Many of you have been familiar with our ministry, and so you are not afraid of this stack of notes. I write very large, and the verses are all printed out there, so that helps me.
As we come to look in God’s Word, there is a principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable. It is a principle that we all know, but we cannot take for granted: helpless dependence on God’s Holy Spirit.
The Bible is God’s Book. He gave us this Book, and only God can reveal God. You know that. And we want to see the Lord.
Before we go to prayer, I want to share a verse from Mark 4:34:
He did not speak to them without a parable;
But He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
I used to think that He gave parables just to hide the truth from the unbeliever. But nobody understood the truth—not even the believer. He used parables to keep it from everybody except those who came to Him for an explanation. And that is how He always does it. He waits until we come, and then He shines the light on our Lord Jesus. He shows us Christ.
So, with that in mind, and Kenny’s assurance that we are coming with hungry hearts, let us bow before the Lord and ask Him to explain a few things to us.
Heavenly Father, we are so thankful this evening that You have not left us on our own when it comes to seeing Christ in this Bible. You have given us Your life, Your Holy Spirit, whose joy and honor and pleasure it is to ever turn us to Christ.
And so, Lord, we just ask again this evening that You would minister to us, that You would take the veil away, that You would unveil the Lord Jesus, and that we might have a living revelation of Him. We thank You in advance that You will over-answer our request, because Jesus deserves an over-answer. We are coming in His matchless name. Amen.
Well, I would just say that it is a joy to be with you again. It has been a long time, and one of the joys that I have is that my Lillian could come. She has not been traveling much with me anymore; it is a little hard for her to travel. But when she heard, “Richmond,” she said, “Let’s make it work.” So we took a couple of days in order to get here, but we accommodated it to her, and I am thankful that she is here.
Even though we have been gone for several years, we have been in contact with many of the saints from Richmond. We thank the Lord. I have sat under the ministry of Jerry and Jim and Lucille and some others, and brothers have come to conferences that I was at. So, it is good to be back.
Isn’t it amazing? It is to me, that only in Christ can you pick up at a comma after many years, without needing to explain anything. It is like you were never apart. You just pick up at the comma and carry on. So it is a great joy to be here. I thank you for the privilege.
Now, I have three privileges this weekend. Tonight’s message that is on my heart is a little less connected than the two that will follow. But the Lord started prompting me in this message last summer.
I have been a Christian for sixty-one years—well, on the level of earth; from before the foundation of the world, you know, in our Lord Jesus. And only two times in those sixty-one years have I ever heard anyone speak on the Garden of Gethsemane. Two times in sixty-one years.
Now, I have read the commentaries, and I have read a lot of what God’s people have thought—sermons and so on. But I received such a blessing this past year from Lucille’s observation on the Garden of Gethsemane. So I would like to share a couple of thoughts from that passage.
The thing I appreciated most about our brother’s presentation was the awesome reverence that he had as he touched on some of the things included in that Bible record. It was very clear to him that it was holy ground, and it is holy ground.
You know, there is no other way, I think, to look at this sacred portion of Scripture than to remove the shoes of your heart and tread softly, because some tremendous things were taking place.
Since July of last year, Jesus and I have had some wonderful times in this text, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Those hours that He spent just after the discourse in the upper room, and before His mock trial, His mistreatment, and all of that—I have meditated on that.
The entire record is in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I actually counted up all the verses: seventy-five verses discussing this Garden of Gethsemane. I would like to consider just a small portion of that tremendous text.
I have asked the Lord to give me a heart like our brother had—a reverent heart. I want, really, to walk so softly. I know I am not going to give you anything you have not heard. But if God would make it alive again to our spirits—there is no bottom to any truth in the Bible. You will be in heaven a million years, and you will still be discovering the depths of John 3:16. There is no bottom to any part of God’s Word. But somehow, this portion of God’s Word has so much mystery.
Now, I want to start here. I believe that the experience our Lord Jesus had in Gethsemane, for the most part, was anticipating what was about to take place. I think that is pretty much across the board: He was anticipating.
But I am not dead sure that He was not also experiencing some of the things that He was anticipating at the same time. He knew what was coming. He knew as God, by omniscience; He was soon to know as man, by experience. All of this was going through His heart.
I am not convinced that one hundred percent of His agony was just thinking about what was coming. I think, to explain some of that agony, He was already beginning to experience what it meant to take on sin, and so on.
Luke 22:43-44 says:
An angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
And being in agony, He was praying very fervently;
And His sweat became like drops of blood falling down to the ground.
If He was sweating drops of blood anticipating what was about to take place, then what must it have been like to actually experience that? If that came just through thinking about it—so, it is holy ground.
Now let me tell you where I want to go in our meditations. I am going to approach the garden basically as our Lord anticipating, though I may go off a little on that.
Theologians, as you know, have taken a broad look at salvation. Sometimes Christians get a little narrow, and we say, “I’m saved,” and then we have this small view of salvation.
I know, in 1958, as we record things, that is when I got saved. At that time, I could have said—and I would have said—that I am going to heaven and I am not going to hell. I am saved. Christ has come into my heart.
But salvation is bigger than that. Through the years, I have come to see that it is a lot larger than that first reception of our Lord Jesus.
Let me try to illustrate it by a story. I heard it was true of the famous Bishop Westcott. Perhaps you have heard of him. In the late 1800s, he was a professor at Cambridge, and with Hort he had that revision of the Greek New Testament, and so on.
Anyway, there is a story told that Bishop Westcott was walking down the street, and a Salvation Army girl was handing out gospel tracts. When the doctor came by, she handed him a tract and said, “Excuse me, sir, are you saved?”
According to the story, Bishop Westcott asked her, “Let me ask you this question. Do you mean esōthēn, that I was saved? Or do you mean sōzomai, I am being saved? Or do you mean sōthēsomai, I will be saved?”
Now, Bishop Westcott was accurate, but I feel sorry for the Salvation Army girl, because she was just trying to witness to a sinner walking on the street.
But anyway, theologians divide salvation into those three areas:
Justification is not only “just as if I never sinned,” as some say, but the other side: just as if I had always been Jesus—imputed righteous.
Sanctification is present-tense salvation. Then glorification: not only free from the penalty of sin, and from the power of sin, but finally from the presence of sin.
I bring that up because I know in Gethsemane our Lord Jesus was very close to fulfilling the purpose for which He had come. He came to save.
As I looked at this, I asked the Lord to show me full salvation in Gethsemane. I know the next day you are going to see full salvation, but I wanted to see the foretaste, if it was in Gethsemane.
Is there anything in Gethsemane that says justification, sanctification, glorification? I suggest there is. That is the simple thing I would like to share with you.
I would like to look at each of those parts of salvation illustrated here. My observations are simple. I am not trying to go into the mysteries—and there are many in Gethsemane.
I am going to dip into the record three times and take three illustrations. I am going to say that the prayer of our Lord Jesus, in this small way, pictures justification. The agony of our Lord Jesus, in a small way, pictures sanctification. My third illustration is a naked man running out of the garden, illustrating glorification.
I do not know if I will be able to deliver, but that is where my heart is. Those profound and private things going on in the heart of our Lord Jesus and His holy Father God—so many spiritual things are taking place. I am not going to touch that.
That is precious. I will go in the closet. I will meditate. I will worship. I love to do that. But I am not going to try to expound it or pretend I know. There are spiritual things going on between Jesus and His Father.
I am not going to try to say, “How does Satan fit into all of this?” I am not going to try to say, “Was there a problem with His will and His Father’s will?” and all of that kind of thing. What did the angel come and strengthen Him for? I will make a comment on that later on.
My approach is very simple and very comprehensive. I am assuming all of you—or many of you, most of you—are saved. I do not know if it is esōthēn or sōzomai, but you are saved. Assuming that, you know all about the three parts, and I would like us to see them: the fact that Jesus prayed, the agony He suffered, and the naked man.
Luke 22:41 gives us this truth of justification:
He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw,
And He knelt down and began to pray.
I would like to begin by illustrating the distance that Jesus was, when He prayed, from those who were in range and could have heard His prayer if they were not sleeping.
When Jesus prayed, I think from the record you could say it was out of the earshot of any other human being. These moments were private.
Listen to Matthew 26:36-39:
Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed.
There was a geographical distance between Jesus and His disciples. We know that Jesus was in one place, and then we had Peter, James, and John a little closer to Jesus, and then the others were a distance away. According to Luke 22:41, it was about a stone’s throw.
Well, that is relative. I used to be able to throw a stone. We live by the ocean, and we would have contests to see how far you could throw or skip a stone.
Recently, my grandson came over and wanted me to play football with him. I forgot that my hair changed colors and that other things happened. I am over there with the football: “Run! Run!” But when I threw it, it fell right in front of me.
A stone’s throw. We do not know how far that was.
Mark 14:40 says:
He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
He came a third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
Mark 14:37 also tells us that they were sleeping. It was a private time for Jesus. He was pouring out His heart to His holy Father God. Nobody heard Him pray. Nobody heard Him. They were sleeping—even those who were close.
Yet we know what He prayed. Listen to these verses.
Mark 14:35:
He went a little beyond them and fell on the ground and began to pray that, if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.
Matthew 26:39:
He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Matthew 26:42:
If this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.
Since it was a private prayer between Jesus and His Father, how is it that we know what He prayed? Matthew was not there to hear it; Mark, Luke, and John were not there. Yet we know exactly what He prayed. God has told us what He prayed.
Now, I am going to pass over the content of the prayer, as wonderful as it is, and as beautiful a meditation as that is between Jesus and His Father. But I am certain that Jesus was not struggling with His will against the Father’s will. I am not going to get into that, but there was no struggle there. He came to do His Father’s will.
Let me quote a verse from John 11, and then come back. You will see how I got this connection. This is at the grave of Lazarus. John 11:41-42:
Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
He prayed, but He said, “I know You always hear Me, but I am praying out loud for these people standing around, so that they will know.”
I think we can all agree on this: Jesus always got His prayers answered. Can we agree on that? Jesus always gets His prayers answered.
And so, as I approach this, He said, “If it is possible, let this cup pass.” He always gets His prayers answered.
I think He let us know the prayer so we would know that there is no other possibility. If there was another way, it would have happened. But because He said, “If it is possible,” and He let us in on that prayer, we know forever that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
There is no other possibility, or His prayer would have been answered.
In my heart, this is the clearest and most convincing evidence and proof that there is no other way to salvation. I know there are verses that come out and are pretty clear, but to me, this is the assurance.
If there was any other way possible, His prayer would have been answered. We know it was not possible. So I see in that justification: God said there is no other Savior.
Acts 4:12 says:
There is salvation in no one else;
For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
I do not suppose anybody in this audience would doubt that Jesus is the only way of salvation. But think of it in terms of what He said: “If it is possible.”
Now I am going to fill in the blanks here. “If it is possible for Your holiness and Your justice to be satisfied any other way; if it is possible any other way to satisfy the law; if it is possible to pay the penalty of sin, and in three hours crush eternity for all the sins of every person that has lived and ever will—if there is any other possibility.”
I say, I see justification there. There is no other possibility.
All right, hold that a moment. Sanctification—is that in the garden? I believe it is illustrated by the intensity of the prayer of our Lord Jesus.
Once again, Luke 22:43-44:
An angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
And being in agony, He was praying very fervently;
And His sweat became like drops of blood, falling on the ground.
It has been noted that our Lord Jesus sweat drops of blood on a cool evening. We get that from John 18:18:
Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
Many have written about the agony of our Lord Jesus in the garden. It is certainly expressed there: sweating, as it were, great drops of blood. An angel comes and strengthens Him.
I think we need an explanation for that agony. You know, we just sort of read some of these things, “La, la, la.”
John 13:16 says:
Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
I speak as a fool. I know that. But a slave is not greater than his master.
Just on the low level of earth, I have read the testimonies of martyrs who appear—it is not true, but they appear—to be braver than our Lord Jesus was in Gethsemane, when you look with human eyes.
You have to ask the question. I see His agony, His suffering, and His sweating drops of blood. He said, “If it is possible, let another way come.” It sounds like He is shrinking back from what is before Him. That is not happening, but that is what it looks like.
When you read some of the testimonies of the martyrs—I do not know if you have ever read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and all—you read things like:
You saw the miracle, ye papists. Then behold, I feel no hurt in these flames.
One of the martyrs said, “If God gives me grace, I’ll raise my hand.” He was being burned to death, and he fell to his knees. Right at the end, he stood up and clapped three times.
Then I see our Lord Jesus, and I am just suggesting there has to be an explanation for sorrow like that.
I know two things that could have caused that agony. One, of course, is that He was either experiencing or anticipating broken fellowship with His holy Father God for eternity. Forever and ever, He had never known a moment of broken fellowship.
Either anticipating that His Father was going to have to forsake Him—“Why have You forsaken Me?”—or experiencing it. Why? Because of sinful flesh. That is one possible reason for His agony.
But the other possible reason is 2 Corinthians 5:21:
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
So that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He made Him to be sin. Maybe He was beginning to experience that, or at least anticipate that.
Usually, when we think about our Lord Jesus and the cross and the work He did in relation to sin, we think about it like a debt. He paid a debt.
If you owed a million dollars and I came along and paid your debt—that is not going to happen. But if you owed a million dollars and I came along and paid your debt, especially if we were strangers, especially if we were enemies—He paid the debt.
But becoming sin is not the same as paying a debt. He became sin.
I used to think the greatest step God ever took was when the infinite became finite. What a step that was. But honestly, in my heart, I do not believe it was as great as when Jesus became sin.
You see, He not only paid what I owed, but He became sin. He did not only pay the drunkard’s price; it is my understanding that He became the drunkard. He so identified with sin that He became the drunkard, the adulterer, the pervert, the wife-beater, the child abuser, the hypocrite, the terrorist.
Maybe in that light, you say, “Well, how could He be touched with all the feelings of our infirmities? He never had an amputation. He never had a marriage that went wrong. He never had to bury a child.”
He became the old grumpy old man and the grumpy old woman. He became sin.
I am suggesting that this is my hope of sanctification. He took me to the cross—not just paid for what I did. The old man, me—He became Ed Miller. He went to the cross, and I was crucified with Christ.
When I think of this agony, and Jesus having the shame, having the guilt, feeling the embarrassment of all of this—becoming an arsonist, becoming an embezzler, becoming a cannibal, and taking on the sin of all the world—my heart thrills, because I see sanctification.
That is my hope: that I went to the cross with Him; that He became me so that I could have the righteousness of Christ. He became every man, every woman, every child, under every condition, and He became sin for us.
I think that is why He was in such great agony.
I see justification: there is no other possibility, or His prayer would have been answered. I see sanctification because He became sin, illustrated by His great agony.
And I think I see glorification.
Now, I have to admit to you that I had to look a long time. I cried out to the Lord. I knew there had to be full salvation in this passage. I knew it had to be pictured somewhere. I read every commentary I could get my hands on.
I thank the Lord for a lot of those comments from the brothers and sisters who have written. But I was greatly helped by one comment that sent me down a path I had never anticipated going down. His name is Henry Melville. I do not know if you are familiar with him—an Episcopalian, with some vintage. I do not know any commentators without vintage, just about.
Anyway, I invite you to Mark 14:51-52:
A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him.
But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.
Now, please be patient with me as I unfold this. I want to unfold it as the Lord gave it to me, in the pieces that He gave it to me.
I am ashamed to say that for years I did not come reverently to this passage. When I came to the story about the naked man, I almost giggled a little. “That is pretty funny. You know, this guy is there, they try to get him, and he runs away naked.”
It is impossible for me now to imagine, in a record like this—Gethsemane—that God would put something humorous at the end of it. It cannot be.
There has to be more to the story than at first meets the eye. Because this is the last thing before He was arrested and dragged away, this not only has to be important, but in my thinking it must be the clincher of Gethsemane.
It is impossible for me to believe that Mark, the human writer of this Gospel, when he described Jesus pouring out His heart to His holy Father God, when he described the agony of sweating drops of blood, being confronted by a violent mob—maybe more than six hundred—with torches and swords and clubs, was going to end with something that brings a smile to my face.
Unless it was something that brought a smile to the face of the Lord Jesus.
It is futile to ask—and I tried—who was this young man? That is where the commentators go. They try to give you all the answers, and they speculate.
Mostly they say it was John Mark, because he lived close by. Some say it was the Apostle John. I read one commentator who was dead sure it was Lazarus. Others say it was the brother of our Lord Jesus, James.
Let me tell you what we know for one hundred percent certain. These are the facts that come from the Bible:
That is all we know. Those are the facts.
Let me quote a verse for you, and I pray it will make more sense at the end. You will not see the connection now, but maybe when we are done you will.
John 1:29 says:
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
The real intrigue in this story has to do with the abruptness of this story. It just sort of shows up. It is almost like an interruption. You are reading about Gethsemane, you are into the spiritual side, and then all of a sudden, this strange story—an abrupt story with some graphic detail.
After Brother Lucille went through Gethsemane, to me that was an invitation to dig, to cry out to the Lord, to ask God to shed light on this.
He speaks in parables, but He was explaining everything to His disciples. Have you gone as a disciple to the Lord and just asked, “Please explain this”? That is the indispensable principle. Do that. He answers that. It is a glorious time when He begins to open His Word to your heart.
Let me get a little closer to Mark 14 and the incident we are discussing. I am not going to give all the details, just the clincher part.
I am sure you are all familiar with that Jewish day called the Day of Atonement—that national atonement, one day a year, when all of the sins were forgiven and the priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies.
All that was pictured by that Day of Atonement was about to be experienced by our Lord Jesus. He was going to the cross the next morning. At nine o’clock, He would be on the cross. That veil was going to come down.
I do not know if Jesus was thinking of the Day of Atonement. That was the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. All the animal sacrifices, the many baths they had to take, the many washings, the incense—so much was involved.
But at the end of the day, they had a clincher ceremony, the climax of the Day of Atonement. Two more animals were taken: two goats.
Leviticus 16:15 says:
He shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.
He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities.
One goat had to die. There was another goat, and it did not die.
Leviticus 16:20-22 says:
When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.
Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.
The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
Well, you know that history. One goat lived; one goat died. Symbolically, the confessed sins of all the people were put on the head of the goat—transferred when they laid their hands on the goat. He was led out to a place called Azazel. I am not going to get into all of that, but it was a wilderness. That goat carried the sins to the land of nowhere.
That is the picture.
This double picture, I think, signified death and resurrection. One goat died; one goat lived.
All right, let us go back to Gethsemane. Mark 14:51-52:
A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him.
But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.
When I study and do some digging, I do not often go as deep as most. They get into the Greek and the Hebrew and the Aramaic. I do not know any of those languages, but I thank God for people who do.
In verse 51, “wearing nothing but a linen sheet”—the Greek word there is sindōn, S-I-N-D-O-N. It is a very unique word.
We read about linen all through the Bible—fine linen, the rich young ruler robed in fine linen, and the church going to be covered in linen—but that is a different word.
This word, every time it is used in the New Testament, without exception, refers to grave clothes.
John 19:39-40 says:
Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.
So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices.
The same word is used in Mark 14.
Luke 24:12 says:
Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings.
So my first observation is this: that man, whoever he was, was wrapped in grave clothes. The only time this word is used, it is grave clothes. It is not regular linen. It is grave clothes.
Why or how this man decided to go out into the garden at that time wrapped in grave clothes, I cannot guess, and God does not tell us. But that is the fact.
Over and over again in Mark’s Gospel, beginning in chapter 8, every time Jesus talked about His death, He also talked about His resurrection. He did not just talk about His death—both.
Now we come to Gethsemane, and I say, I see there is no other way. I see sanctification: He is becoming sin, and I see He has got to die.
Where is the resurrection?
Let me call attention to another Greek word, very important in this story. Mark 14:44:
Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.”
That word, “seize Him,” is powerful. It is violence. Seize Him. Lay hold of Him. Do not let Him go. Grip Him tightly. Be rough on Him.
Mark 14:46 says:
They laid hands on Him and seized Him.
It was a violent arrest.
Some commentators believe that in that Messianic Psalm, Psalm 110, the last verse in the Psalm, when it speaks about Messiah going through the brook and lifting up His head—they think, how do you picture Jesus leaving Gethsemane?
These rough soldiers are taking hold of Him, He is tied up, and they are pushing Him. He is falling down. Many commentators believe they dragged Him through the brook Kidron, and He had to gasp for breath and lift up His head. They seized Him. It was a violent seizing.
Mark 14:51 says:
A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him.
Same word.
On the Day of Atonement there were two goats. One died, and one did not. I have no doubt, when the soldiers seized Jesus, that was the goat sentenced to die on the Day of Atonement. That was the first seizing.
Picture it: Jesus in the hand of the enemy.
There is a second seizing: this young man. What do we read? He pulled free. They seized him. They grabbed him. They wanted to hold him.
In one case, the enemy has Christ in his hand. In the other case, just grave clothes.
Does that say anything about resurrection? Just grave clothes—and he escapes. They lost their prey.
I do not know of a more graphic picture of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus than this great picture: they lay hold of Christ, and the enemy stands there holding nothing but grave clothes. That is all that is left.
I told you to remember John 1:29:
Behold, the Lamb of God.
That is Jesus.
Who takes away the sin of the world.
That is the scapegoat that got away.
A couple of final thoughts. Luke 22:43 says:
An angel from heaven appeared, strengthening Him.
Have you ever thought about that? How did he do it? Did he give Him a sandwich? Did he give Him something to drink? Did he quote a Bible verse? Did he pray with Him?
You saw Jesus in Gethsemane in His agony. An angel was going to come down and strengthen Him. How did he strengthen Him?
After the resurrection, Mark 16:5 says:
Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
Same word: young man. But this is an angel.
Could it be? I do not know. Could it be that that young man was the angel sent from heaven by the Lord to strengthen Jesus?
What an encouragement that must have been, as they seized Him and He looked over and saw the same enemy holding nothing but grave clothes. Maybe that brought a smile to His face.
I think that is the angel of God. Now, I cannot prove that, and I am not asking you to believe it. I am just suggesting it, because I see in Gethsemane justification: there is no other possibility.
I see sanctification: He became me, took me to the cross, and I died.
And I see this glorification, where our Lord Jesus gives the full picture, and the enemy stands there confounded, holding nothing but grave clothes.
Dear brothers and sisters, we will never plumb the depths of Gethsemane, or any part of the Bible.
Let me close with this personal testimony. What is true of me is probably true of you.
I have seen in recent days the enemy seize some of God’s precious children. They hold on. I minister to Christians addicted to pornography, alcohol, all kinds of drugs, gambling. God’s people—Christians—and the enemy has them.
I know I read my Bible, and I know that Satan can bruise the heel, but he cannot reach the head. But sometimes it looks like he got to the head.
I counseled a dear sister. Following my counseling, she took her life.
But the last chapter is not written. The enemy just has grave clothes.
Because there is a day, even if so as by fire, when we are going to discover that Satan can only touch the heel. He cannot reach the head, no matter how devastating it looks.
In the end, death is swallowed up in victory. Our Lord Jesus has conquered, and there are only the grave clothes. That is all they have left—just the grave clothes, nothing else.
I will add to my testimony that I am not only seeing Satan seize God’s children, but I have been seized by the enemy. Many times I have escaped, as a bird out of the snare of the trapper. By the grace of God, I have escaped.
And who, in the end? The sting of death is sin, and sin is gone. The enemy has nothing but grave clothes.
Well, I just want to pass those thoughts on to you. Praise God that you have threefold salvation in the person of Christ.
Satan will seize those who do not understand the second part—that He has become sin on your behalf. That is why he can get you. But I just want to praise the Lord for His Word and for His mighty Son.
Father, thank You—not for what we think we understand, but for all that You have inspired these verses to mean. Would You work that in our hearts?
Lord, we thank You that there is no other possibility. You are the only Savior. Thank You for going to the cross. Thank You for becoming sin for us. Thank You for the victory of causing Your people to escape.
And the enemy—just grave clothes.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.