When Surrender Feels Impossible

We're looking at this series which we've called Alive, and we are working our way through a couple of chapters in Luke's Gospel as we trace the footsteps of Jesus as he heads to the cross and then to resurrection. And last week, Pastor James took us through the story of Jesus as he arrives in Jerusalem and as he's hailed as king. And we heard very clearly the theme that was woven through that message, which is that Jesus is a different kind of king. Jesus is a different kind of king. And we're going to hear that again this morning as well.

We're going to be in Luke 22:39 today, so you might like to turn there in your Bibles. But we have in this moment what I would suggest is one of the most intimate and powerful moments in the story. It's a moment that's easy for us to overlook. It's probably quite familiar to us in the story, and we skip over it and we go to Jesus, perhaps the betrayal or Jesus at the cross. But here, what we find in Luke 22:39 is this incredible moment where we see what it looks like to surrender when it feels impossible.

We see what it looks like to surrender when it feels impossible. And so, being super creative like I am, I've called this message When Surrender Feels Impossible. And so, if you're taking notes, the title is When Surrender Feels Impossible. But let's pray as we open God's word together. Lord, we thank you for this blessing of being able to come around the Word.

We're connected with the body of Christ all around the world as we gather together in this local community, and as we open your word together, Lord, one of the risks as we come to a passage that might be very familiar to many of us, is that we don't look again for what you'd say to us. And so give us fresh eyes this morning. Give us a freshness in our hearts. Give us receptiveness to the Holy Spirit, that you might illuminate this to us, that you might speak to us afresh from your word this morning. We ask you this in your Son's precious name.

Amen. And so let me give you some background because we have skipped over a little bit of the start of Luke 22, because we're going to pick it up in Luke 22, verse nine today. But Luke 22 takes us to the final hours of Jesus's life as he heads towards the cross. It's the time of Passover, and we heard last week that this is a sacred time for the Jews. It's a time where they remember and intentionally recall God's faithfulness.

And so while Jesus and the disciples are there, the city of Jerusalem. If you just picture these outside scenes, it is a busy place. People are getting ready for this significant festival. But in the midst of this preparation, behind the scenes and the religious leaders are plotting. And they've been trying to get Jesus ever since he started his ministry, ever since he kind of came on the scene and he challenged the status quo.

And now they're even angrier because they've heard the crowds which we heard last week as Jesus arrives, worshiping him as king. And they are furious. And so the start of Luke 22 tells us that Judas, one of the disciples, begins working with the religious leaders in order to betray Jesus. Jesus. And then we're taken in Luke 22 to Jesus and his disciples in this upper room.

And it's interesting that in the busyness, in the craziness of what's to come, that Jesus still chooses to pull away from the crowds and spend time, intentional time with his disciples. Now, this is perhaps the most famous scene in this passage. We've seen paintings, I'm sure, of the Last Supper. You've probably seen it, you know, all the disciples, one really long table. But what we have here that isn't, I think, represented in these paintings is actually a really tender moment.

It's a really significant moment. And Luke records that Jesus says to them, I have been eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. So Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what was ahead. But.

But he's still focused in on sharing time with these men with whom he's lived and he's walked over these last few years. And we read that during this meal, Jesus takes the bread and he takes the cup and he gives it new meaning. He says, these are signs of my body and blood that will be given for you. It's this new covenant of grace. And then there's this moment that, if it wasn't for what was to come, would actually be quite comical.

There's this moment where Jesus speaks about the betrayal that will happen. And what do the disciples start doing? Instead of talking about that, they start arguing amongst themselves over who's going to be the greatest. Like, if you couldn't miss the point more, I don't know how they've done it, but Jesus has spoken about this betrayal that's going to happen. And they start saying, no, no, I'm going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God.

And Jesus calls them out on it, as he so often does. And he says, I'm a different kind of king who's bringing in a different kind of kingdom. Because in the kingdom of God, if you want to be great, you need to serve. If you want to be the greatest, you need to serve. And then he speaks to Peter.

And he speaks to Peter not just about the future denial that come but will come, but about his prayer for him. I love this, and I wish we could just spend a week on this and we might come back to it after Easter. But Jesus knows that Peter will stumble. He knows that Peter will deny him. But Jesus is already looking to Peter's restoration.

There's a sermon there. And so then we land at verse 39, and this is what we read. Then, accompanied by his disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went, as usual, to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, pray that you will not give in to temptation. As I was reading this passage during the week, there's something beautifully ordinary about it, isn't it?

In the midst of the craziness that's happening, Luke tells us that Jesus, as usual, goes to the Mount of Olives. And I love that phrase, as usual. It's easy for us to miss those words. But as usual means that this was Jesus's pattern. He went there, to the garden of Gethsemane.

The other gospel writers give us the name to pray because Jesus had made this location his place of communion with the Father. Back in chapter 21, Luke tells us that this garden is the place where Jesus and the disciples had been gathering and staying overnight during Jesus his last few days in Jerusalem. And even now, when Jesus knows what's coming, when he tells the disciples what is coming, when Judas knows his pattern and knows his location, Jesus still goes as usual. He doesn't run. He doesn't change the pattern to avoid betrayal.

I was thinking this week I totally would have. If someone was wanting to kill me and they knew where I was going to be at night, I wouldn't have gone there. I would have gone somewhere else. I would have stayed in Jerusalem. I would have been in the upper room and said to the disciples, barricade the door, like I'm sleeping in the back corner.

You guys sleep over there. But instead, Jesus goes to the place of prayer. And we read that. As they arrive, Jesus first thought, I wonder if you saw this is for his disciples. And he says to them, pray.

Pray not for me, but pray for yourself that you wouldn't fall into temptation. It's remarkable, isn't it with all that is coming. With Jesus having insight into the suffering, the humiliation and the death that awaits him, it'd be reasonable for him to say to his disciples, pray for me. Pray that I would have strength for what's to come. Pray that I wouldn't give in to temptation.

But instead, Jesus says, pray that you wouldn't fall into temptation. You see, Jesus knew what was coming for him, but he also knew what was coming for them. Their world was about to shatter. They would learn of Judas betrayal. Peter will deny Jesus.

They'll fear for their lives. They'll scatter and they'll desert him. And yet Jesus, the great shepherd, is still preparing his sheep. And you see, Jesus here is doing more than giving them a command. He's pastoring them.

I love the way he says to them, it's not you're gonna fail, like pray cause you're gonna fail or pray cause you're gonna let me down. He says, watch and pray. There's honesty and there's hope. He acknowledges the struggle that is gonna come, but he also offers them a way to stand in it. And so then we get to verse 41, and it says, he walked away about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed.

Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. And so we read that Jesus leaves his disciples there and he walks, as Luke describes it, about a stone's throw. That's not a particularly accurate unit of measurement. I don't know how far Luke could throw a stone.

But we get this picture that Jesus is far enough away to be alone, but close enough to be heard. It's how we end up with this account most likely is passed on to Luke. And then it tells us that Jesus kneels down to pray. And that kneeling down is significant because in the Jewish tradition, the way that they prayed was not traditionally kneeling down. They stood with their arms outstretched.

That was their posture in prayer. But here, Jesus, he kneels. And Mark tells us in his account that Jesus falls to the ground face first. I wonder if you've ever had that moment in your own life where you've collapsed to your knees in prayer. There's something desperate about the prayer that happens on your knees.

And we see this desperation in Jesus as he prays. It's raw and it's real. And it's a prayer that we know well. You've probably heard it before. Jesus says, father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.

Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. This image of the cup of suffering, it's this word picture that we get here. It's a significant biblical picture because throughout the Old Testament, the cup has symbolized God's judgment. It symbolized God's wrath. And so you can see that throughout the Old Testament in various parts like Isaiah 51, Jeremiah 25, Psalm 75.

You can read those this week. But here Jesus is speaking about the cup of suffering which he's staring into. It's the. The sinless one, the only one who is sinless, about to drink this cup of judgment, God's wrath on the sin of the world. And I want us to notice this week that we see the depictions of Jesus on the cross.

If you saw that movie a number of years ago, the Passion of Christ, it really clearly illustrated the physical agony and the physical pain that comes through Jesus's path to the cross. But it's more than that here. This moment isn't just about the physical pain that's going to come. It's actually about the spiritual pain that's coming. Because at the heart of Jesus sacrifice, that is the heart of the sacrifice.

That's this spiritual pain that's going to come. It's the one who is perfect, who has never carried the weight of sin, now facing a moment where he'll drink the cup of God's judgment, where he will take on the weight of becoming sin, of being separated from God, of carrying the fullness of human brokenness. And what a prayer it is that he prays. It's as brief as it is powerful. Because in the same breath that Jesus says, father, take this from me.

In the same breath he says, but I want your will, not mine.

There is something clear here where there's a recognition that our human nature, our human part, doesn't naturally lead us towards God's will. Our humanity doesn't lead us towards that. It leads us to prioritize our own comfort, our own freedom, our own preferences over God's will. And Jesus, although fully God, was also fully human. And so he acknowledges here that he's not immune to this temptation.

He's saying, father, take this cup from me, but not my will, but yours be done. And so here in the garden, we don't just see surrender, we see willing surrender. A surrender that acknowledges and counts the cost, but still says, yes, a surrender that chooses God's plan, God's will over personal ease. And then we come to verse 43, and it says this. Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.

He prayed more fervently and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. Why are you sleeping? He asked them. Get up and pray so that you will not give in to temptation.

And so Luke's record is the one that gives us this detail that an angel appears from heaven and comes alongside Jesus and strengthens him. And what an encouragement that must have been. It's the Father saying, I haven't forgotten about you. In your grief and your anguish, it is easy to think that God has forgotten you. And here we see this picture of the Father saying to Jesus, I haven't forgotten you.

I wonder if you've ever had a moment in your life. Maybe it's a season you're in now where in the midst of grief a friend has come alongside you. Maybe it's a Christian brother or sister who, prompted by the Holy Spirit, just comes and is just with you and brings you strength when you've run out of your ability to. To endure. And we see it here in verse 44, this agony that Luke tells us about.

It comes from the Greek word agonia. That's the Greek that Luke uses. It means that's where we get the word agony from. But it literally is referring to an athlete that is straining in the middle of a contest. You know that time where you see them, you know those marathon runners who get to the end of the marathon and can hardly go go any further but push on.

And Luke tells us that Jesus is praying with such intensity, such emotional and spiritual weight that his sweat falls like drops of blood. We don't really know whether that's literal or descriptive, but it doesn't really matter. The point here is really clear. It's that what Jesus is experiencing is deep, soul wrenching suffering. The greatest suffering that can be experienced.

It's physical, it's emotional, it's spiritual. And we're reminded again that Jesus isn't numb to this. He's not floating above the pain. He feels all of it. He feels all of the suffering.

And that really matters. And maybe this is your encouragement this morning, that sometimes we think that real faith means that you don't struggle. Sometimes we think real faith means that you don't live with any anguish. But here Jesus is full of faith. He's full of obedience.

He's walking in step with the Father's will. But he's also full of anguish. And then he takes a break from praying and he returns a stone's throw back to the disciples and he finds them asleep. I wonder if you can imagine his disappointment here. He's pouring out his heart to the Father.

He knows the incredible challenge that's in front of him. And his closest companions who he's asked to pray, have fallen asleep.

It must feel like another letdown, another betrayal. But Luke's really generous in his description here. I like Luke. If he was writing, I'd want him to write about me. Because he tells us why they're asleep.

Not because they're lazy, not because they're slack. But he says they are exhausted from sorrow. And that can happen with grief, can't can happen the heaviness, the weariness that comes. It's so often while you hear people who have suffered incredible trauma talk about just not being able to get out of bed, of sleeping and sleeping and sleeping and not feeling refreshed, it's the heaviness and it's the weight of grief. And it's come for the disciples because I think they are starting to realize what Jes been saying to them for such a long time.

He's saying to them, I'm not going to be around for much longer. You're going to deny me. I'm going to be gone. And they're saying, we can't believe this. We need you, Jesus.

We need you in the flesh. We thought that you would always be here. You're the one God has sent to be the new king of Israel, to reign and to rule. And now you're saying to us that you're going. But we're reminded that Jesus is a different kind of king, and he's reigning over a different kind of kingdom.

And the disciples are beginning to see that God's plan is different from what they thought it was going to be. And so in their grief and in their fatigue and in the lateness of the night, they fall asleep. Such a human moment in the midst of an incredible story. And I don't know about you, but I can empathize with that because I often, when I'm praying, fall asleep. I claim to Cindy that it's because I'm so spiritual, but actually it's just because, you know, you get comfy, you lie down, you fall asleep.

But the disciples, I can. I can empathise with them here. And what I love is what Jesus does because he doesn't lash out. And it's really important we read this the right way because it's easy to think of Jesus as angry. Here, your closest friends in your hour of need couldn't even stay awake.

But Jesus doesn't shame them. He doesn't berate them. He's far more concerned for them than he is for himself. And so he gently gives them the invitation again. Pray.

He actually says to them, stand up, because it's harder to fall asleep when you're standing up. So he says, stand up. Pray so that you don't fall. You see, even here he's still the shepherd, and he's still gently leading his sheep. And then we get to verse 47, and we're going to read this last bit together.

But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. But Jesus says, judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, lord, should we fight? We brought the swords.

And one of them struck at the high priest slave, slashing off his right ear. But Jesus said, no more of this. And he touched the man's ear and he healed him. Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. Am I some dangerous revolutionary?

He asked that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me. Why didn't you just arrest me in the temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns. And so let's just wrap this up this morning.

There's a whole sermon just here, but we read that Jesus is saying to disciples, stand up. Pray that you don't fall. And at the same time, Judas walks over with this crowd and he goes to kiss Jesus. We don't do that in our society. You know, if you went in for a kiss, one of the other blokes today, you'd probably get a slap.

Maybe. But here, it's a custom. It's how a loved one, a friend, would greet one another. And Judas is acknowledging the closeness to Jesus. Judas, the one chosen and appointed and trained, is now betraying him.

Betrayal of a friend or a loved one has so much sting to it, doesn't it? Perhaps you felt that, and this is the picture that's communicated here, that this is a loved one of Jesus who he's been poured his life into that now betrays him. John's account tells us that Peter, who was known for, you know, rash actions, he grabs a sword and he cuts off one of the men's ear. One of the men that's with the high priest. And Jesus confronts the moment and it's incredible.

He touches the man and he heals him. How remarkable is it? We could skip over this part, but Jesus about to be arrested, abandoned and mocked. What is he doing? He's still healing.

And those who are coming to arrest him see this undeniable proof of his divinity, and they still want him dead. And so we read here that Jesus is arrested. He surrenders to the Father's will again. And just as he said yes in the garden, he walks that yes forward to the cross.

And so what do we do with this this morning? It's a passage that I'm sure for many of us is pretty familiar. We should come now to ask ourselves, God, what is it that you would say to me here? How should I respond to what we've read? And maybe the Holy Spirit's already planted something in your heart.

But I'd suggest to you this morning two things. Two brief takeaways. They're up on the screen there. Firstly, that surrender starts in rhythm. Surrender starts in rhythm.

We often treat surrender like it's one defining dramatic moment. And yeah, absolutely, the cross was that moment when Jesus had the power to call down legions of angels. But we sometimes forget that Jesus path to surrender on the cross was the culmination of years of smaller yeses. You see, Jesus didn't suddenly decide to obey the Father in Gethsemane. This, the fruit of this moment, was already shaped by surrender because surrender was his rhythm.

We see it all through the Gospels. Jesus gets up early to pray. He withdraws to lonely places. He says he rejects applause and acclaim. He chooses obedience over popularity and comfort.

And here he chooses surrender again. And it's so important for us. I'd encourage you this morning. Church. We can often wait until the moment of crisis or wait until the moment of big decision and then hope to choose surrender.

We can wait for those big moments and just hope that we will have the courage and the strength to choose Christ. But if we haven't built that rhythm of surrender in our lives so often, we can find ourselves wavering and overwhelmed. But if surrender, if choosing God's will is the pattern of our lives, if it's our rhythm, if it's part of our everyday, in crisis, when pressure's on, we'll go back to it. We'll go back to surrender. And we see in Jesus this great moment of surrender in the garden, of saying, not my will, but your will comes from a pattern of life that's like spiritual exercise that he has time and time and time again chosen the Father's will over his own will?

You know, I've never run a marathon. It might shock you. I have no interest in running a marathon. I admire any of you who do, but I suspect in my limited understanding of what it takes to run a marathon. I suspect that you don't decide the morning of a marathon that you're going to run a marathon.

I don't think you get up and you think, I might have a crack. Why not? What's the worst that could happen? People who run marathons train. They're out in the darkness, they're out in the rain.

They're out when there is no crowd. They're training, they go. And they run for weeks and months and weeks and months, and they just keep running so that when the marathon comes, they are ready. And this is like the rhythm, the pattern of surrender in our lives. You see, Luke gives it to us right from the start of the passage we looked at this morning.

He says, jesus went out as usual. That's the line there he went all the time. And so my encouragement to you is, are you preparing for. For your garden moment? Are you regularly surrendering to God's will in your life?

Not just in the big decisions, but in the little ones? Because surrender is built in rhythm. And then the last point this morning, it's simple. You don't have to be strong to stay faithful.

You see, I reckon this passage that we've just read is the best response to that old adage that you hear in Christian circles of people who are struggling or people who are in grief, where someone says to them, oh, just trust God. Just have a bit more faith. Because if you do that, then you'll be okay. Then you know, you won't be in anguish anymore. Then you'll have all the peace that you need.

Just trust God. I wonder if you noticed here, as we work through it, that Jesus prays, Father, if you're willing, take this cup. And what does God do? He sends an angel, and the angel strengthens him. But then we read in the very next verse, and this is what I want you to see, that Jesus prayed even more fervently, with more desperation.

We don't know what he said, but. Because I think the disciples had probably fallen asleep now and couldn't tell Luke. But he prays, it says, even more fervently. And I don't think it's a stretch to think that Jesus is probably praying more of the same, more of God, Take this cup from me. But not my will, but your will.

There's anguish in Jesus voice. But see, the angel didn't remove the anguish. The angel didn't come to him and Jesus didn't go, oh, fantastic, I'm good to go now. All right, let's get this done. I'm feeling great.

It doesn't say, the angel doesn't say it's going to be okay. Or don't worry because God's changing the plan. Or just trust God a bit more, come on, Jesus, just trust the Father more and you'll be okay. You see, the pain doesn't go away, but Jesus is able to walk through it. And that's often how God works, isn't it?

And so this morning I want to remind you that you don't have to feel strong to be faithful. You don't have to feel strong to be faithful. Because Jesus strength here, his obedience and his surrender, it's quiet, it's on his knees crying out to God. It's tears streaked and it's blood stained. And sometimes that's all the faithfulness we can muster.

Sometimes faithfulness to what God has for us, faithfulness to walking a life of faith is simply just not quitting, Just not quitting.

And so if that's how your faith feels this morning, if maybe you've been in a season of struggle or challenge, if all you can manage today is a whisper that says Jesus, not my will, but yours, if that's all you can manage today, then I want you to hear that you're walking in the footsteps of Jesus. If all you can say is Jesus, not my will, but yours, you've got great company in Jesus. Let me pray.

Our Father, we thank you for the power of your word. We thank you for this moment that is so familiar, but it's got so much in there that challenges. Lord, we thank you for the faithfulness of Jesus, that we only have a relationship with you because of his willing surrender. We ask God that you would help us to build that pattern in our lives, that we would build this rhythm of surrender to your will, that we would be aware of the leading and the prompting of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that every decision does not the big ones, but also the small everyday things would be surrendered to your will. And Father, I want to pray this morning for those who might be here, who might be in a particular moment or season of struggle, Lord, who might feel like all they can manage is just not quitting.

Lord, let them be encouraged today that as they say and whisper, perhaps not my will, but yours that they're walking in the footsteps of Jesus. So we ask that. That would be our prayer each and every day. Not our will, not our human nature ruling and reigning, but your will in our lives. Amen.

Sam.