We Remember Jesus' Suffering!

Intro: As Easter approaches, we take time to remember what Jesus did for us more than 2,000 years ago when He gave His life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. After His last Supper, Jesus made His way to the “Garden of Gethsemane” where He would pray for Himself. He prayed for the strength to fulfill the father's will for Him. No one ever suffered like Jesus!

1. Jesus suffers agony in the garden. After Jesus and His disciples had observed the Passover meal celebrating the exit of the Israelite's from Egypt. At the end of the Passover meal, Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. Then Jesus and His disciples made their way to the garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus' would be suffering great agony and pain and would be forsaken by His disciples that He loved as He made His final steps to the cross. As the Lord's Resurrection Day approaches, we need to take time to once again remember that severe agony, pain and humiliation Jesus suffered for us on His way to the cross. We must never forget what Jesus suffered for us! Luke 22:39-46 (ESV) ³⁹  And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. ⁴⁰  And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” ⁴¹  And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ⁴²  saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” ⁴³  And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. ⁴⁴  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. ⁴⁵  And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, ⁴⁶  and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” These verses tell us what happened as Jesus prayed there in the garden. He was in such agony the angels came and ministered to Him, strengthening Him as He sweat drops of blood. There while He was praying, His disciples went to sleep on Him. They could not stay awake to pray for strength to go thru what was ahead. May we not sleep but pray!

2. Jesus was betrayed by one of His own disciples. Luke 22:47-48 (ESV) ⁴⁷  While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸  but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

3. He was forsaken by His disciples. Matthew 26:31 (NKJV)
³¹ Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' Not one disciple stood by Him. Jesus walked the road of suffering to the cross all alone.

4. Peter denied Him 3 times, the last time with a curse. Matthew 26:74-75 (NKJV)
⁷⁴  Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and had seen Him work many miracles that only God could do, still denied Jesus. How that hurt Jesus!

5. No fault could be found in Him. Luke 23:13-16 (NKJV)
¹³  Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,¹⁴  said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; ¹⁵  no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.
¹⁶  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" Jesus was falsely accused and denied a proper trial before the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate.

6. Jesus was condemned to die unjustly. Luke 23:18-24 (NKJV) ¹⁸  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas"--¹⁹  who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. ²⁰  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.²¹  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" ²²  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go." ²³  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. ²⁴  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. Even though Jesus did no wrong, He was unjustly condemned to die on a cross by His own people the Jews.

7. Jesus forsaken by the Father the cross. Matthew 27:45-46 (NKJV) ⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He was even left alone by the Father God while He bore our sins in His body. We remember how Jesus endured that cross, hanging there in agony with His arms outstretched in love until He gave His Life and shed His precious blood to pay the penalty for our sins.

8. Jesus finished everything needed for our salvation. [John 19:28-30] ²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" ²⁹ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. ³⁰ So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. The payment for mankind's sin was now paid in full. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! Let us just take a minute to bow our heads and each of us personally thank Jesus for what He has done for us. In conclusion, may we always show our love, honor and respect for our Savior and Lord because of what He has done for us. May He always have first place in our lives. Let us leave here to live for Him daily!

Invitation: If you have never taken advantage of what Jesus' suffered for you, Do it now by confessing your sins to Jesus and asking Him to forgive you. Then invite Him into your life to take charge of you and His love and salvation will flood your soul forever.