REMINISCERE MIDWEEK
11 March Anno + Domini 2009
"Sacred Head, Now Wounded†Sermon Series
Part 4: "The Wound of Apathy†(Matt. 26:36-45)
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
He did not want to be alone as He wrestled in prayer that night. How often we forget that our blessed Lord was truly and fully human! He needed the comfort of companionship, the encouragement that comes from loved ones. And so, as Jesus leaves the larger group of His disciples behind, He takes with Him His three closest friends: Peter, James, and John. He can no longer keep back the sorrow and the grief that is weighing Him down. "My soul,†He says, "is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with Me†(Matthew 26:38). He stumbles a few steps further and lands on His face.
Before the eyes of His soul that night was the cup. In order to understand the cup, you must go back to the Old Testament. David sang in the Psalm: "For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs†(Psalm 75:8). Isaiah foretold of a time to come when the cup would pass from the people: "Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of His people: 'Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of My wrath you shall drink no more'†(51:22).
So the cup that was set before our Lord for Him to drink and empty down to the bitterest dregs was the cup that held in it God's wrath - the wrath of God against all your rebellions, all your lovelessness, all your passing of judgment upon others, all your selfish acts, all your indulging of the flesh, all your spiritual apathy. It was set before Jesus and He saw it. And He knew exactly where it would lead. Jesus quotes from Zechariah: "I [that is, the Lord] will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered†(Matthew 26:31). Make no mistake about it: our Lord receives His Passion as entirely from the hands of His Father.
But how He struggled with it! None of us is nearly as frightened of hell as we should be. None of us has the first clue about the real terror of its empty and eternal loneliness. None of us can begin to fathom either its icy coldness or its ever burning and unsatisfied hunger and thirst. But Jesus - the Eternal Word of the Father made flesh of the Virgin - He knows. And before this reality, looking into that ultimate and eternal poison in the cup, He trembles.
He trembles, and He begs the Father that, if possible, some other way may be found, some different approach, something other than what is in this cup before Him. He looks over the brim of the cup into its fathomless depths, and He shakes in terror at the thought of drinking its contents. "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me!â€
He trembles. He sees the poison. He sees the wrath of God that must be unleashed against all sin. But, do we tremble? Do we see the poison? Do we recognize what we sinners truly deserve? We say we do. We confess as much each week here in the Lord's House. But, then we go out and sin so blithely. Our actions betray us. How many times do we engage in what we know to be sinful activity without even giving it a second thought? How many times do we not even listen to the Lord as His Word is being proclaimed to us. We often say, "God will forgive. He is loving and merciful and kind. It is really no big deal.†Go with your Lord to Gethsemane tonight, and see with your own eyes whether or not it is a "big deal.†Look at Him as He shakes before the very portion that we foolishly chose for ourselves time and time again. Watch Him as He trembles in unspeakable terror at the thought of drinking down our spiritual apathy, our self-centeredness, our going through the motions, our refusal to serve and support His ministry and mission as we should, our words and actions that betray our belief that our sinning is no big deal. Gaze upon Him as He lays face down in the dirt, writhing in agony at the thought of consuming our unthankfulness and ingratitude, of being smitten, stricken, and afflicted for a people who often have better things to do with their time than to spend time with Him. And see Him - really see Him - as He lifts His eyes from the cup to His Father and pleads for some other way. No big deal? Was there ever a bigger deal than this? Repent!
But then, look again upon Him and see our Savior manifest that radical and ultimate difference between Himself and all the other sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. See Him lower His eyes to the cup again and say, "Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.â€
It has exhausted Him, terrorized Him - looking into that cup. And so He turns back to His friends, His beloved, for the comfort they can give. But here another wound strikes Him. As He has struggled with the terrors of death and hell for them, they have fallen asleep. "Peter!†He cries, startling them awake. "Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak†(Matthew 26:40-41).
Weak. That is what our flesh is. Weak, and so we wound our Lord often with our apathy. We wound Him with our blithe sinning. We add to the terrors of the cup He must drink. Surely Jesus' word of warning will keep His disciples awake and in prayer? Right? The most terrifying events of their discipleship are only moments away now. Surely, they will realize and pray? But no. They are like us after all, or are we like them.
Jesus turns back and again makes the same struggle in prayer. Then He returns for comfort from His friends and again encounters only apathy - they are sound asleep again. Amazing, isn't it? Not really. How often have we failed to keep the vigil? How often have we slept when we should've been watching and praying? How often has our faith been pathetically apathetic - without feeling or concern?
So, added to the terror of drinking the cup of God's wrath on our behalf is the fact that Jesus is all alone with this. No friends to comfort him. No companions to help Him ease the struggle. Just Him and this cup. No wonder, then, that as He turns back for His final prayer, sweat falls from Him in great drops like blood. Jesus experiences the intense pressure of His "yes†to the Father's will. He will do it. All alone. For apathetic friends who offer no comfort. For sinners who haven't a clue the gravity of their sinfulness. For an unthankful world which will, more often than not, ridicule the sacrifice He makes. He will go forward to drink this cup. He will do so, trusting that, having imbibed the poison of our whole race and experiencing in Himself the penalty of our disobedience, His Father will not abandon Him in the end. Look into the face of your Lord as He rises from that final prayer. What do you see now? You see peace.
The peace that comes from His prayer. The peace that comes from His trust in the Father. To submit to the One who has loved you with an everlasting love is in the end not terror, but joy - no matter how dark the path. In that peace, Jesus turned back to His disciples for the last time. Their apathy can wound Him no more; He is going forth to swallow it down with all their sins and the sins of the whole world. So while they slept, He won the battle, and He won it alone. He will now go forth to meet His betrayer in peace. He submits to His Father, knowing that His will is best, and knowing that submitting to His Father's will means saving the world. And so, He wakes up His disciples from their sleep to meet the terrors to come.
And seeing Him march forth to meet this end in peace, we sing in astonished awe, or at least we should:
"What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinner's gain.
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, My Savior!
'Tis I deserve Thy place.
Look on me with Thy favor.
And grant to me Thy grace.
(LSB 450:3)
As Jesus looked in pity on the three disciples, so He looks in pity on you and me. And by the struggle of His will to drink the cup and empty it for us forever, He shows us that He will never be apathetic about us. He is never without feeling or concern for us. He knows our pain. He feels our struggles. He who drained that cup can be counted on to save us to the uttermost - and to Him be glory with His all-holy Father and the life-giving Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages! Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.