MESSAGE BY PASTOR DANIEL PARK FROM
BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC.
The day before the cross, in Gethsemane, Jesus faces the dreadful silence of heaven.
There is no reassuring voice from heaven proclaiming, “This is my Son, whom I love.”
No dove descends; no ministering angels come to serve him.
No heavenly transfiguration
Jesus had been preparing His disciples for this time, but it’s clear they didn’t get it and they were not ready
To be fair, I don’t think most of us would have been either.
Would WE have known?
In the aftermath of the Passover Feast to end all Passover Feasts since its inception,
We can only imagine, a LOT of people who had been around Jesus would have been saying to themselves,
“Had we only known….
What Jesus was saying.
What Jesus meant
What was going to happen
How it was going to end
What it means for us all
WHY did it have to happen the way it did?
Judas Iscariot, forever known as the Betrayer, didn’t know
The disciples didn’t know, yet
Right before Jesus prays at Gethsemane, Peter, along with all the disciples boldly declared they would die with Jesus before they deny Him
They all left Jesus and fled after Jesus was arrested
The high priest, all the chief priests, elders and scribes - for all their knowledge and lifetime of studying the Scripture - had no clue
EXCEPT, curiously, the woman with the alabaster jar at the beginning of the chapter, somehow knew
Anointing Jesus for burial.
In Gethsemane, Jesus demonstrates ultimate faithfulness
Knowing everything, He willingly remained faithful to the will of the Father
Cementing the outcome that He will be delivered through death and glorified in His resurrection
In doing so, proving once and for all that He is worthy of our faith for salvation and life
In this short passage, we see timeless and crucial reminders for all believers for all time
How to face the most distressing struggles
Keeping faithful to the promise of heavenly glory and life everlasting with God
We should be able to see ourselves in the people in Mark chapter 14.
In the woman with the alabaster jar
In Judas
In the disciples
In the Jewish religious leaders
And ultimately, in Jesus
What could we have done differently?
What does Jesus show us to do and be different?
Had we only known, we would have PRAYED more.
How would our prayer life be different, if we knew and truly believed in the glory that awaits us, as promised by Jesus?
I think it’s important to acknowledge and remember the very real and horrific suffering Jesus was going through and facing
Psychologically in the present
And the physical to come the very next day
He IS fully man even as He is fully divine
How did He face the present struggle and the suffering to come?
Jesus prayed
Jesus faced suffering biblically, lamenting and praying aloud His struggles to Abba, Father.
I might have expected Jesus to be resolute and stoic in His situation
In Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, we see the permission to mourn, lament, and be emotional
Even expressing our fleshly desire to not go through suffering and pain
But in all this, Jesus was declaring His trust in the power, providence, and sovereignty of God
Praying more is not just about praying more often and for a longer time.
We see Jesus praying confidently and persistently
Jesus prayed the same prayer repeatedly - declaring His trust and dependence on God.
Jesus also sought community in prayer.
Jesus sought out those closest to Him and wished to lean on them in His time of hardship and sorrow
He asks Peter, James and John to stay with Him and WATCH
To be vigilant and awake - like a watchman on the wall
Jesus wanted His disciples to be watchful in His time of struggle
To be ready and able to intercede for Him, likewise in prayer
Jesus models receiving prayer and praying with the community while praying personally.
To the weak and heavy-laden, Jesus shows us how to take it all to the Lord in prayer.
To pray more, more confidently and more persistently
2. Had we only known, we would have HELD ON more
How would our struggles be or feel different, if we knew the guaranteed glory that awaits us?
I have heard world-class musicians say they regret not practicing more than their parents told them to when they were younger.
A silly and materialistic illustration, but if you were able to time travel back to July 8, 1984, when Apple Computers share price was at its lowest - 4 cents adjusted
Knowing what you know now, would you be afraid to pour your life savings into buying as much as you possibly can?
I think you would be brave enough to borrow money to buy more shares because you know at some point soon, the debt can be paid for many times over
All you would need is time to pass
Had we only known…
Even as we are experiencing great distress and trouble, and our soul is sorrowful to the point of death,
We can remember similar times in the past
And we can look back today and be able to say that we survived it by the grace of God
And in many cases, specifically BECAUSE of the grace of God.
NOW, afterwards, we can look back and be glad we didn’t give up
That we didn’t turn back
Didn’t let go.
In Jesus, we see that the past is not our only or even the best source of hope and strength in times of suffering
Faith, as a kind of knowledge, allows us to persevere looking forward
A lot of people love Philippians 4:13:
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me
A very misquoted and misused verse
Contextually, Paul is talking about suffering - but in the midst of all that, he has learned that he can do ALL things through Jesus who strengthens him.
I prefer to read the verse as I can PERSEVERE all things through Him who strengthens me
Through Jesus who has promised salvation, life, and glory
The hope we hold on to is Jesus, the LIVING HOPE
Through times of sorrow and even death
The Bible never promises that we will not suffer
The opposite actually
But implicit throughout the bible and explicit in some parts is the mysterious purpose in suffering
And unfortunately it is usually not revealed why
Though sometimes we see the leading and sovereignty of God clearly at work, like in the life of Joseph
There might even be a connection between anointing and suffering
Despite the presence of suffering, the Bible is clear about the PROMISES of God that supersedes the suffering
Glory that is of God
We live closer to that promise of glory as we persevere through all things by being close to Jesus
Holding onto Him
And praying in His name according to His promises
And in Jesus, we gain and have the confidence to persevere.
Conclusion: Had we only known, we would have lived more
How would our priorities in life be different, if we knew the glory that awaits us?
In Matt 13:44 Jesus says:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
I guess the question we have to answer first is,
IS the Kingdom of God treasure to us?
Do I TREASURE the Kingdom of God above all else?
Is the LIFE that Jesus promised us, of such priority for us that we are willing and able to go all in for it?
Life that is confident of joy and exuding hope
Life that does not fear, but holds onto the promises of Jesus
Life that is in intimate relationship with our Abba Father in heaven who created us
At the end of the passage, with finality Jesus says,
It is enough; the hour has come.
“The hour” is not just a reference to time, but the most important, world-saving event in the history of creation
Jesus dying on the cross.
Jesus dying on the cross was not an easy thing AT ALL
Jesus knew THE HOUR was coming, and everything it entailed
And He gave it all and paid it all when the hour came
Today is OUR TIME
How will you respond?
How will you decide to live?
It is so easy and tempting to abandon hope when we are in pain and distress
When all we want to do is to lie down and do nothing, be nothing
But the hard lesson the disciples learned, is their drowsiness at the most crucial moment was due to their failure to realize how crucial that moment was.
The only way to prevent this is to live with Christ because then, even dying is to gain life.
As we saw even with Jesus, knowing is not enough.
Through Jesus, we realize that the value in knowing is to know the urgency of prayer
When we don’t know, we are taught to KEEP WATCH
So that we can know who, what, when, where, and how to pray
We learn through Jesus, that when the time comes, only
prayer empowers us to answer the call
