Walking With Jesus-2-The Place Of Crushing

This morning is Palm Sunday! Today, Pastor Brad continues his series "Walking With Jesus" with a message from the Garden of Gethsemane called "The Place Of Crushing."

Pastor's Notes:

The Place of Crushing
TEXT
Luke 22:39-53 NKJV
39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 [a]Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane
47 And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

INTRODUCTION
Good morning, everyone!
I’m so excited to be here this morning! Before we get into our teaching this morning, I want to encourage each of you to do something for me: I want to encourage you to invite, invite, invite next week.
Resurrection morning, or Easter as many know it, is the one Sunday a year where people’s hearts seem to be open to coming to church.
It would be pretty awesome if we could have 380 plus this next Sunday.  One other request: If you are able bodied, please park as far away as as you can as to leave room for first time guests to park, and sit as close as you can, as guests usually don’t feel as comfortable sitting in the front. Remember, no Sunday School or Growth Groups next Sunday.
That being said, I want to talk to you this morning about what happened leading up to the tomb. This morning, I want to talk to you about “The Place of Crushing”.
ILLUSTRATION
Two of the most precious commodities in the middle east is oil and wine. Grapes and olives are great, but they are the most valuable when crushed.  They are crushed and also strained to remove that which isn’t useful.
Wine presses and olive presses are not an uncommon site in Israel. However, Gethsemane is the perfect place to set the scene for the events talking place before the crucifixion.
Why?
TRANSITION
Gethsemane means “The place of crushing”.
It is here where humanity collided with deity.
BACKGROUND
In the text, Jesus slipped away from the Mt. of Olives down to a place to pray. He knew that the time for His assignment to be fulfilled was drawing near.
Yet, in the story, we see a great tension: Humanity wrestling with deity.
We fail to forget that Jesus was both fully God, and fully man. That’s the only way He could die for us. He had to be a human, yet without sin.
It was in this place that he challenged His disciples to pray with Him. It was an intense moment. The weight of the pressure caused the capillaries under His skin to burst, giving the illusion of sweating blood.
Jesus cried out and asked God to please do this another way, if at all possible. Yet, He submitted Himself to the plan of the Father.
If that wasn’t enough, it was in this place that Judas, His disciple, chose to betray Him.
If there’s anything I’ve learned about Judas, it’s this: If you can be bought, the devil is willing to pay the price.
Yet, in the midst of this, what can we learn about the place of crushing?
APPLICATION

It’s the place I surrender to God.

- It’s in the tough places that we wrestle with the plan of God for our lives.
- It is here like when Jacob wrestled with the angel, that we say “Yes Lord”.

It’s the place the truth is revealed.

- It revealed the weakness of the flesh.
- It revealed the shadiness of people. -Judas
- NOTE: The true character of people will always come out when you’re in a tight place.

It’s the place that prepares me for greater.

- The oil only flows when the olive is crushed.
- Many people want the promise, but they don’t want the process.
- They want the anointing, but they don’t want the pain.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the place of crushing is not permanent. Jesus survived it. He passed the test. If He did, so you will be able to also!
His passing brought you to the place of being able to receive salvation!