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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Jesus knows the hour of his greatest trial has come. And so he leads his disciples from the place of the Passover meal through the dark Kidron Valley to the edge of the Mount of Olives to this place called Gethsemane. As many times before he tells his disciples, you sit here, I must go over there and pray. Jesus has also invited Peter, James, and John, these same three that he took with him up on the Mount of Transfiguration. He takes them to go just a little bit further with him. These three whom he allowed just this glimpse of his coming glory, he now brings with him to the place of his greatest trial, the place of his greatest humiliation.
Mark tells us that as Jesus went on before them, he fell on the ground, more than just a bowing or a kneeling or some kind of slow and controlled action. Jesus’ grief manifested itself in what must have appeared to be this temporary loss of control of his body, lying in a posture which they had never seen him do before. They had to be thinking to themselves, has Jesus reached a breaking point? He seems frantic, he’s coming back and forth, going to and forth from the three, exhorting them to be vigilant and to pray that they may not fall into temptation. But they do, and they sleep. And Jesus is, of course, frustrated with their inability to stay awake, and he calls out, Simon. Not Peter, not the personal name that Jesus gave him. Simon. And all they can do is answer with this mumbling incoherence that comes with this abrupt awakening of sleep and the excuseless embarrassment of their physical and their spiritual weakness.
Jesus goes on, sweat like drops of blood moisten the ground around him, perhaps a foreshadowing of his beating and of his scourging and of his bloody crucifixion, but certainly the result of this intense agony, this unimaginable stress, and just when it seems like it would all be too much that maybe Satan will win, that Satan has this upper hand, the Father sends an angel to him, to minister to him. An angel, this created being, created by the Lord himself, indeed lower than the Lord, came to strengthen the Lord, to remind him of his place in the Father’s plan of salvation for the world.
And in asking if this cup might pass, we might think that Jesus is somehow trying to change the Father’s mind, but instead, he is confirming what has been in motion since before the world began. He is submitting to the Father’s will. He is letting his own divine will be accomplished. And this is the ultimate agony. It’s unfathomable. The pain of having the sin and the guilt of the entire world placed on him, knowing that the Father’s wrath is being poured out on him, that he is now drinking from this bitter cup until every last drop has been drained. The realization that the curse of death is imminent, a curse of death that we will never know because it was removed from us and placed on this Lamb of God.
I think this has to be the most poignant aspect of Jesus’ passion, because here we see Jesus’ human nature manifested maybe at its most human, and this is Jesus’ ultimate humiliation. And some might say, no, that came on the cross, but I think this is the moment when the humanity of our Lord is the most visible and the most fragile. But it’s also when Jesus curbs and denies the power of his own divinity so that he may act in submission to the Father. He knows it’s not possible for the cup to pass, and what a horrible struggle this is for it.
But the third and last time that Jesus returns to the disciples, it seems he has this different spirit. It’s almost as if he says, don’t worry anymore, everything’s okay now, because the moment of doubt and temptation has passed. He is victorious. He now begins the rest of this short journey to the cross with patience and with purpose. But first, the men come forth. The assemblage of the Roman soldiers, these temple guards, the Sanhedrin servants, they appear with swords, clubs, torches, lamps, looking as if they were prepared to deal with a desperate criminal. And they were led there by the traitor, the one who knew this place well, for he was one of the chosen disciples who had spent time in that intimate place with Jesus.
And this imposter, Judas, now employs a sign of intimate affection as a mark of treachery. He’s almost giddy in his betrayal, but his words reveal his true feelings. Greetings, Rabbi. To Judas, Jesus is no Messiah. He’s no better than a teacher of the law. He has neither faith in nor love for Jesus.” And so Jesus’ rhetorical question, friend, why have you come? Well, it must have torn Jesus in two, and yet he remained unrepentant. Jesus knows why they have come, and he calmly presents himself to them as the one they are seeking.
In this one final act of divine power before them, as he exclaims, I am he, he sends them reeling onto the ground. He asks again whom they seek, and he responds again, I am he. And he offers himself to them, but commands them to let the others go free. And this group of armed men is now rendered helpless and powerless by Jesus. But Peter, Peter, impetuous Peter, he literally takes matters into his own hand, he draws his sword, he swipes at the head of the high priest’s servant.
And then in one last rebuke to his disciple, Jesus reminds Peter that the sword can only be wielded in justice by those whom God has appointed to wield the sword in justice. And now Jesus gives the armed men a little rebuke of their own. Why are you treating me this way? Why are you treating me as a common robber? It was easy enough for you to take hold of me when you saw me teaching in the temple and yet you chose not to, so why are you now making this show of it?
And they’re really not that smart, they’re not that crafty, they’re just players, they’re just part of God’s plan, the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus’ words don’t change anything, for they’re not meant to. And at these words the disciples fled for their lives. The sheep were scattered. The shepherd is alone. It was almost as if the authorities weren’t prepared to deal with Jesus that night. But still, they bound him, they tied him as if he was a dangerous criminal.
But what do we do with him now? I mean, the Sanhedrin, the members of Sanhedrin would have to be summoned and that will take some time. Perhaps Annas could get Jesus to confess his crimes, and then they could just administer some type of quick physical punishment and they could all go home. After all, Annas had been the high priest, he’ll know what to do. Annas gives it his best shot. He’s no fool, so he’s just gonna let Jesus’ words be his undoing.
Tell us, Jesus, tell us who the men are that follow you and what exactly is it that you teach? Jesus doesn’t protest, he doesn’t question Annas’ authority or the legality of the proceedings illegal though they be. He simply responds, you know, and if you don’t know then why don’t you just bring in witnesses? And this earns no reply from Annas but a cowardly slap from one of the officers. Jesus’ response to this act of humiliation is simply to further insist that the onus is on Annas to prove that he has done wrong.
So we see Jesus reproves this injustice to him but he still turns the other cheek. By now the Sanhedrin has been assembled and they’re ready at the house of the high priest Caiaphas. Peter, he has somehow managed to work his way into the courtyard, probably by pretending to be somebody he wasn’t. Peter’s getting pretty good at deceit. He sits by the fire but most likely within earshot of the proceedings, and at first the second trial fared no better than the first. No one came forward with any evidence sufficient to convict Jesus. Even these manufactured false witnesses, they couldn’t get their stories straight, and it appears that Caiaphas is floundering.
He’s frustrated and he’s angry that Jesus has remained so calm, even silent, against all these false accusations. Ah, but what if Jesus claims to be the Messiah? If you are the Christ, tell us. Jesus replies that they won’t believe he is no matter what, but despite this the Son of Man will sit at the right hand of God. He will be the one to judge them. As if to give Jesus just this one last chance to recant, they ask, are you then the Son of God? Yes, you rightly say that I am. Blasphemy, they cried. He’s condemned himself. He’s deserving of death, and this death sentence brings with it now unbridled restraint from some of them who began to strike and spit on him, the ultimate insult.
The Sanhedrin has lost control. This prideful group who for so long have held themselves above so many others has now descended into an out-of-control mob. No doubt Peter heard this commotion from the courtyard, and perhaps his countenance betrayed him. One of the young maids recognized him and said, you were with him. Peter starts to squirm and responds, I neither know nor understand what you were saying. He begins to briskly walk away from the courtyard and over to the porch. This one who was full of so much bravado just a few hours ago is now slinking away like a coward.
A rooster crows, but he barely notices. The servant girl is relentless and she points him out. Here he is, he’s one of them. Peter says no. A third time he is accused. They are sure he is one of them. His Galilean accent has given him away. Peter has had enough and begins to curse and oath, swearing that he doesn’t know the condemned man. The rooster crows, and Peter recalls Jesus’ words, and he also recalls his own words, his promise to his Lord. If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” Peter, the great confessor, has become the shameful denier.
And another was there lurking about. Judas, he had followed all this time to see maybe what would become of the one that he had betrayed. Perhaps there was some way that Jesus could be set free, but now he knows otherwise and he is wracked with guilt, remorse, but not repentance. He makes no attempt to plead for mercy on Jesus’ behalf. He only wants to clear his own name. He brings the blood money back to the chief priests and elders. Here, take it. I betrayed innocent blood. That’s all Jesus is to Judas. Innocent blood, not a Savior.
The chief priests sneer and they show nothing but contempt for Judas. These evil men who never take delight in a repentant sinner only confirm Judas in his own unrepentance. This is your problem, don’t bother us with it. We know how this ends for Judas. And yet even in his death, the chief priests have no sympathy. All they concern themselves with is that this money doesn’t taint the treasury. These hypocrites saw nothing wrong with paying a man to practice evil, but recalled in horror at the thought of the same money defiling their precious temple.
And so in the meantime, they prepared to deliver Jesus over to the Roman authorities so they can bring this disgraceful episode to an end. Well, what do we make of this episode? How and what do we think about Jesus’ passion? Sometimes we wish the story had another ending, that it didn’t have to be this way. Maybe Jesus could have just passed through their midst and slipped away like he did at Nazareth. Maybe he could have called his disciples to testify on his behalf, and the Sanhedrin would have just let him go.
Sometimes we just skip to the good part, to the resurrection, because the passion is too painful to think about, or we feel sorry for Jesus, or maybe we try to put ourselves alongside him. We should be there with him. Indeed, we should be in his place, but in doing so we rob him of his sacrifice and his glory, and we get with the injustice that was carried out. We rage at Judas, Annas, Caiaphas, and even Peter. But it wasn’t the treachery of Judas or the hatred of the Sanhedrin or the denial of Peter, the betrayal of Judas that propelled Christ toward Calvary.
It was the sin of the world, for their sin is our sin. If it was any other way, then our salvation would depend on something within us. Our ability to be good or do good to please God. No, God’s wrath is turned away from us because it is all placed on Jesus. So don’t feel sorry for Christ and his passion or wish you could take his place. Instead, be thankful that he was strong while we were weak. Be sorrowful for your sin, even to death. Remember his suffering when you suffer. Remember his submission and humiliation, that he bent to the will of the Father, that the Father’s plan of salvation for us may be fulfilled, that he loved the world in this way, that God himself suffered and died for the world.
And in thinking on Christ’s passion, think on your need for a Savior, for one who could bear the weight of sin and withstand the greatest hour of trial and suffer the shame of the cross that we may be free. May it be so for the sake of Christ. Amen.
Now the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
