When Jesus Was Disappointed… Becoming Someone Jesus Can Count On
Jesus is God, and Jesus is man. Jesus had emotions. What are some examples of when Jesus showed emotion?
- Angry when cleansing the Temple - meme
- Angry when rebuking the Pharisees
- Grieving over Jerusalem
- Weeping when Lazarus died
- Afraid in the Garden of Gethsemane
- Loving His disciples as He washed their feet
- Having compassion as He healed the sick and demon-possessed
God also has those emotions. We are important enough to God that we can cause Him to feel. We can bless Him and please Him, we can grieve His Holy Spirit, we can make Him angry at our sin.
I want to focus on a time when Jesus was disappointed, let down. He was counting on someone, and they didn't come through.
To help put us in the mindset, think of a time when you were disappointed with someone…
Now think of a time when you disappointed someone…
At this point in Jesus’ story, He’s just had the Last Supper with His disciples, and He knows Judas is going to betray Him and that He’s going to die.
Matthew 26:36-46
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.”
Do you hear His emotion? He says His soul is overwhelmed. Have you ever felt like that? Your sorrow was so heavy it felt like you couldn’t breathe?
What is He asking His disciples, His best friends to do? Just to stay with Him in this moment.
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.”
Jesus with His face to the ground… Jesus does not deserve to have His face in the dirt!
But even in the anguish of His emotion, He has the strength to submit to God's will. Do we pray for God’s will to be done when we're that emotional? I don't! I pray for whatever it takes to make the pain stop.
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.
Hear the disappointment. It’s like Jesus is saying, “I’m about to die for you. Could you not do this one thing for Me?
41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
What temptation is He warning them not to fall into? What happened afterward? They fled. They deserted Him. They denied Him.
Jesus was counting on them for support, but His command wasn't for His good alone. God's commands and actions always bring Him glory, but they’re never solely for His good. God is good because everything He does benefits others, not just Himself.
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!”
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Are you willing to serve the Lord? How do we do that? How do we serve the Lord?
What are some types of things Jesus might be asking us to do? He specifically asked Peter and James and John to watch with Him. Maybe He’s asking you to:
- Not sin - exercise self control
- Have faith to trust Him against anxiety
- Have faith to do something scary or difficult
- Speak the truth to someone in confrontation
- Share the Gospel
- Forgive someone
- Treat your spouse better
- Grow in your relationship with Him through spiritual disciplines
- Focus on a fruit of the Spirit He wants to see more of in your life
- Step up and take on a new level of responsibility
All of those are ways Jesus might want us to serve Him. How many times does your flesh get in the way? Your physical desires? Your human emotions and attitudes?
The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 7:15-25
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
What is Paul saying? He’s saying the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The spirit is willing, but we sin and disappoint Him.
He also said “Who will rescue me…?” There's hope! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, but my flesh doesn't get the last word!
Whatever it is Jesus is asking you to do today, He’s saying, “Could you not do it for one hour?” Because whatever it is, it's temporary. We don't have that long for this life. We can stick it out and then be done. While we're here, let's be people Jesus can count on!
A friend of mine recently said that when he has the temptation to sin, he only has to resist for a limited amount of time, and then the temptation goes away. If he feels the urge to say something he shouldn’t, for example, he just has to walk away, cool down, let the moment pass, and then the temptation is gone.
It’s like when Satan tempted Jesus and then left. We don’t experience constant temptation. We can endure through those intermittent moments of temptation and do what Jesus asks us to do.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, but I can control my flesh.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
How do we do strike a blow to our bodies? How do we tell our weak flesh to obey our willing spirits?
Through practicing the spiritual disciplines:
- Scripture reading
- Prayer
- Fasting
- Accountability
- Silence
Spiritual disciplines are gifts from God to help us train our bodies and our sinful natures. They teach us to prioritize the spiritual life over our physical urges. They help us learn to be someone Jesus can count on.
What if, like Peter and James and John, you’ve “fallen asleep” and have disappointed Jesus?
- There is forgiveness. There's second chances.
- Jesus is rooting for you.
- Remember what happened to Peter afterward…He wasn't perfect, but he became someone Jesus could count on most of the time.
- And you can become someone Jesus can count on most of the time too. Amen?
May the Lord Jesus bless you.
May the Holy Spirit strengthen you.
May God the Father forgive you when you don’t do as well as you want to.
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