s desire that humanity should trust him to know what is good or bad.

He called Adam and Eve to trust him.

But Eve’s desire was to be more like God and choose for herself.

So, she took what she wanted for herself.

In complicity with Adam, their willingness to take what they desired brought death to all humanity.

A similar story played out a little later in history.

The whole nation of Israel was enslaved by a ruthless Pharoah in Egypt.

Moses knew the nations’ plight,

and he desired to see Israel liberated.

One day God called Moses from a burning bush.

He said to Moses that it was his desire to liberate Israel.

Moses undoubtedly received this news with glee.

That’s until God said, “Moses, it is you who is to go and do it.”

Aware of the might of Pharoah, Moses’ desire to see Israel saved was quickly replaced.

Self-preservation now became his greatest desire as he pleaded with God,

“Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

What is about to unfold is in parallel with these two stories and other similar historical events.

It is another battle between the desires of the flesh and the desires of the God.

Like Adam, Eve and Moses, Jesus also has been called by God.

But this time it’s not just a call to save the life of a couple or a call to save a whole nation.

God is calling on Jesus to be the one to save of the whole world, for all time.

Having heard the call, now Jesus must consider his response.

Will he respond like so many have done in the past?

Or will he set his own desires aside?

The group has now reached the edge of the Garden of Gethsemane.

In verse 32 Jesus asks most of his disciples to, “Sit here, while I pray”.

This separation was not unusual because Jesus had done it several times before.

Although they didn’t recognise it at the time, each of these separation events were crucial.

Each time were key moments in the ministry of Jesus.

In verse 33 & 34 we read that Jesus took, “…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.”

These three men had seen Jesus raise a little girl from the dead.

Just recently, they had seen him transfigured before them on another mountain.

There, they saw the divinity of Jesus being testified by Moses and Elijah.

They heard the voice of God call him, “my beloved son”.

These events confirmed for the disciples that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

But in this moment, Jesus did not look like the great military Messiah they were hoping for.

The “Jesus” that stood before them, just looked like a very frail man in great distress.

If Jesus was just about to establish his new kingdom here in Jerusalem,

why now, did he look so weak?

And why was he saying such things?

Confusion and doubts would’ve been clouding the minds of these three men.

Jesus well knew what lay in the mind and hearts of Peter, James, and John.

In vain hope that these three would overcome their own understanding and desires,

Jesus asked them that they would pray with him.

Then Jesus went on a little further from them.

In verses 35 & 36 we read that Jesus “…fell on the ground, and prayed; “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Although Jesus was fully the Son of God, he was also fully a man.

He faced the same battle with desire that we all do.

The sunrise of Jesus’ ministry began with a time in the wilderness which emulated the 40-year journey of Israel.

After 40 days in the wilderness, Satan came tempting Jesus to fulfil his own desires.

Using the scriptures, Satan exposed Jesus’ desire for food and tempted him to use God’s power to feed himself.

Satan exposed Jesus’ desire to establish a new kingdom by offering the world to him.

And then he challenged Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God by testing God.

But Jesus knew the context of these scriptures.

And using appropriate scriptural responses Jesus was able to repel the Satanic attack.

Now, as the sun began to set on his earthly ministry, Jesus is tempted by his own desire.

Being fully human, the anguish of knowing the final steps of his journey were all but unbearable.

As he prayed, Jesus was tormented by images of the betrayals, the taunting, the lies.

He knew of the beatings, the crucifixion to come.

And worst of all was knowing he was to be separated from his father.

The separation that must happen if he was to take on the sin of the world.

As angels attended Jesus in the wilderness, Luke recorded that there appeared to him an angel from heaven in the garden to strengthen him.

As with Adam, Eve, Moses and so many others throughout the Bible, God is ever present in times of great testing as well as times of great blessing.

Here in the Garden as Jesus begins to face his greatest test, God is present.

Through his Angel, God was with Jesus in the agony and the anguish he was suffering.

Jesus prayed more earnestly.

His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

The significance of these events cannot be underestimated, nor must they be overlooked.

In this moment, the fullness of Jesus’ divinity and humanity come colliding together with eternal repercussions.

In the garden of Eden humanity succumb to its own desire.

At Mount Horeb, Moses was compelled against his own desire to serve.

Now we are left to wonder if Jesus will also succumb to his own desire.

Will God have to compel him to obedience?

Amid this great battle between flesh and spirit, is it the desires of the flesh that will win again?

Does Jesus have the remaining strength and ability to reject the temptations of his flesh?

Is he able to willingly submit himself to the will of his God and Father?

A stark and foreboding contrast is revealed as the grief of Jesus is amplified as he sees the failure of his disciples to stay awake and pray.

In verse 37 & 38 Jesus “… 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.”

There is bitter disappointment as Jesus returns, not once, not twice, but three times to find the disciples asleep.

In all fairness, the disciples had just had a big and eventful day.

They’d just finished a big feed of roast lamb, bread and wine.

Then, they’ve spent some trapsing out of the city and the time walking up and down the mountain in the dark.

This whole night had become too much for them

 and they really had no idea of what was just about to happen.

Their only desire now, was to sleep it all off.

In a moment the battle between our own desires and that which God is calling us to.

How will we respond?

Yes, sometimes our desires are completely in line with that of God’s.

But that doesn’t always equate to willing submission as we saw with Moses.

Often our desires are in stark contrast to that of God.

The desire to invoke our own justice is common among us.

The desire to be the first can rear its ugly head in a supermarket line,

 or a set of traffic lights.

FOMO or the fear of missing out is often a strong motivator for us as we desire not to miss out on some perceived need.

Finding someone in our usual seat in church.

“But that’s my seat… ”

These are just a very few of the events of life that reveal the desires of our hearts.

At his third return, finding them asleep again, Jesus cries out in verse 41, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough”

Jesus is crying out to them that it’s all over.

The time of them being able to serve him in his darkest hour has past.

The opportunity is lost and there is nothing more they can do.

And why can’t they do anymore?

Because, as Jesus continues to proclaim, “The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

No more is the faithful small group of followers.

No more is the great crowds calling out “Hosannah”.

From the time Jesus began to pray in the garden, he has been all alone.

And his journey will continue alone until his beaten, broken and bloody dead body is laid in a tomb.

As Judas and a crowd come to arrest Jesus, he will be deserted by everyone.

All the suffering to come was to be done in isolation.

 In the wee small hours of the morning, long before the Sun rise,

Jesus is about to step forward alone and into the hands of his betrayer.

As this passage draws to the highlight of Jesus’ arrest, our question is answered.

Jesus has not given into his desires.

Having reconciled with his decision to drink the cup of God’s wrath, Jesus’ way is momentarily impeded by his disciple’s failure to grasp the moment.

In verse 42, he commands the disciples, “Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

These words and what is to follow is a clear indication of Jesus acting contrary to his desires.

The fight was never about Roman subjugation.

The fight was never about Israel’s political stand.

The fight was never about Jesus taking a seat of power in Jerusalem.

The fight is with the powers and rulers of the air for the salvation of all humanity.

And in this round Jesus once again comes out victorious.

His ability to overcome his own desires and take the cup of judgment wrought our salvation.

And for this we must give thanks to God.

As we see Jesus emerge from the garden and into the hands of his betrayer, our hope is assured.

Here we witness the strength, the humility, the bravery, and most of all the love that Jesus has for this world.

And so, I say again, we must give thanks to God for Jesus.

As we respond with thankfulness, we do so, knowing that he did what we couldn’t do.

With the cross before him, the man of innocence was to be clothed with the sin of the world.

As the Gospel of Mark continues, we see the consequences of Jesus choice to submit to his father’s desire above his own.

And for us, this passage challenges us to consider and reason with ourselves.

Knowing the price that Jesus paid for our sins, will we choose to stand with him in thankfulness?

Will we take the time to recognise our desires and ask ourselves,

“Is my response to this situation in line with what I desire?"

 Or, is it what God desires?

Let our desires always be in line with God's desires.

And let them always be to love the Lord, our God, with all our hearts, all of our mind, and all of our strength.

May the words of Jesus continually ring in our ears.

May it be the chorus of our lives.

“Yet not what I will, but what you will.”