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3^rd Sermon in our “Crossroads” Lenten Series

February 20, 2008 Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran church Sioux Falls, SD

Rev. Norman F. Seeger

Mark 14:26-31

²⁶ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷ “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:

”‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

²⁸ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

²⁹ Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

³⁰ “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”

³¹ But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Mark 14:26-31

Crossroad #3 – From the Upper Room to Gethsemane – We Hear…

1. A Hymn of Praise 2. A Prophecy of Desertion 3. A Promise of a Resurrection & Reunion

Dear disciples of Jesus the Christ, who would be crucified for our sins,

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice & be glad in it”[Ps 118] is not a normal Lenten greeting – sounding more like Easter Sunday – but as we get on the road to Gethsemane tonight, going to a garden where we know Jesus will sweat drops of blood as he prays, a garden where our Lord will be arrested, we would hear our Savior singing, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice & be glad in it.” No one records the exact words in Scripture, but what do we hear as we walk with Jesus from an upper room in Jerusalem to a garden called Gethsemane? We first hear a hymn of praise.

Exiting an upper room where Jesus gathered disciples to celebrate the Passover, Maundy Thursday has already been an extremely emotional night. Jesus amazingly washes his disciples’ feet, picturing how he washes away our sins’ guilt. A Passover meal reminds everyone how God mercifully delivered his people from slavery in Egypt under Moses’ leadership, picturing the way he also frees us from Satan’s power. Although the disciples do not understand its full significance, Jesus hands a piece of bread to Judas, identifying him as his betrayer & excusing him from the room to do what he will do quickly. Announcing the Passover’s pictures fulfilled & completed, Jesus initiates a new covenant for his followers by taking bread & saying, “This is my body, given for you;” taking wine & saying, “This is my blood, poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

As an evening of significant words & actions unfolds, Jesus knows what comes next, of course. Jesus knows Judas will guide guards to Gethsemane to arrest him, Jewish judges will convict him during the night, Roman whips will flay his flesh the next morning. Jesus knows -- in less than twenty-four hours – his blood will flow from a cross at Calvary as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. As Jesus explains what he sees so clearly, disciples can sense something serious in the air but cannot comprehend his quickly-coming cross. As disciples might clear the table with amazed, yet muddled minds, gather their garments & prepare for a late night journey to his favorite garden, Jesus ends their evening in the upper room singing a hymn…probably a hymn of praise. While many would mourn, our Savior does not tell us, “My heart is too achy-breaky, too choked with grief, too sad to sing anything other than a dirge!” No! Jesus’ undying desire to fulfill his Father’s will would sing an optimistic song of praise as he starts walking from the upper room to Gethsemane.

Dare we celebrate Lent with any less optimism? Eliminating ‘Alleluias’ from our psalms during Lent may help focus on the seriousness of our sin. Wearing black gowns may reflect a somber tone in Lent better than festive white ones would. Simple symbols can be blessings if they stress the beauty & magnitude without stealing any of the joy from Lent. Traveling to the cross with Christ year after year, it ought to be obvious our Savior’s love for us is so large he willingly sacrificed himself for us. Is there a better reason to rejoice? Do I not have to sing, “Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, dearest Jesus, unto thee”? Because we too – just like Jesus -- know what is coming as we step onto the road from this upper room to the garden of Gethsemane, every Lenten sermon we hear, every Lenten hymn we sing, every Lenten prayer we pray, every Lenten offering we bring can be filled with praise.

While a hymn of praise might still be humming in their heads, the path Jesus & his disciples walked was not particularly cheery. Winding through the Kidron Valley -- a deep, dry ravine on the east side of Jerusalem, whose steep, rocky sides, with their large, black fissures, picture for some people yawning jaws of evil monsters – the disciples would walk past burial grounds where white tombstones line the highway in shadowy silence. Associated with King David’s mournful weeping as he fled from his rebellious son, Absalom, this path could provide a perfectly eerie backdrop for some suspenseful movie. Because this path is familiar to Jesus’ disciples, however, they could walk this road quite calmly until our Savior shares some unnerving news.

Hymns of praise fade into the background as we now hear a prophecy of desertion. Jesus quotes prophet Zechariah, “I will strike the shepherd & the sheep will be scattered.” “When something happens to me,” Jesus is telling his followers, “you are all going to abandon me.” How would we react if someone we love & respect told us we were about to abandon them? If our mother says she will suffer some serious sickness this year & knows we will not stay here to help her – if our best friend tells us he is enduring difficult situations & knows we will not stand beside him to support him -- how would we react? Would we be hurt? Offended? Would we insist, “No, I will stay by your side, no matter what difficulties come into your life? Why do you doubt my love for you?” This is the disciples’ reaction as they hear Jesus’ prophesy their desertion. Peter particularly promises, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” Instead of being reassured by Peter’s personal promise of allegiance, as we might have expected, Jesus issues another even sterner warning for his proud apostle Peter, “I tell you the truth, today — yes, tonight — before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”

This is omniscient Jesus talking, quoting Scripture. This is Jesus’ second warning. We might expect Peter to fall on his knees & confess a sin Jesus says he is about to commit. We might anticipate Peter praying for strength to not desert his Savior. But Peter claims to know himself better than Jesus knows his heart, strongly insisting, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Notice, not only Peter disregards Jesus’ prophecy. All these disciples chime in, alleging their undying devotion.

What would we learn as we listen to pleasing promises we know will be broken when disciples flee as Jesus is arrested in a few hours & later that night Peter denies any connection to Jesus as he is questioned in a courtyard? Will we apply Jesus’ warning to our lives? God’s Word boldly warns, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”[1 COR 10] Are we like Peter? Yes. We love the Lord. We cannot imagine leaving him. We love to commune with him. We love to pray to him. We love everything Jesus brings into our lives. We profess at confirmation that we are willing to die for Jesus’ sake. We may even echo Peter, “Others may leave you, Lord, but not I.” Do we think, “My family has always been active in the church? I will certainly not leave our Savior’s side!” Do I think, “I am a pastor? I study God’s Word for a living. I will certainly not leave my Savior’s side!”

Friends, fellow believers, we should not be so arrogant we think we need not listen to warnings Jesus issues on a road to his cross. Philosopher Socrates said the greatest quality a person can possess is to know oneself. In response, another wise man asked, “Who will introduce me?” In his Word, God would introduce us to ourselves. While we think we know ourselves, we often fail to recognize our own heart’s weakness. How often do I overestimate my ability to live for God & fall flat on my face? How often will I, like Peter, underestimate God’s warnings & find myself denying Jesus with my actions? Prophesying his disciples’ desertion while walking toward Gethsemane, Jesus would remind us not to rely on ourselves; not to trust our faith. Jesus would teach us to rather rely upon the object of our faith — to totally trust in Jesus our Savior.

Showing us our own weaknesses with his Word, Jesus would strengthen us to walk with him all the way into eternity as he again explains God’s plan on this road to his cross for -- sandwiched between two prophecies of desertion -- we hear Jesus promising a resurrection & reunion. Did you catch his promise when we read our text? Neither did the disciples, it seems. Their quick defense of themselves as Jesus talks about desertion tells us they missed the beautiful promise Jesus extends as he looks past Gethsemane; looks past his cross. After announcing his sheep will be scattered -- before Peter responds -- Jesus assures his followers, “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Jesus’ promise is precious! In theory, the devil has a good plan. Striking their shepherd causes sheep to scatter. Using this same tactic today, the devil peppers people in leadership positions with false doctrines, using them in turn to lead other souls away from God’s truth. Too often it is a successful strategy. However, when the devil would strike the Good Shepherd, his victory would be brief. Jesus, the Shepherd, would be struck down as he died our sin’s death on his cross, but he would not stay down. Jesus would rise from the dead the third day to reunite with his followers, his resurrection assuring their reunion.

Today, Jesus’ resurrection still assures us we will be united -- or reunited -- with our Savior in eternal glory. Jesus’ resurrection also assures us we will be reunited with Peter, with the apostles, will all our Savior’s forgiven disciples from every age in heaven’s unending happiness. So, “let us rejoice & be glad” even as we walk toward gloomy Gethsemane -- as we see ourselves sinfully deserting our Savior -- for Jesus’ call to repentance & brief but certain reference to his resurrection promises us forgiven souls an everlasting victory over the devil & death.

Amen.