36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
— Matthew 26:36-45, ESV

The palms on Sunday wave at us like the hand of God.  He wants our attention.  Of course, He demands and deserves it every day of every week.  But we are human, with feet of clay and minds that wander.  

That’s what makes this day and this week so special.  It is the beginning of Holy Week, and God has a whole story to tell the whole week, as fresh and new as it was when the events actually occurred over two thousand years ago.  

The story is the culmination of the Old Covenant, the Jewish people, and their three mandated festivals: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.  These commemorate, in order, the exodus, the giving of the law, and the wandering in the wilderness on the way to the promised land.  

The story is the inauguration of the New Covenant.  Jesus Christ fulfills Passover, the Holy Spirit fulfills Pentecost, and the Christian life fulfills the pilgrimage to wander on this earth until God the Father calls us to our heavenly home.  

On the original Palm Sunday, it was the Passover that put Jesus in Jerusalem one last time.  After a sabbath Saturday rest, pilgrims poured into the city on the first day of the week to begin the festival.  Many of them spotted Jesus and His disciples as they prepared to enter the city.  The Lord was, appropriately and prophetically, riding above the crowd on a young donkey, like King David and King Solomon had done in a different era.  

On this day, a new kind of king had come, the King of kings.  People shouted.  An ad hoc choir sang.  Palms, usually associated with the third feast, were nevertheless waved.  Palms could also be used to symbolize triumph, as in triumphal entry, and peace, as in Prince of Peace.  And so, Palm Sunday was born, and thus the original Holy Week began.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus arrived.  On Manic Monday, Jesus cleansed the Temple Mount and teased His enemies.  On Teaching Tuesday, Jesus told parables and prophesies about His kingdom come.  On Woeful Wednesday, Jesus was betrayed by one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, for thirty pieces of silver.  On Maundy Thursday, Jesus retreated to an upper room with His disciples to wash their feet, then share with them the last Passover and the first Lord’s Supper.  On Good Friday, Jesus prayed, in the Garden of Gethsemane, before being arrested, tried, condemned, crucified, and buried.  On Silent Saturday, Jesus’ body spent a second day in the tomb.  On Resurrection Sunday, Jesus Christ is risen, He is risen, indeed!

The days are sacred, but numbered, and time will not allow us to talk about each one exhaustively.  But we will do out best to meet and ponder the meaning of at least four of the places visited by the Lord Jesus Christ during the eight days, with thoughts from the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, Arimathea’s Tomb, and the Resurrection.  

The children have already preached a sermon with their palms for Palm Sunday, the Lord bless them.  Jesus is to be known, praised, worshipped, and followed.  Now let’s quickly move toward the latter part of the week, to the person and place that holds all of Holy Week together, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Garden of Gethsemane.

Here are three things to think about:

In the Garden, Jesus Prayed

Think about what happened.  God prayed to God.  Under a Passover full moon, with the weight of the world on His shoulders, God the Son prayed to God the Father with the unction of God the Spirit.  Already we are thinking theologically, in trinitarian terms, about God.  This is good.  Good and godly thoughts lead to good and godly decisions and actions.  Jesus prayed and made a serious decision about a salvific action He was about to undertake.

Think about why it matters.  If God prayed to God, how much more do we need to pray, and pray like Jesus.  Jesus’ prayer was honest.  He didn’t want to do it, get arrested and beaten and crucified, who would?  But Jesus cared about others more than Himself, and prayer honed this empathy and love.  Jesus really cared whether or not people went to Heaven or Hell, and His prayer sealed His commitment to do whatever it took to see that people went to the one instead of the other.  

Think about how to respond.  Let us pray!  Not right now, with heads bowed and eyes closed.  But let us commit to be more prayerful, on holy days and every day.  Prayer makes us care.  So pray to be less selfish, to discern ways of service to others, and for boldness to share the gospel.  Let us pray to be more like Christ ever day of our lives.  For on most days we are more like some of Christ’s feeble followers, Peter, James, and John.  

In the Garden, Jesus’ Followers Slept and Sinned

Think about what happened.  At this holy of holy moments, Jesus invited His “inner circle” of disciples to join Him in prayer.  What an honor. What an opportunity.  What a disappointment.  While given a divine imperative from Christ to “watch and pray,” they slept and sinned.  

Think about why it matters. We must understand when Jesus said, “The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners,” He was not just talking about Judas Iscariot and the Jewish militia about to arrest Him.  He was talking about His disciples, then and now.  We are all sinners.  We all sleep on the Lord sometimes, don’t we?  We don’t do what He has plainly commanded us to do.  And, we all sin, we deliberately do what He has told us not to do.  

Think about how to respond.  We want to be like Jesus, but we are more like Peter, James, and John.  We sleep and we sin.  We cannot change the past where we have failed, only confess it to the Lord and find He forgives and forgets.  But let us not forget, but rather learn from our mistakes and determine not to repeat them.  The next time we get that opportunity to pray, to worship, to witness, to serve, to give, we will be wide awake and ready.

Now, wake up!  Pay attention!  See the most sacred moment in the Garden, that moment when Jesus surrendered and died to His upcoming surrender and death.

In the Garden, Jesus Surrendered and Died

Think about what happened.  In the cosmic crossing of competing concerns, Jesus expressed His will not to do it, not to be hauled off to a dungeon, beaten to within an inch of His life, have dirty nails dug into His hands and feet, and die on a cross.  But He expressed also a greater desire, the willingness to do the will of the Father, praying just as He taught His disciples to pray to God, “Thy will be done.”  

Think about why it matters.  If Christ had turned away from the cross, we could not be saved.  Redemption requires a lamb, and Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be, in the words of John the Baptist, “The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”  The sacrificial lambs of the Old Covenant went sheepishly, unknowingly, unwillingly.  But our Lord Jesus Christ willingly and lovingly went to the cross for you, if by grace you have faith in the finished work of Jesus, which began in principle in the Garden of Gethsemane.  

Think about how to respond.  Christ would die later that day, that “good” Friday, but in essence He died that morning, the morning He totally surrendered to God’s will in the Garden.  I have heard there is a plaque at Wheaton College where Jim Elliot and four friends and colleagues died.  Their actual death would occurs years later in the jungles of Ecuador, killed by the natives they were trying to reach with the gospel.  But it was the earlier commitment that sealed their fate.  

I hope God has not ordained your death for any near date.  At the same time, I hope you will die today, die to self, like Jesus.  Pledge not to sleep in, spiritually speaking, on Sundays or holy days or any other days.  Glean all you can from worship and the word.  Watch for opportunities to serve others and share the gospel.  We cannot repay God for what He has done for us, but we can replay God, by being like Christ, from this day forward.  

I stepped into the Garden of Gethsemane, literally, on a study tour of Israel in 2008.  Like millions of other pilgrims, it changed me.  But you do not have to go to Israel to go to the Garden with Jesus.  I had been there before, in 1982, when I was saved.  I went there again in 1987, when I committed to serving as a Pastor.  I go there often, and could use a visit every day.  

Go to the Garden of Gethsemane, with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Think about Him.  Care about others.  Surrender, die, and serve the Lord with the life He has given you.