Midweek Lenten Worship
February 24, 2016 
Matthew 26:36-46
Paul G. Eckert, Pastor Emeritus 

36  Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there
and pray.”
37  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and
he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
38  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to
the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39  Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and
prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from
me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40  Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 
“Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked
Peter.
41  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The
spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
42  He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is
not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may
your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because
their eyes were heavy.
44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third
time, saying the same thing.
45  Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you
still sleeping and resting?  Look, the hour is near, and the Son of
Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46  Rise, let us go!  Here comes my betrayer!” 

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    It is good to pray together with others.  We do that publicly as a St. Jacobi family in our church services, in our school.  We can do that privately at home in our families.  Table prayers and the Lord’s Prayer are easy examples of that.  My wife and I pray together regularly also with our devotional readings, and in bed before going to sleep and after waking up.  We enjoy these opportunities to pray together.
    It also is good to pray alone.  Especially after we have  prayed aloud together in bed, I like going on quietly alone to include by name my wife, all of our children and grandchildren - and that’s quite a few; and to include also others, every once in a while some of also you by name.
    Praying together or privately, of course, would make no sense if nobody would be listening or able to answer prayer.  That, however, is not the case.  God’s Son, our Savior, took care of that.  He made it
possible, whether praying with others or alone, to have the confidence that our almighty God hears us and is able to answer our prayers in the correct way.  Conclusion?  Pray with others, and pray alone.
    In our sermon text Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.   Others were in the vicinity, but they weren’t joining in or in any way encouraging or supporting Jesus.  So, thinking of Jesus’ prayer in
Gethsemane, let’s speak of it as A Lonely Prayer coming from A Lonely Pray-er  who received no help from those around Him. A LONELY PRAY-ER (OR PRAYER) I    SOME WERE WITH JESUS - OR WERE THEY?  (36-40,43)
    1. Not all of the disciples were with Jesus  (36a) Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane,
        a) Just before Gethsemane all 12 disciples  had been with Jesus 
            at another place where they celebrated the Passover meal
        b) At that meal one of them, Judas, was identified by Jesus as 
            His betrayer.  Judas then must have left the group before Jesus 
            instituted the Lord’s Supper - left to make arrangements with 
            the church leaders to lead them to a place where they could 
            arrest Jesus without a lot of people around
    2. For His prayer Jesus chose privacy   (36-38)
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he
began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”
        a) Jesus wanted company; so He took 11 disciples with Him, and 3 of those somewhat closer  
        b) But He also wanted privacy - lonely, but not completely alone
    3. Listen to His private prayer  (39) Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground andprayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
        a) Was there another way to save us? - What He had to face was terrible: God’s innocent Son condemned for all of us the guilty  
        b) But in love for us Jesus would carry out God’s saving will 
    4. For this He now was a lonely prayer  (40,43)
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.  “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.  ---  When he came back, he again found them sleeping,
because their eyes were heavy.
        a) They were there, but they might as well not have been
        b) They disappointed Jesus; He obviously felt lonely
        c) What about us?  Do we disappoint Jesus at times?
II    WE ARE WITH JESUS - OR ARE WE?  (40-41)
    1. The disciples were with Him, but weren’t (40)
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.
        a) Yes, physically they were present
        b) But Jesus had to express His disappointment
    2. Are we like them at times?
        a) Can we sort of daydream, or like the disciples “sleep” our way through prayers without thinking about what we are praying?
        b) What about table prayers? - at our school, at home; or what about speaking the Lord’s Prayer? - at church speaking without thinking, going so fast can’t think, looking around at others, words coming from our lips but not from our hearts?
    3. Jesus warns about this (41)
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
        a) As believers we are willing, we want to pray properly
        b) But as sinful human beings we are weak, all of us
    4. Thank God it is for us too that Jesus was praying here
        a) If we were perfect, also in praying, we wouldn’t need a Savior
        b) But even if we tried our best, we still would never be perfect
        c) And that’s why Jesus did more than just pray for us here
III  HE ALONE COULD CARRY OUT HIS TASK  (39,42-46)
    1. This was a totally impossible task for us
        a) Sin’s wages call for death, and we all are in the process of doing exactly that: dying, and then facing eternal judgment
        b) There is no way that we the guilty can make ourselves unguilty
    2. Notice here the difference in Jesus’ prayers (39,42)
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.”        
        a) First Jesus had asked if there was another way possible besides God’s innocent Son taking the sins of all the guilty on Himself
        b) Then He accepted that there was no other way; He would take our guilt on Himself, pay the wages of our sin as our Substitute He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not
possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
    3.  How well that will is expressed in the words we all know  “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 
    4. This will Jesus proceeded to fulfill (43-46) When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.  So he left them and went away once more andprayed the third time, saying the same thing.  Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?  Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us go!  Here comes my betrayer!” 
        a) Now disciple 12, Judas, showed up to betray our Savior
        b) Jesus, fully knowing the horror of what He faced, went to carry out God’s will for us that we might live with Him in glory
        c) ”Your will be done” Jesus said - and it was!  Jesus did it! 
    And God the Father heard and accepted and answered a LONELY PRAYER from a LONELY PRAY-ER for our eternal salvation. 

Prayer

    Heavenly Father, graciously accept this prayer and all of our prayers, and receive our special eternal thanks that Jesus prayed “Your will be done” and did it.  Thank You for giving us the privilege of being able to come to You with our prayers, a privilege made possible because Your Son carried out Your will that we might be a part of Your family and can approach Your throne.
    When it comes to praying, forgive us for any neglecting of prayer personally and at home.  And forgive us for poor praying here at church if just words come from our lips but you could almost say that
we are like the disciples in Gethsemane and sleeping because we aren’t thinking at all about what we are praying.  Please forgive us, because this can often happen.  Thank You, Jesus, that doing our Heavenly Father’s will included paying for also these sins and weaknesses when it comes to our prayer life.  And please send us Your Spirit’s strengthening to try harder to pray better and to love You more.
    As we thus pray, keep us also from being selfish.  Help us to include others, and not only for physical needs, but above all that loved ones, others, might share by true faith in the victory of Jesus, won on the cross and guaranteed by His resurrection from the dead so that we can look forward to heaven as our eternal home.    
    In such confidence we now join in the prayer our Lord Jesus taught us, and ask that as we speak it You strengthen us not just to speak words, but to think about what Jesus told us to ask as we join to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.  Amen.