Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 
Synopsis 4.13.25

Matthew 26: 35-39 NKJV 
Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples. 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

I.         INTRODUCTION

1. One thing about living out Gods purpose is to understand it comes with sacrifice. Sacrifice brings a level of anxiety to some people. Sacrifice is counter intuitive to our desire to think about ourselves and no one else.
   1. A relationship with Jesus Christ ultimately starts with sacrifice. Jesus said that if any man desires to follow after Him, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him.
   1. The reality is, we live in a world that subscribes to a cross-less Christianity. It is a world where people want the promise without the process. People want the glory without the grind.
   1. God orchestrates things in our lives to develop us, position us, and sharpen us, in order that we might be released into our assignment.
   1. There is an assignment for everyone reading this now. God wants to do something great and something powerful for us. It is important to know that it comes with instructions. There are some things we have to do.
2. Today we learn that there is a place we must all go through. That place is called Gethsemane. Today as we look at this text, we need to know that this book was written by Matthew, the former text collector called Levi. He was drafted by Jesus and transformed by the power of that call.
   1. Matthew becomes one of the disciples who chronicles this narrative of what he sees in the Garden of Gethsemane.
   1. This garden was preparing for Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, and ultimately His resurrection for the sins of the world. It was a moment that captured the emotional and spiritual struggle that He would encounter, anticipating the suffering that was ahead.
   1. Two disciples asked when Jesus came into his kingdom, could they have a seat at his right and left hand. They were aspirational in their questions. Jesus said they didn’t know what they were asking.
   1. To go where He was going came with instructions.
      1. They must first be baptized and then drink from the same cup he drank from.
   1. People look at you and want the level you are at, but in your mind you think, if they walked in your shoes for a month, they would gladly give it back.
   1. Never assume people are where they are, without having to go through some things. Just because they look well put together, know that there are stories all around their situation.
   1. There are people that have lost things and had haters come after them. They have put up with a lot of stuff, but they are still here today.
3. In the story today, it takes place at the Garden of Gethsemane, the mount of olives outside of Jerusalem. In fact the word Gethsemane means oil press. This is a fitting metaphor for what Jesus was about to undertake.
   1. It’s the weight of what He would bare. It was the place of crushing. It was where olives were crushed to make oil.
   1. Many look at anointed people that preach or sing, but you have no idea that this anointing cost something. It represents some crushing. In order for oil to be released, there has to be some crushing.
   1. Jesus comes to the garden and He takes 3 of his disciples with him. They are Peter, James, and John. This is Jesus’ inner circle.
   1. This is not the first time Jesus revealed His inner circle to us.
      1. Mark 5:37 NKJV says ³⁷ And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. – When Jesus was going to raise Jarius’ daughter from the dead, He only took Peter, James, and John.
      1. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus took them with them too.
         1. Peter (Simon Peter) – Peter was the type of person you didn’t cross. Some say he was half Christian and half hood.
         1. James (son of Zebedee). James and John were brothers. James was the oldest. He had an exuberant personality. He was passionate about what he wanted to get over. In fact, he was the first on to be martyred in the name of Jesus Christ.
         1. John (son of Zebedee) – Was the little brother of James. They left the family business to follow Jesus. Initially they were fishermen.
            1. John was the youngest of the two. Jesus loved John dearly. John’s head is pictured on Jesus’ shoulder at the Last Supper.
         1. John was the one standing next to Jesus’ mother at crucifixion.
4. When they come to this place, they are about to see Him at his grief. People can only go so far with you, before they disappoint you.
   1. Even when people disappoint you, don’t allow them to hinder the plan of God.
5. This word will help you navigate the terrain called the garden.

II.         YOU MUST GO THROUGH THE GARDEN

• All of us have a Garden of Gethsemane. It is the place where we will be crushed!
• It is the place of preparation.
  • In it, we are sharpened, our faith is purified, and we are prepared for something much greater.
• We often pray for another way, just like Jesus did in the garden. Ultimately, we find strength in choosing God’s will over our own.
• We recognize that this is something that God has ordained us to go through this.

A.  Seek God’s Presence In Your Moments Of Distress 

1. Jesus teaches us not to go through a garden to be crushed, by ourselves. You have to learn the power of prayer.
   1. Jesus knew the power of prayer.
      1. Luke 6:12 NKJV says ¹² Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
      1. Mark 1:35 NKJV says ³⁵ Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a ^[a]solitary place; and there He prayed.
      1. Matthew 14:23 NKJV says ²³ And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
2. Jesus prayed at least an hour, every time he prayed. Did you know the average Christian prayer 15mins per week?
   1. We spend more time on email than we do our knee-mail.
3. You won’t make it through the garden without knowing the importance of prayer.
   1. Jewish people of that time, prayed 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, evening) according to Psalm 55:17 NKJV which says¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.
      1. Daniel 6:10 NKJV says ¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

• When you understand the importance and the power of prayer, you will realize that you are seeking guidance.
  • We don’t want to make significant decisions without first praying about it. We don’t make decisions out of emotion. We do it out of devotion. This is why our lives don’t have a lot of commotion. We understand the prayers of the righteous avails much in heaven.
• The Bible says that they watched and prayed. This is important because this comes out of the temporal guard schedule during times of danger, they would watch. It is one thing to pray, but it is also important to have the maturity to watch while you pray.
• Jesus is aware of what’s going on. He’s clear about what’s going to happen. He told the disciples at the last supper that somebody was going to betray him and to do it quickly.
  • Jesus knew Judas had already sold him out. He goes to the garden and takes the three to pray with him. He knew the roman soldiers were coming and all he was asking was for the three disciples to watch and pray.
  • Not only did he want them to pray spiritually, He also wanted them to have earthly discernment and to have the sense enough to know what was going on around them.
  • Never be so spiritually deep that you don’t have any “watching common sense”. In this season you have to say “Lord, let me pray, but give me the spiritual discernment to know what the enemy is doing all around me”.
  • Some of you are too deep that you don’t have any awareness. What good does it do to be so spiritually high, that you are no earthly good. Tell somebody I’m watching!
• Make sure that you pray. In moments like this when you are trusting God, you will discover some powerful things.
• When Jesus asked them to pray, they fell asleep. The average Christian prays about 15mins per week. Jesus said can you watch for me 1hr, which is 60 mins.
  • Jesus said he had given them everything, water when they were thirsty, fed them when they were hungry, he even gave the miracles, and all he was asking for from them was 60 mins to watch and pray, but when Jesus came back to check on them, they were sleep.
  • Jesus went back and prayed harder. He prayed so hard that sweats of blood came off his brow. He goes back and finds them sleeping again. He tells them the spirit is willing, but their flesh was weak.
  • It is a revelation to all of us that we may have to experience these moments alone. There are times in your life that you may have to go alone.

B.   You Might Have To Experience These Moments Alone 

1. Joseph experienced aloneness with his brothers when they threw him in the pit.
2. Elijah experienced aloneness in the wilderness in 1 Kings 19.
3. David experienced aloneness in defending himself from Saul.
4. These are the moments you learn not to depend on your own strength, but to say Lord I need you like I’ve never needed you before.
   1. You will gain so much when you put your faith in God.
5. It is in gethsemane when you should grieve.

III.         YOU SHOULD GRIEVE IN THE GETHSEMANE

• Gethsemane gives you a place to grieve.
• Greif is not just over death. It can also be a loss of expectation.
  • Greif can be, you expected a relationship to be this and it turned out to be that.
  • Greif can be, you expected a child to be this, and it became that.
• Gethsemane just provides for us a place to grieve.
• Jesus teaches us something. Jesus does not go through gethsemane in His divinity, he went through it in his humanity.
  • He shows us that when you are going through gethsemane and you are suffering, you must learn how to go through gracefully as a human being and not try to be super spiritual, by trying to go through with your cape on, trying to make people think that you are stronger than you really are.
• Jesus is going through gethsemane, saying that His soul is so sorrowful and at the point of death.

A.   Allow Yourself To Express Sorrow And Struggle As Part Of Your Faith Journey 

1. You’ve got to be real with God, because when you are real with God, He will be real with you.
2. It is ok to say that this hurts. It’s ok to tell the Lord that you are struggling. It’s ok to say this is too heavy.
   1. Some of you pretend in front of us and cry all the way home. Its ok to tell God this doesn’t make sense and that you don’t know how you’re going to get through this season.
   1. We need to go to God. The Hymn writer said “Oh what needless pain we bear, all because carry, everything to God in prayer”.
   1. When you go to God in your vulnerability and in that space in your spirit, know that God can handle it.

B.  Whatever It Is, God Can Handle It 

1. When you go to God and say you can’t handle these people on the job, God can handle it.
2. When you go to God and say you are trying, but nobody understands. God can handle it.
3. You got to learn to turn it over to God, knowing that God can do with it, what you can’t do.
4. Jesus says my soul is exceedingly sorrowful. Can you imagine how Peter, James, and John were robbed of an opportunity, because they were out of order, spiritually?
   1. They missed seeing Jesus in His humanity, because they fell asleep. Many people miss seeing you in your humanity. They see you in your spiritual strength and create a narrative that you are never weak. And the moment they see you in your weakness, it messes up their faith.
   1. It is their fault that they never see me in my weakness. We came to tell you that yeah, sometimes we cry. Yes, there are times we want to cut somebody and yes, sometimes, we stay up all night long, asking the Lord to help us out.
5. Sometime life hurts, but whatever it is, God can handle it.
6. If Jesus can hurt, it is ok for you to hurt.

IV.         YOU WILL GROW THROUGH THE GLOOM

• Don’t go through it, if you can’t grow through it.
• It is in this moment that you have to:

A.  Let Adversity Fortify Your Faith And Resolve 

1. Why Jesus is experiencing this, he is gaining greater resolve. It is not just a place of trial, it is also a place of transformation.
2. Even though I faced adversity in the garden, I have to get to a place where it builds me up and not break me.
3. You cant let gethsemane break you. You have to let it be the place of your breakthrough.
4. You’re going to be stronger when you come through this. You are going to have a greater resolve when you come through this.
   1. If I had not gone through gethsemane I wouldn’t be as determined as I am right now.
   1. Had I not gone through this, I wouldn’t have my accomplishments. I wouldn’t be as strong.
5. Here’s when you know you’re getting through Gethsemane. You accept what God allows.

B.   Accept What God Allows 

1. Jesus says, Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Let’s contemporize this.
   1. “Lord if there’s another way for me to get this, without dealing with them, holla at your boy”
   1. God, if there’s any way I can avoid that situation and still get the blessing…
   1. God if there’s any way around it, but nevertheless, not my will, but thou will be done.
2. This is when you know that you are maturing in the garden. It’s when you come to a place where you say God thank you for hearing my option, but I’m just going to accept what you allow. I’m going through it, because it isn’t about what I want. It is about what You want. I want You to be glorified.
3. It is not passive resignation, it is about courage filled with faith and surrender saying I don’t always understand it, but I trust you God.
4. God wants us to trust him and hold on. This is about surrender. Can you surrender?
5. Surrender is hard for some of us, because we are the CEOs of our lives. We want to tell God what we think out to happen, but this is the season where God is looking for surrender.
6. You got to be willing to take your hand off it and go and do what God wants you to do. Not our will but His will be done.
7. Story – A few years back where the man was off the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. The lifeguard saw him struggling and people asked him to help him. The lifeguard kept sitting there.
   1. They kept yelling for the lifeguard to help him, but the lifeguard just kept looking. About 25secs in, people started shouting at the lifeguard tower asking, “Don’t you see him drown?”. The lifeguard slowly came down the tower and walked casually to the ocean.
   1. 40 secs into the event, that felt like 40 mins, the lifeguard jumps in and pulls the man in. He checked all his vitals, and he was fine.
   1. The people were upset with the lifeguard, because he took so long. They asked him didn’t he know it was an emergency? The lifeguard explained, the reason he didn’t jump when he first got into trouble was because he had jumped in while he was fighting and struggling, he would have grabbed him and both of them would have drowned.
   1. He said to let him stop struggling and fighting and let him get to a place where he wanted to surrender, and he could do what he needed to do. God does us the same. When we get through fighting and struggling the will of God, that’s when you see the will of God come to pass in your life.
8. In that moment in the garden, you will get ready for glory.

V.         YOU WILL GET READY FOR GLORY

• The irony of this story, both Jesus and the disciples are given an assignment, and preparing to do something they weren’t accustomed to doing.
• They were exhausted from the events that led up to the garden.
• Some of us want to fall asleep before we get to the garden. We will go through things where we are physically and emotionally exhausted. We are mentally overwhelmed, and spiritualty disoriented.
• You will have a reason to fall asleep in the garden. The weight and fear alone can do this. When you flesh is crying for rest, God gives the directive to stay awake.
• Because of all that they had gone through, they were totally exhausted at a time, they were asked to stay awake.
• Why? Even though they didn’t feel the real weight of the moment, God did. Something was happening in the spirit around them. I know you feel like you are tired, but don’t miss a divine moment, because your flesh is about to check out.
• Your instructions require spiritual stamina. Your obedience in weakness can be the difference between spiritual dullness and divine clarity.
• Your willingness to push through tiredness can unlock spiritual strength in your life. Yes, you have a reason to fall asleep, but God commands you to push through your weariness and stay awake.
• I command you to stay awake. There is glory after this. Do you think God would let you go through this if glory wasn’t on the other side.
• If you survive the garden, you walk in the glory. This is why the enemy wants to kill you in the garden.
• Satan will try to use:
  • Failure – To get you in the garden. People will fail you, making you think you shouldn’t care.
  • Fatigue – I’m tired, I can’t go no further. But God will send you a word to quicken your spirit.
  • Frustration – Makes you so frustrated so you want to leave.
• It makes you fight the wrong battle in the garden. Peter cut off the ear of a Roman Soldier. Jesus wasn’t supposed to die in the garden.
  • You got to go through the garden. Can you give God praise for the glory on the other side.

A.   Understand That Trials Are Temporary, And God’s Promises Are Eternal 

1. What would you be thinking about now in all aspects, if you hadn’t gone through the garden?
2. Why is it so tough in this space? Not even the people I brought with me can handle it?

B.   It Had To Happen To Propel You To Your Destiny 

1. He reigns with the crown, because he was willing to bear the cross. It is the garden that gave you the strength to endure the cross.
2. No cross will conquer a child of God!