Title: Grappling In The Garden
Author: Donald Cantrell
Text: Luke 22:39-46
I - The Place of Gethsemane "Its Name"
II - The Prayer of Gethsemane "Its Need"
III - The Pain of Gethsemane "Its Nature"
IV - The People of Gethsemane "Its Nodding"
This sermon contains a fully alliterated outline, with subpoints.
Consider Gethsemane
Several years ago, I began to reflect on the happenings at Gethsemane. It started when I saw some movie in which an actor did an okay job of portraying Jesus, except that he failed abysmally in his attempt to show what I think Jesus' agony at Gethsemane must have been really like. I realized that no actor will ever capture the essence of Gethsemane to my satisfaction.
I even doubted that it belonged in the thespian field. I concluded it is because his anguish was so extreme it cannot be equaled in pretense. I wondered why. Jesus is shown to have paled at a horrible specter, which he faced with a dread barely describable. He would endure it only by surrendering to the overriding will of his Father. My thoughts are summarized below, yet I'm quite sure I have not plumbed the depths of the subject.
It's not unusual for commentators to suggest that since Jesus was human, he dreaded death as is common among humans. That strikes my mind not with the ring of truth, but with a flat thud.
Jesus was no less courageous than countless others who have faced imminent death serenely, as Bryant suggests, "sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
Surely, you've known some of them.
The idea (still considering that he was human) that Jesus' agony was brought on by a dread of suffering before his death seems equally vacuous and false. Make no mistake, a Roman scourging and death by crucifixion would be excruciating. But we have known people who suffered horribly from injuries, the ravages of war, and cruel dis ...
Author: Donald Cantrell
Text: Luke 22:39-46
I - The Place of Gethsemane "Its Name"
II - The Prayer of Gethsemane "Its Need"
III - The Pain of Gethsemane "Its Nature"
IV - The People of Gethsemane "Its Nodding"
This sermon contains a fully alliterated outline, with subpoints.
Consider Gethsemane
Several years ago, I began to reflect on the happenings at Gethsemane. It started when I saw some movie in which an actor did an okay job of portraying Jesus, except that he failed abysmally in his attempt to show what I think Jesus' agony at Gethsemane must have been really like. I realized that no actor will ever capture the essence of Gethsemane to my satisfaction.
I even doubted that it belonged in the thespian field. I concluded it is because his anguish was so extreme it cannot be equaled in pretense. I wondered why. Jesus is shown to have paled at a horrible specter, which he faced with a dread barely describable. He would endure it only by surrendering to the overriding will of his Father. My thoughts are summarized below, yet I'm quite sure I have not plumbed the depths of the subject.
It's not unusual for commentators to suggest that since Jesus was human, he dreaded death as is common among humans. That strikes my mind not with the ring of truth, but with a flat thud.
Jesus was no less courageous than countless others who have faced imminent death serenely, as Bryant suggests, "sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
Surely, you've known some of them.
The idea (still considering that he was human) that Jesus' agony was brought on by a dread of suffering before his death seems equally vacuous and false. Make no mistake, a Roman scourging and death by crucifixion would be excruciating. But we have known people who suffered horribly from injuries, the ravages of war, and cruel dis ...
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