Speaker 1: Good morning.
Speaker 1: You glad to be in church today, phenomenal.
Speaker 1: Hey kids, why don't y'all stand to your feet?
Speaker 1: Let's give it up for our kids as they head to kids men this morning and I know y'all just sat down and you just got comfortable.
Speaker 1: But do me a favor, take a moment, stand to your feet, say hey to somebody you haven't spoken to yet today.
Speaker 1: This is your moment right now.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 1: All right, you can go ahead and find your seat.
Speaker 1: That's like my favorite part of the day in church, like I just get to watch the introverts get nervous and the extroverts live their best life right there from the front.
Speaker 1: It's the best.
Speaker 1: Let me pray, father, thank you for today.
Speaker 1: God, speak to us now through your word, challenge us, convict us, change us.
Speaker 1: Have your way in our hearts In Jesus' name, and everybody says amen.
Speaker 1: So we are coming to a close today of this seven transformational habits series.
Speaker 1: We've been talking about the cultivation of intentional habits that lead us to a life with God.
Speaker 1: These are not ends unto themselves.
Speaker 1: We're not reading scripture just to read scripture.
Speaker 1: We're not praying because we're supposed to pray.
Speaker 1: We're not in community because we just need community.
Speaker 1: These are means to an end.
Speaker 1: The goal is life with Jesus right, that we would live today and forever in the presence of God.
Speaker 1: And so, because we know Jesus by grace, through faith, as followers of Christ, we want the presence of Jesus active in our lives.
Speaker 1: That's the point of this series.
Speaker 1: It's been less of a how-to and more of an invitation into a life with God.
Speaker 1: I love this quote I came across from an author this past week.
Speaker 1: What all these spiritual masters of the way are saying is that through habit you can co-create with Jesus, a mind that is fixed on God all throughout the day.
Speaker 1: You can say with the psalmist I have set the Lord always before me.
Speaker 1: Or with Paul set your minds on things above.
Speaker 1: How many of you need a mind that's set on God on Tuesday afternoon at the office?
Speaker 1: Or when you're trying to parent your children?
Speaker 1: Or when you're having to have a conversation with that person and you got to smile and be kind?
Speaker 1: And we need a mind that's set on God.
Speaker 1: And that's the point of the series that through these intentional habits, that our thought process in moments of stress and pressure would go to God.
Speaker 1: That in moments of pain and difficulty, rather than despair, our hearts and our minds will be full of the hope of Christ.
Speaker 1: And so today, since these are means to an end, we're going to end today by talking about Jesus.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk a little bit about us and the process, but the goal today is to talk about Jesus and what it means to submit our lives to his authority.
Speaker 1: This is going to be a heavy scripture day.
Speaker 1: We believe the Bible.
Speaker 1: We believe this is the word of God.
Speaker 1: This is like the best steak dinner for our souls.
Speaker 1: We believe this is the word of God.
Speaker 1: This is like the best steak dinner for our souls.
Speaker 1: We need God's word in our lives.
Speaker 1: Jesus says this in John, chapter six, verse 38.
Speaker 1: He says I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
Speaker 1: Now, if anybody who's ever walked on the planet had the right to say, hey, it's about me, guess who it was?
Speaker 1: It was Jesus.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 1: If anybody had the right to raise his hand and say I'm the guy, I'm the one, it's about me.
Speaker 1: And Jesus, in John, chapter six, verse 38, says I have come from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me.
Speaker 1: Now we don't have time to get in today to a deep Trinitarian discussion of what it means that God is three persons, one essence, one God.
Speaker 1: We don't have time to get into all of that.
Speaker 1: What we need to understand is Jesus is modeling for us, submission to the authority of God.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus goes on and he says and this is the will of him, who sent me?
Speaker 1: If you want to know what God wants here, it is that Jesus should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Speaker 1: For this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life.
Speaker 1: And I will raise him up on the last day.
Speaker 1: You could make the case that this is the mission statement of Jesus's ministry.
Speaker 1: Why is Jesus on the planet?
Speaker 1: Why did he step out of eternity and come to the earth?
Speaker 1: Why did he move out of heaven and come into time and space?
Speaker 1: To put on flesh and bone and dwell among people, so that everyone who looks on Jesus and believes in him should have eternal life, should live forever with God.
Speaker 1: And Jesus says I will raise him up on the last day.
Speaker 1: What is God's will for you.
Speaker 1: It is your salvation and your resurrection through the person and work of Jesus.
Speaker 1: What we're going to see today is that it is submission to the plan of God that makes that possible for us.
Speaker 1: So to get there, I do.
Speaker 1: I know we're going to talk about a lot of Jesus, read a lot of Bible.
Speaker 1: I do have to ask a question Is anybody not from the South?
Speaker 1: That was my guess.
Speaker 1: No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: I love it, I love you, I'm so glad you're here.
Speaker 1: If you're not from the South, when you move to the South, what you realize is this place is different.
Speaker 1: Anybody.
Speaker 1: Everything's fried, right, we don't drive real well, right, a little slower pace, maybe A lot of smiles, and you know God bless you is that type of thing.
Speaker 1: There's another interesting component to living in the South and maybe you've experienced it.
Speaker 1: If you're from the South, you probably don't even know that it's happening.
Speaker 1: If you're not from the South, you probably got here and you're like that's weird.
Speaker 1: It's called a Southern goodbye.
Speaker 1: Anybody, some of you know right, a Southern goodbye is when it takes you an hour and a half to leave.
Speaker 1: And the way a Southern goodbye works you're in the living room, right, and you're talking.
Speaker 1: You finish dinner, somebody started to clean up and you stand up and that begins the process of a Southern goodbye.
Speaker 1: Nobody's going anywhere yet, but you might say something like well, I guess it's time for me to be going, and that marks the shift into the closing conversation.
Speaker 1: It may take a few minutes, may take half an hour, may take an hour in the living room, and then somebody who's in the process of trying to leave says something like if they're from the South, well, y'all go with us.
Speaker 1: Which doesn't mean y'all come with us.
Speaker 1: They're trying to leave, they don't want you to come with them, they're trying to get out.
Speaker 1: It just means now's really the time that I have to leave.
Speaker 1: And so they leave the living room and they go to the front door, where they are stopped again, where they choose to stop again.
Speaker 1: And what happens at the front door?
Speaker 1: The conversation continues right, and then maybe the host says something to the effect of well, y'all come back when you can't stay so long.
Speaker 1: Which again doesn't mean that it means I'm not done talking to you yet, let's have some more conversation.
Speaker 1: So then you move to the front porch and you talk a little bit on the front porch and then you go to the car and while the car is being loaded there's more conversation happening.
Speaker 1: Has anybody else lived this experience?
Speaker 1: And then you get in the car and it's like finally it's time to go.
Speaker 1: But you see the host and they're at the window.
Speaker 1: Some of you are that person.
Speaker 1: You're like, you know.
Speaker 1: Then they're like roll the window down and like leaning on the window.
Speaker 1: You know like talking to the kids in the backseat, and you're like, all right, you know the car is in reverse and just like start moving slowly, hoping they get out of the window before the tires get to their feet, you know, and it's like finally, an hour and a half after the goodbye began, somebody's actually leaving.
Speaker 1: I saw this doormat the other day and it said this.
Speaker 1: It said live, laugh, leave.
Speaker 1: And I like that.
Speaker 1: It made me laugh and also so I say that that's the Southern goodbye.
Speaker 1: That's the Southern goodbye.
Speaker 1: It takes an hour and a half to actually get anywhere.
Speaker 1: There's another thing that I came across this past week called an Irish goodbye.
Speaker 1: Anybody ever heard of the Irish goodbye?
Speaker 1: Now, it's the opposite of a Southern goodbye.
Speaker 1: With an Irish goodbye, you don't say anything to anybody, you just leave.
Speaker 1: It's like you're at dinner and the next thing you know you're not at dinner anymore and everybody's like where'd they go?
Speaker 1: And everybody else is like I don't know.
Speaker 1: Did they say anything to you before they left?
Speaker 1: No, they didn't speak to us.
Speaker 1: They speak to you, no.
Speaker 1: Has the host seen them?
Speaker 1: Nope, host, hadn't seen them anywhere.
Speaker 1: They're gone.
Speaker 1: It's an Irish goodbye, just left.
Speaker 1: Anybody like I like that, that sounds pretty good.
Speaker 1: One survey, one study it was done by the Time Management Institute found that Americans spend an average each year of 18 hours saying goodbye.
Speaker 1: The Irish are like we're not doing that.
Speaker 1: We'll just see you.
Speaker 1: The next time we see you We'll pick it up from there.
Speaker 1: We're out, right.
Speaker 1: So here's why I say all that.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a moment today and we're going to trace the last week of Jesus's life.
Speaker 1: We're going to look at what he did Sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, leading us to a passage that we're going to read in Matthew 26 about Thursday.
Speaker 1: And here's what you need to know Jesus's last week before the cross.
Speaker 1: There is no wasted moment.
Speaker 1: This is not a Southern goodbye.
Speaker 1: He's not taking time just for the sake of taking time.
Speaker 1: There's not a wasted word, there's not an unintended moment.
Speaker 1: Everything Jesus does from Sunday until he dies on the cross is purposeful and intentional.
Speaker 1: It's not an Irish goodbye.
Speaker 1: He's taking time to do what he needs to do, to model for us what it looks like to submit to the will and the plan of God.
Speaker 1: You see, here's the thing about submission that we need to understand from the beginning there is someone who is in charge, and it is is not me and it is not you, and Jesus, in his humanity, models for us what a life submitted to the authority of God looks like.
Speaker 1: So, with that said, we're going to begin on Sunday.
Speaker 1: On Sunday, palm Sunday, which we celebrate today, jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
Speaker 1: Now, again, purposeful, intentional in everything that he does.
Speaker 1: If you want to read the narrative account of Jesus's Sunday Matthew 21, mark, chapter 11, luke 19, or John, chapter 12, jesus enters the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
Speaker 1: Now, why is this significant?
Speaker 1: Remember John, chapter 6, jesus said it is the will of the Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.
Speaker 1: Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 20, before he enters the city of Jerusalem, as he was going up to Jerusalem verse 17, he took the 12 disciples aside.
Speaker 1: He's preparing for the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday.
Speaker 1: And on the way he said to them see, we are going up to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: And I well, yeah, jerusalem's right there.
Speaker 1: We know where this path leads.
Speaker 1: We know that we're going to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: We've been to Jerusalem before.
Speaker 1: But then Jesus says this and the Son of man which is one of Jesus's favorite titles for himself, because it's a reference back to the Son of man in Daniel, prophetic literature about the coming of one with the power and the authority of Almighty God, the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes and they'll condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, the Romans, to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will rise again on the third day.
Speaker 1: So, as they're going to Jerusalem, jesus looks at his disciples and he says I want you to know what's going to happen in Jerusalem the son of man, mocked, beaten, crucified at the hands of the religious leaders in the Roman empire, he's going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to shed my blood and die in Jerusalem, but I'll resurrect for your salvation.
Speaker 1: So that's the narrative given to the disciples by Jesus as they move towards the city, sunday comes.
Speaker 1: They draw near to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: They come to Bethphage, the Mount of Olives.
Speaker 1: Jesus sends two disciples saying to them go to the village, find the guy with the donkey.
Speaker 1: Donkey's going to be tied up inside the donkey.
Speaker 1: Bring it to me.
Speaker 1: And why is Jesus so specific about the donkey?
Speaker 1: Well, zechariah, chapter nine, verse nine, another prophecy says behold, your king is coming to you humble and lowly and bringing salvation, and he's riding guess what on the back of a donkey.
Speaker 1: Jesus didn't look around and say hey, you know, the horses are all taken today.
Speaker 1: I guess Camels are out of stock.
Speaker 1: Let me find the donkey.
Speaker 1: No, it was intentional, it was purposeful.
Speaker 1: Jesus is fulfilling prophecy.
Speaker 1: And so he begins to enter the city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey.
Speaker 1: And as he does, matthew 21, verse eight, says most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road.
Speaker 1: Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Speaker 1: The crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting Hosanna to the son of David.
Speaker 1: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna, in the highest.
Speaker 1: He entered Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: The whole city was stirred up saying who is this?
Speaker 1: And the crowd said this is the prophet, jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
Speaker 1: So he enters the city to the worship, the adoration of the crowds.
Speaker 1: Now, matthew 20,.
Speaker 1: Jesus says to his disciples we're going to Jerusalem, they're going to crucify me.
Speaker 1: He enters the city and people are worshiping him.
Speaker 1: You got to think.
Speaker 1: The disciples are a little bit confused at this point in time, right, like well, what is it?
Speaker 1: I thought this was going to be one of those moments that didn't go well.
Speaker 1: And here we are.
Speaker 1: This is going pretty well.
Speaker 1: You said we're walking into your death and this is turned into a party.
Speaker 1: This is a parade.
Speaker 1: This is amazing.
Speaker 1: Well, the story doesn't end there, this triumphal entry.
Speaker 1: It's recorded in Matthew, mark, luke and John.
Speaker 1: But Luke chapter 19 gives us a little different picture of this entry into Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: Verse 41 of Luke 19 says when Jesus drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying would that you, even you?
Speaker 1: Or in other words, I wish that you had known on this day the things that make for peace.
Speaker 1: So he hears the shouts of the crowd Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Speaker 1: He sees people waving palm branches and laying them at his feet, taking off their cloaks and laying their cloaks before him and Jesus, as he's traveling this road down the hill, up the hill, into Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: He weeps as he approaches the city, why?
Speaker 1: Because he's looking at people who are honoring him with their lips but whose hearts are far from him.
Speaker 1: He knows the same crowd worshiping him on Sunday will shout, crucify him on Friday.
Speaker 1: He knows that on Saturday there'll be no one left in that city that believes that he is the Messiah and his heart is broken.
Speaker 1: He says I wish that you understood what it took for you to find peace.
Speaker 1: And I wonder if, in some ways, jesus looks at our world today and says the same thing.
Speaker 1: I wish that you understood what it took for you to be at peace.
Speaker 1: I'm convinced that one of the deepest longings of the human heart is to be at peace, and maybe we wouldn't put it like that, maybe we wouldn't use the word peace.
Speaker 1: If you don't know Jesus, maybe that's not how you would describe it, but we are all longing for peace.
Speaker 1: All across our world, people are longing for peace and we know that because people say things like well, I'm just trying to find my spot in the universe, where the universe is for me and not against me.
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to surround myself with good vibes and find the right people with good energy, so that I can live with the kind of vibe and energy that I'm called to live with.
Speaker 1: We say things like that, we hear things like that, and we consult the stars and we try to figure out what the future is going to hold.
Speaker 1: And what we're looking for is peace and Jesus.
Speaker 1: He weeps on Sunday as he sees people who know no peace.
Speaker 1: Do you know peace?
Speaker 1: Peace is a person.
Speaker 1: His name is Jesus.
Speaker 1: On Monday.
Speaker 1: Monday is a day of conflict.
Speaker 1: We're not going to read all the scriptures today, but Jesus cleanses the temple.
Speaker 1: Some scholars say this happened actually on Sunday afternoon evening.
Speaker 1: Others say Monday.
Speaker 1: Maybe it happened twice, but Matthew 21, mark 11, luke 19,.
Speaker 1: There's conflict between Jesus and the religious system of the Israelites, the Hebrew people.
Speaker 1: He's got Sadducees questioning him about the resurrection.
Speaker 1: He's got Pharisees trying to trap him into misspeaking about the requirements of the law or what it means to live as a Roman citizen.
Speaker 1: He has people trying to confront him and capture him in a weak moment or cause him to say something he ought not to say, so they can have a reason to lead him out and lock him up.
Speaker 1: Monday is a day of conflict.
Speaker 1: I had a professor in seminary and what he said about Monday is that Monday is a day of conflict.
Speaker 1: I had a professor in seminary and what he said about Monday is that Monday is the day that cements Israel's rejection of Jesus as king.
Speaker 1: By the end of the day on Monday.
Speaker 1: There is no doubt that the vast majority of people in Jerusalem in 33 AD do not want Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Speaker 1: The religious system has no place for him.
Speaker 1: The people don't want him, and so Jesus exits the city again.
Speaker 1: After a day of conflict.
Speaker 1: Tuesday, jesus teaches again in the temple.
Speaker 1: He's traveling back and forth between the Bethphage, mount of Olives region, bethany, and the city of Jerusalem, and sometime on Tuesday, in the region of the Mount of Olives, jesus, he preaches a sermon, if you will, he offers a Bible study to his disciples and we call it today the Olivet Discourse.
Speaker 1: And we call it today the Olivet Discourse.
Speaker 1: If you need some light reading on a Sunday afternoon, go read Matthew 25 and 26 and 24 and 25, where Jesus describes the end of the world.
Speaker 1: That doesn't sound like light reading.
Speaker 1: It's not.
Speaker 1: I was just trying to capture your attention on a Sunday morning and in this moment, what Jesus does, coming out of Monday, a day of conflict with the religious system, where Israel has essentially said to Jesus you are not our king, you are disrupting our peace, you are threatening the relationship that exists between us and Rome and you are a threat to our society, jesus offers his disciples, in Matthew 24 and 25, an incredible reminder that not only is he the king of the Jewish people, he's the king of the universe, and one day he will reign eternally as the resurrected king to the glory of God.
Speaker 1: See the religious leaders.
Speaker 1: They're like no, you can't mess up 33 AD for us.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like I hold all of it in my hands.
Speaker 1: And so if you read Matthew 24 and 25, what you're going to see is some history.
Speaker 1: This morning.
Speaker 1: You're going to see some prophecies about the destruction of the temple, which happened about 37 years later, when Rome invaded Jerusalem, tore the temple down and killed a lot of the Israelite people.
Speaker 1: You're also gonna see Jesus saying one day, the son of man, the resurrected king, will return.
Speaker 1: So he's talking about what's gonna happen to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: He's talking also about what's gonna happen to the world, and he's reminding his followers that, no matter how dark it looks, no matter how difficult the days become, do not lose your faith in the Son of man.
Speaker 1: Do not let go of the peace that comes from knowing Jesus.
Speaker 1: So Sunday he enters the city to the shouts and adoration of the crowds.
Speaker 1: Monday he's in conflict with the religious leaders.
Speaker 1: Tuesday he's reminding his followers that he is the king and he will reign forever as king.
Speaker 1: And then Wednesday things kind of go quiet.
Speaker 1: Luke tells us in Luke 21 that he continues to daily teach in the temple.
Speaker 1: So you can infer that he leaves Bethany.
Speaker 1: He goes into Jerusalem to the temple, he teaches there.
Speaker 1: But from Jewish history you can gather that he leaves Bethany.
Speaker 1: He goes into Jerusalem to the temple, he teaches there.
Speaker 1: But from Jewish history you can gather that Jesus and his followers probably spent Wednesday preparing for the Passover.
Speaker 1: They were getting ready to celebrate the salvation of God.
Speaker 1: Passover is an Old Testament festival, an Old Testament feast.
Speaker 1: It's a celebration once a year of the exodus from Egypt.
Speaker 1: God rescued his people from slavery, he led them into the promised land and, because of the application of blood over their houses, he passed over them when he judged the Egyptians.
Speaker 1: That's Passover.
Speaker 1: It's the celebration of the salvation of God.
Speaker 1: And on Wednesday Jesus prepares to celebrate the Passover with his disciples.
Speaker 1: Thursday comes, jesus teaches in the temple.
Speaker 1: There's a powerful moment in the narrative where Jesus is anointed with this fragrant perfume, this fragrant ointment.
Speaker 1: It's as if he is the Passover lamb himself being prepared for his death and his burial.
Speaker 1: Later that day Jesus says he's reserved an upper room, he's got a dinner reservation for 13.
Speaker 1: In an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem, he goes in that night with his disciples.
Speaker 1: And as they gather in the upper room, jesus takes a basin of water, he takes his cloak off, wraps it around his waist and he begins to wash the feet of his disciples, including the feet of Judas Iscariot.
Speaker 1: He washes Peter's feet.
Speaker 1: Peter's like no, you can't touch my feet.
Speaker 1: Feet are dirty, been walking around in the dust all day.
Speaker 1: Jesus is like Peter, if you don't let me wash you, you have no share with me.
Speaker 1: Peter's like give me a bath, everything.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like Peter, stop, just your feet will do.
Speaker 1: You're already clean the word.
Speaker 1: I've spoken over you.
Speaker 1: You're good.
Speaker 1: I sit down around the table.
Speaker 1: Jesus, as he breaks the bread, he begins to put new meaning to the breaking of bread.
Speaker 1: He says this is my body broken for you.
Speaker 1: As often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me.
Speaker 1: He takes the cup a lot of scholars it's the cup of that symbolically represents the judgment of God, the wrath of God.
Speaker 1: He picks up the cup and he says this cup is the new covenant of my blood poured out for the forgiveness of your sin.
Speaker 1: Do this in remembrance of me.
Speaker 1: And he institutes with his disciples the Lord's Supper, something that we as the church today still practice, still celebrate Jesus' table when we remember his sacrifice.
Speaker 1: We celebrate because of the forgiveness that comes through the shedding of Jesus' blood.
Speaker 1: Even in that time, he breaks bread, dips it in the cup and he passes it to Judas.
Speaker 1: Why do we keep bringing up Judas?
Speaker 1: Well, there was a gap between the religious leaders and their plans.
Speaker 1: They wanted to get rid of Jesus.
Speaker 1: They wanted to remove the threat that Jesus posed to the system, but they knew that they couldn't just take Jesus out.
Speaker 1: He had too many followers.
Speaker 1: The city was already in an uproar because Jesus was on the scene and they were afraid of what would happen if they just went in and took him away.
Speaker 1: They needed someone to close the gap between them and Jesus and into that gap steps Judas Iscariot, who goes to the religious leaders and mediates a deal to betray Jesus into their hands for 30 pieces of silver it would be about $600 to $700 in today's money so I'll tell you where he'll be, I'll tell you when you can take him, I'll even point him out to you.
Speaker 1: And that night, at the upper room, gathered around the table, jesus breaks the bread, dips it in the cup, holds it out to Judas, as if to say Judas, it's not too late for you.
Speaker 1: Scripture says that in that moment Satan enters into Judas.
Speaker 1: He's made his mind up.
Speaker 1: He leaves the plans in motion to betray the son of God into the hands of the Roman empire.
Speaker 1: John records Jesus praying a prayer that night with his disciples, called the high priestly prayer, where Jesus basically says to God God, I'm here to glorify you, I'm here to accomplish the work that you have for me.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus, on that night, begins to pray for his disciples in the room.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus begins to pray for people like me and you who thousands of years later would come to know him as Savior and as a Lord.
Speaker 1: Did you know that Jesus prayed for you?
Speaker 1: That as Jesus moved toward the cross.
Speaker 1: You were on his mind and in his prayers.
Speaker 1: Scripture says in John 17 that when he finishes praying.
Speaker 1: He got up and he and the disciples, they left the upper room, they journeyed outside the city of Jerusalem, into the Kidron Valley and they entered a garden on the slopes of the Mount of Olives.
Speaker 1: It's called the Garden of Gethsemane.
Speaker 1: This is a tree in the Garden of Gethsemane believed to be over 2,000 years old.
Speaker 1: Jesus goes into the garden with his disciples 11 disciples at this point in time, and I want to pick up the narrative there in Matthew, chapter 26.
Speaker 1: Look on Jesus, believe in him.
Speaker 1: Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.
Speaker 1: Gethsemane means the place of pressing or the olive press.
Speaker 1: And he said to his disciples sit here while I go over there and pray, taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee.
Speaker 1: This is his inner circle Peter, james and John.
Speaker 1: Jesus began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Speaker 1: He's distressed, he's grieving, his soul is in pain.
Speaker 1: He said to them my soul is very sorrowful, even to death.
Speaker 1: Remain here and watch with me.
Speaker 1: Going a little farther, jesus fell on his face and he prayed, saying my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
Speaker 1: What is Jesus saying?
Speaker 1: He's saying, god, if there is any other way for your wrath towards sin and the evil in the world to be satisfied, if there's any other way for this cup to be satisfied without me having to go through the cross, jesus says let's go that way.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: I thought Jesus is fully God.
Speaker 1: I thought he was in on this from the beginning.
Speaker 1: He is, and yet he's fully man.
Speaker 1: And knowing what he's facing, knowing where he's heading, knowing what it means for him as a man, the son of God, the God man, to absorb the wrath of God on his shoulders and pay the debt for my sin and your sin, jesus looks at his father and he says if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me.
Speaker 1: And sometimes that's where our prayers stop.
Speaker 1: But Jesus keeps going, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
Speaker 1: He came to the disciples and he found them sleeping.
Speaker 1: He said to Peter so could you not watch with me for one hour?
Speaker 1: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
Speaker 1: The spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Speaker 1: And Jesus, in his humanity, he knows what he's talking about.
Speaker 1: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Speaker 1: And when the flesh is weak, we need people around us who will pray with us.
Speaker 1: So he says to Jesus, to the disciples, again, for the second time he went away and he prayed my father, if this cannot pass, unless I drink it, your will be done First time.
Speaker 1: If there's any other way, let's go that way.
Speaker 1: Second prayer Jesus says if this is the only way, if this is what it's going to cost, if this is what it's going to take for you to be glorified and my people to be saved, your will be done.
Speaker 1: And again he came and he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
Speaker 1: So, leaving them, he went away, prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
Speaker 1: What do we see about submission in this passage?
Speaker 1: Two things.
Speaker 1: We see one that submission to God is expressed in prayer.
Speaker 1: What does it look like for you to submit your life to the authority of God?
Speaker 1: It looks like you hit the floor in the morning when your feet fall out of the bed and you say God, today my life belongs to you, not my will, but yours be done, god.
Speaker 1: I know what I want, I know what I would choose, I know what I would do, but it's not about me, it's about you, not my will, but yours.
Speaker 1: We submit our lives to God in prayer.
Speaker 1: The second thing we see in this passage is that submission to God is expressed in obedience.
Speaker 1: It's made evident in what happens.
Speaker 1: As we rise from our place of prayer, we come before God.
Speaker 1: God, not my will, but yours be done.
Speaker 1: We rise, we face the world and we go out in obedience to almighty God.
Speaker 1: Look at what happens next.
Speaker 1: Jesus, father, not my will, but your will be done.
Speaker 1: He said the same words again for the third time.
Speaker 1: Then he came to the disciples and said to them sleep and take your rest later on.
Speaker 1: See, the hour is at hand and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Speaker 1: Rise, let us be going.
Speaker 1: See, my betrayer is at hand.
Speaker 1: Jesus went from on his knees before the Father, the troubled soul in grief and distress, to standing boldly and courageously and walking towards the very ones who would lead him to the cross, because in his submission to God, he found strength to face everything he had to face.
Speaker 1: What is he thinking about in this moment?
Speaker 1: As he stands up, he sees his betrayer, one of his 12 handpicked followers coming to betray him, backed up by a legion of soldiers and the religious leaders of the day.
Speaker 1: What is on Jesus' mind?
Speaker 1: Well, hebrews chapter 12 says that we look to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.
Speaker 1: What is the joy that was on Jesus's mind as he faced the cross, as he looked at his betrayer in the eyes that night in Gethsemane?
Speaker 1: What is the joy?
Speaker 1: Well, it's the glory of Almighty God.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew that his submission to the plan of God would bring glory to God.
Speaker 1: Why do we submit our lives to the will and the purpose of God?
Speaker 1: Because we know that it will bring glory to our Father who's in heaven, and there is no greater way to spend our lives than bringing glory to Almighty God.
Speaker 1: Second component of the joy that was set before Jesus that allowed him to endure the pain of the cross, I believe it's the triumph of good over evil.
Speaker 1: Jesus, his second prayer this is the only way your will be done.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew that for good to win over evil, for the powers of darkness and hell and the grave, to be vanquished forever.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew that the perfect sacrifice had to be made, that the Son of God had to willingly lay down his life, and so, for the joy that was set before him, the defeat of Satan and the powers of darkness, jesus endured the cross.
Speaker 1: There's a third component to this joy, and it's our salvation.
Speaker 1: It was the glory of God, the triumph of good and the salvation of all who would call on the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Why did Jesus go to the cross?
Speaker 1: Because Jesus knew that his submission to the will of God, that his suffering on a Roman cross, was essential for my salvation and for your salvation.
Speaker 1: And so Jesus prays three times Father, not my will, but yours, be done.
Speaker 1: He rises in strength and courage and confidence and he faces his betrayer.
Speaker 1: He embraces the cross, he takes the Roman nails because he knows that that's what it costs for me and for you to be saved.
Speaker 1: So what do we do with this?
Speaker 1: We look on and we believe in the sun.
Speaker 1: Do you have peace in your heart today?
Speaker 1: Do you have peace with god today?
Speaker 1: Do you know why you're on the planet today?
Speaker 1: Or are you, like so many people in this world, trying to be your own source of authority.
Speaker 1: When you submit your life to Almighty God, you bring glory to God, you become part of the triumph of good over evil and you receive the salvation that was purchased for you on the cross by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: Romans 12 says it like this because of the mercy of God and the light of God's mercy, offer your body, present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship or your reasonable response?
Speaker 1: What's the only thing that makes sense in response to what Jesus has done?
Speaker 1: We submit our lives to the authority of Almighty God.
Speaker 1: We say God, I don't know God, I don't understand God, I don't have it all figured out.
Speaker 1: God, I can't predict the future, but I trust Jesus, I believe in Jesus.
Speaker 1: For us to submit our lives to any authority, we have to believe that they know what is best and they have our best interest at heart.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you this morning, nobody loves you like Jesus loves you.
Speaker 1: Nobody knows what you need like Jesus knows.
Speaker 1: Nobody's got a future and a hope to offer you like Jesus does.
Speaker 1: Jesus laid down his life for you so that he could bring you back to life in his name.
Speaker 1: John 6,.
Speaker 1: This is the will of my father that you look on and believe in the resurrected son and you find eternal life and one day you are resurrected to new life, forever, with almighty God.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna close today a little differently than normal.
Speaker 1: To follow Jesus is to submit your life to the authority of God.
Speaker 1: To say I'm not the authority, god is what you say, god goes for me, I don't want my way, I want your way, not my will be done, your will be done.
Speaker 1: And our team's going to come and they're going to lead us in a song that declares that God alone is worthy, that Jesus alone is worthy of our worship.
Speaker 1: And as they lead us, I want to invite you to pray, to sit to worship right where you are.
Speaker 1: Take a moment, bow your head and ask yourself this one question when in my life do I need to say, like Jesus said, not my will, but yours be done?
Speaker 1: Where in your life that you need to say God, you have your way here.
Speaker 1: God, you have your way with my fear.
Speaker 1: God, you have your way with my future.
Speaker 1: God, you have your way with my family.
Speaker 1: God, you have your way with my career.
Speaker 1: God, whatever it is I've been holding on to and have refused to release to you.
Speaker 1: God, not my will, but your will, be done.
Speaker 1: And as we sing, as we respond this morning, if the moment comes and you've prayed and you've talked to God, you've met with them and you're like, okay, I'm ready to sing, I'm ready to stand, you stand and you begin to sing.
Speaker 1: And if you're the only one standing and you're the only one singing, that's fine.
Speaker 1: You respond to God as the spirit leads you.
Speaker 1: In this place this morning, if you need to step out from where you are, we've got people at the back that would love to pray with you this morning.
Speaker 1: If you're like, hey, I just don't know what to pray for myself, I need somebody to pray with me, to pray with me, meet us at the back.
Speaker 1: If you say today, I've never trusted Jesus, I'm trying to be the authority of my life and my hope and my peace, and I need the peace of God.
Speaker 1: As people pray and people sing, you step out.
Speaker 1: Meet us at the back.
Speaker 1: We'll have that conversation this morning as well.
Speaker 1: This is a moment for us to say to God God, it's about you, you in charge, you're in control, not my will, but yours.
Speaker 1: Be done so.
Speaker 1: Father, as we respond this morning, god, by the power of your spirit, through the truth of your word, have your way.
Speaker 1: In Jesus name, you pray, you sing, you respond where you are this morning.