Total Surrender (Values of the Cross): How can we endure the difficult times when the light seems to have gone out of our lives? The cross changes our expectations, especially regarding suffering. But the cross also shows us that the path of suffering leads to glory when we totally surrender to our good and faithful Father. Recorded on Apr 6, 2025, on Matthew 26:36-46 by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our Lenten sermon series, Values of the Cross. Christians are called to follow Jesus, but the way of Jesus is often completely upside down and backward compared to the ways of this world. Why is the way of Jesus so different? Join us during Lent for our sermon series, Values of the Cross, as we consider some of the unique values of the cross-shaped way of Jesus and how they transform every part of life. The cross changes everything!
Sermon Transcript
Today, we’re continuing a six-week series for Lent called Values of the Cross from the gospel according to Matthew. And here’s the big idea for this series: Christians are called to follow Jesus, but the way of Jesus is often completely upside down and backward compared to the ways of this world. You might wonder, “Why is the way of Jesus so different?” Well, in our series, Values of the Cross, we’ll see that the unique story of the cross and the empty tomb produces unique values that lead to a totally unique way of life. So far, we’ve seen that the cross changes our focus back to see our true spiritual dependence on God. Then, Nate preached on how the cross changes our conflicts through the priority of seeking peace and our purpose in humbly serving the needs of others. Today, we’ll consider how the cross changes our expectations, especially when facing suffering. As a pastor, one of the things I know to be true is that suffering can sometimes crush us. However, suffering can often be the catalyst for incredible spiritual growth and maturity, too. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had over the years with people (many of you) who have endured really terribly difficult things but who were later thankful — not because of the pain and suffering, but because of what it produced in their lives as they learned to not only endure it but to live and to love and to grow through it all. I don’t know how you’re doing today, if you feel like things are fairly easy and going well, or if you’re feeling burdened by the weight of the whole world. But I recently read of a day of particular difficulty in history. It was on Valentine’s Day in 1884, two days after giving birth to their daughter, when Teddy Roosevelt’s wife, Alice, died from kidney failure. She had an unknown illness and passed away unexpectedly. Incredibly, on the same day and in the same house, Teddy Roosevelt’s mother, Martha, died from Typhoid Fever. Can you imagine? Only 25 years old at the time, Teddy marked that dark day with a large black X in his diary, and he wrote, “The light has gone out of my life.” Now, most of us will never have to walk through this particularly dark valley, but every one of us will face trials, difficulties, and pain as we live life in this broken world. How will we do it? How can we endure these difficult times when the light seems to have gone out of our lives? Today, we’ll see that the cross has a lot to say about this. So, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Mt 26:36.
Matthew 26:36–39 (NIV), “36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” So, we’re jumping ahead here to the night before the cross. We’ll jump back in time next Sunday for Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. So we’ll be time-traveling here in the next week. But last week, Nate did a great job preaching on the cross-shaped value of humble service. And in that passage, back in Mt 20, when the mother of James and John asked Jesus if they could have a place of greatness in his kingdom, Jesus asked them if they could drink the cup he had to drink. They said they could. But did they really know what they were saying? No. They had no idea. You see, in the OT prophets, the cup represented the wrath of God poured out in judgment against sin. But still, why was Jesus so overwhelmed here? Commentator Leon Morris writes, “Jesus was a brave man, and lesser people by far, including many who have owed their inspiration to him, have faced death calmly. It is impossible to hold that it was the fact of death that moved Jesus so deeply. Rather, it was the kind of death that he would die that brought the anguish.” (The Gospel according to Matthew, PNTC, p. 667) In the past, certain people or nations were said to be given the cup to drink for certain sins, but never one person for all of the sin for all of the people for all of time. Here, Jesus is staring at the cup he was about to drink, and his soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. I can’t imagine the anguish he must’ve felt when he thought about the cross. S,o how did Jesus respond to this crushing anxiety? What did Jesus do when he had the weight of the world on his shoulders? First, he wanted his closest friends with him. He asked Peter, James, and John, his closest disciples and apostles, to stay up with him and keep watch with him. Even though he alone would die on the cross, he didn’t want to be alone. Godly friends are so important. Second, he prayed. Jesus prayed and he prayed and he prayed — for hours. He cast all his anxiety on his Father, for he knew he cared for him. Third, he humbled himself under his Father’s mighty hand. Falling face-down is the most humble posture you can adopt. You can’t get any lower. He didn’t pump himself up. He wasn’t entitled, even as the Son of God. He humbly brought his burden to his Father in heaven. Fourth, and finally, he fully and completely submitted his will/request/life to his Father. “My Father (This is an intimate prayer. Jesus fully trusted in his relationship to God the Father. Here in the middle of the night, he knew he could interrupt his father because he knew he cared for him.), if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. (Here, he presents his request. “If it is possible.” He is respectful and humble. He doesn’t make demands or accuse God of wrongdoing. He recognizes it may not be possible.) Yet not as I will, but as you will.” This is straight from the Lord’s Prayer! “…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt 6:10) This is a sobering prayer. My will may not be done. But your will be done, Father. This is a prayer of faith. This is a prayer of submission. This is a beautiful prayer of trust that God is good and he is faithful. If it is his will that I should drink the cup of wrath against sin, even for the sins of the world, then I trust you, my Father, that this is right and good and will result in your glory, my joy, and good for many, many others. Jesus models for us an attitude of total surrender even in the darkest valley anyone has ever had to face or ever will face. Wouldn’t it have been incredible to have been Peter, James, or John at this point? To see Jesus carrying such a heavy burden, but still humbly and totally surrendering his will to his Father? Let’s see how they respond.
Matthew 26:40-41 (NIV), “40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This is one of the saddest moments in the whole long series of injustices and wrongs that Jesus endured for us through the cross. This is maybe not the most painful moment, but when Jesus needed his friends the most, when he specifically asked them to be with him and to stay awake and keep watch with him, they gave in to the weakness of their flesh. Jesus was upset, but he still was kind when he acknowledged that their spirits were willing, even though their flesh was weak. But in moments like these, they needed more than a willing spirit. They needed to pray and pray and pray. This failure of friendship is especially ironic because in the passage immediately before this in Matthew, when Jesus told Peter that before the rooster crowed, he would disown him three times, in v. 35, Peter responded, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.” In the light of the upper room at the Last Supper, the disciples were strong (at least in their own minds). But they didn’t last through even that night. But Jesus wasn’t fully alone. Even with his closest friends falling asleep, Jesus knew his Father was there for him. So he returned once again to prayer.
Matthew 26:42–46 (NIV), “42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” This is God’s word. After this solemn time of prayer and anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, the events would start to happen quickly. He would be betrayed by Judas, delivered over to the authorities, falsely tried, condemned, and sentenced to death. By the late afternoon of the next day, Jesus would be crucified, die, and be buried. We’ll walk through those chapters of his story during our Good Friday service. But for now, how might we apply this passage to our lives today? Well, first, it must be said that none of us will face the full weight of the burden of Jesus in the pain and hardship we might face in life. But still, there are many lessons to be learned here, because, as we said, each one of us will have times of suffering. And I don’t know who coined this term, but we can either allow these dark seasons to make us bitter or make us better. But what do we do when we face difficult circumstances? How might we respond when it seems as if all the light has gone out of our lives? Lent is supposed to be a time of preparation. Maybe this Lenten season, you need to learn the freedom of total surrender, regardless of your circumstances, to your good and faithful Father. Can you pray Jesus’ prayer? Not my will but yours be done. Now, one thing that makes this kind of surrender especially difficult is the fact that most people do not expect to suffer very much. Most people have an unquestioned belief that if they work hard and are decent to others, things will generally go well for them. As a result, when trials or difficulties arise, I’ve observed that it is often not only hard or painful for them, but suffering itself is somewhat shocking. They didn’t expect those hardships that happen every day in this broken world to happen to them. Even people who might work in healthcare or other fields that come in regular contact with people who are sick or dying can still be surprised when an illness or death happens to someone close to them. Even people who work in teaching or counseling and come into contact with marriages and families that have conflict or abuse or mental illness or other dysfunction can still be surprised when they have problems at home. But the cross changes our expectations for suffering. Because after all, Jesus was perfect; he was perfectly obedient to the Father; he was the best man who ever lived. If only good things come to good people, Jesus should’ve had the easiest life of anyone who ever lived. But Jesus was “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Is 53:3). He faced tremendous suffering, betrayal, injustice, abuse, and the hell of God’s wrath against the sins of the whole world on the cross. For us who follow Jesus, what do you expect for your life? We follow the one whose path ran right through the cross. If he suffered and died, do you think we might have to suffer at some point? Probably. The cross kills the idea of karma. The cross doesn’t fit in the (false) prosperity gospel, which says that health and wealth come automatically from our faith. The cross changes our expectations. We must expect times of hardship. We must expect times when our souls might be overwhelmed to the point of death. We must expect times of disappointment and difficulty. Now, thankfully, it’s not that every minute of the Christian life is defined by suffering. There are also times in the Christian life of great joy, celebration, love, and peace. But for the truly hard times, we don’t have to stoically soldier on, resigned to endure in a world of pain. We can trust that in Christ, we, too, have a Father in heaven who is good and faithful. He isn’t just smart and strong; he is infinitely wise and powerful. Even though Jesus was a man of sorrows, there was a greater and much more glorious purpose behind it. Isaiah 53:10–11 (NIV), “…it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…[but, and here’s the good news] After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” Jesus wouldn’t stay dead and buried. He wouldn’t stay in the tomb. He would be raised again from the dead, he would be resurrected and exalted to the highest place! To the place where every knee would bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. Will we go through times of suffering? Yes. The cross changes our expectations about this. But the cross also shows us that the path of suffering leads to glory. When the light dims around us, we can pull our friends close, we can pray and pray and pray, we can trust our good and faithful Father, but one day, we too will see the good purposes of God through it all. Through the ups and the downs. Through even the darkest valley. And we too will see the light of life and be satisfied. In fact, I believe we’ll cry tears of joy. Tears that one day Jesus Christ himself will wipe away. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Let us pray.
