Sleep on: hope for sinners

 "Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners."

There is a promise in this text that is often missed. Jesus was grieved by the failure of the disciples, but He was also at perfect peace.  He knew what He was about.  He knew what was in men.  No one had to tell Him. This - of course - was why He had come.  So He grieved at their faithlessness, but He was not anxious.  He was saddened by their failure to watch and pray, but He was not angry.  They had proven to be what they were: unstable, doubting and weak; but Jesus meant to show them again who He is: merciful, faithful, steadfast and strong.  

Klaas Schilder wrote, "He knows they have left Him quite alone, and that they can never enrich Him because they are mere fragments of misery.  And now fully aware of that, He goes to take up the cross for them.  Knowing that they have nothing to give Him, He gives Himself to them!” In other words, the work of salvation was never theirs to do.  What Christ had come to do He had come to do alone. And so in telling them to rest He was actually saying something quite significant.   He was their Shepherd, and He was going to lay down His life for them.  Just because no man can redeem the life of another, He must redeem them. They had nothing to pay, so He would pay it.  They hadn't anything to give, so He would give it.  

Think about what is coming.  Who will be betrayed and arrested?  Jesus.  Who will be tried and found guilty?  Jesus.  Who will be beaten, flogged, and spit on?  Again, Jesus.  Who will carry the cross? Whose hands will be pierced? Who will be cursed?  Jesus alone.  On whose shoulders then does our salvation rest?  On His and His alone. 

The disciples proved by their failure even in the garden that a Saviour was desperately needed.  What, after all, can we contribute to our own rescue?  Nothing. 

So Jesus says, "sleep on."  Do you hear something of the beautiful irony in that?  There isn’t anything for them to do now because He will do it.  This part is His to bear.  And He chose to bear it.   He came to save them; and so He must go to the cross and bear their sins on their behalf.  He must work, and they must believe.   

Have you ever had someone come and say to you “I’ll take it from here?”  Maybe it was something as simple as your attempt at some electrical work, and having come to the end of your ability you have called in the electrician. You’ve put him to work, and he says "ok I’ll take it from here." There is something of that happening here.  I believe that even as Jesus meant to rebuke them, He also meant to say something to these men about the nature of what has about to happen.  These were fishermen, and they were sinners; but He was - and is - the Saviour. It was now time for them to put Him to work and to trust Him to do what they couldn’t. So even as He said to them “sleep on,” it was as though He was saying to his beloved friends, “I’ll take it from here.”

Isn’t this just what we need? 

We need a Saviour who, in a sense, takes it from here.  We need a Saviour who comes in when the whole world has gone out, who comes in when we haven’t anything to give and when all our efforts have failed. We need a Saviour who saves sinners.  And this is what Jesus did.  He went to the cross to save sinners. He did it for disciples who couldn’t even watch and pray.  He did it for a Peter who would deny him.  He did it for the disciples who would scatter.   The disciples would not be tried but He would. They would not be whipped and beaten and mocked, but He would.  They would not be forsaken by the Father, endure the torments of hell, and bear the curse for their sin, but He would. They would not rise on the third day, but He would.

You’ve all seen advertisements.  Plumbers want you to employ them.  Electricians want you to employ them. They want you to put them to work.  Isn’t that why they advertise? They aren’t irritated by your requests for help. They are tradesmen after all. Though they do not love you, this is what they do. How much more does the Saviour love sinners?  And this - the saving of sinners - is what He does. Reader, He wants you to put Him to work.

Now here's the wonder of it. His work has been finished.   He went to Calvary, and He died there as our substitute. On the third day He rose for our justification.  There isn’t anything left for Him to do, except to apply that finished work to your life. This raises a critical question. You know you are a sinner, so what work is there for you to do?  What must you do to be saved? The Bible says you must believe on Him whom the Father sent. So what is it to believe? Faith is simply the act of putting the Saviour to work. It is the sinner coming to Jesus in the same way he might go for help to the plumber or the doctor. Faith is the sinner coming to Jesus and admitting, "I can’t but you can."  If plumbers and electricians put out ads, there is a sense in which the Bible is the Saviour's advertisement. It’s been put in your hands for this reason: so that (in faith) you would put the Saviour of sinners to work in your life.

The Bible is full of invitations to come. It is full of commands to believe. In the Bible God himself tells you that while you are not able, He is able. The Bible assures you that while you may not be willing, He is willing. Reader, you may have refused His offer a hundred times over, but still He says, if you come He won’t cast you out.  So often it is the Saviour himself who gives you the most tender encouragements to believe.  

Didn't He say that as a Physician He came for the sick? Didn't He tell us that He came for sinners? The Bible tells us these things so that the very people most likely to disqualify themselves would be encouraged to believe that Jesus must have come for them. Reader are you mired in sin? He came for you. Is your heart sick? He came for you.

Satan would like you to do one of two things: either try to fix it yourself OR do nothing.  He would like to see you attempt to do your own 'spiritual plumbing' or do nothing at all.

There are a host of reasons why you might be inclined to do nothing, but one of the most common temptations is to believe that doing something - anything - would be presumptuous. There is this notion among some that because they can't do anything, there is nothing to be done.  I believe this is the way that many have taken to hell.  

But wasn’t it God himself who said "seek me and you will find me?" In the same way Jesus said the work you must do is to believe.  Your part is to put Him to work. Your part is to employ Jesus as your Saviour and tell Him as you have told ordinary tradesmen and physicians, “I need help. Have mercy on me and save me.”

Isn’t this wonderful?  I think its absolutely wonderful that the Saviour of sinners finding these wretched men once again failing to watch with Him in prayer, should tell them to sleep on. He was simply letting them know that while they have failed Him and while they haven’t been of much use to Him, He loved them and would take it from here.  It was His part to save not theirs. And so, while they would rest, the Son of man would work. While they would scatter, He would be laying down His life for them. While they would deny Him, dishonour Him and run from Him, He would go on in love to the cross for the joy set before Him. Why? Because He - our Great Physican and Friend - had come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Reader, there is hope and wonder in those words, “sleep on." What, after all, is faith but trust?   

On whom or what are you placing your trust? Where does your hope lie? On whom are you resting your hope of eternal life?  The Bible tells us that Jesus is the friend of sinners. He went to Calvary to suffer in the place of sinners for the joy of bringing them home one day to be with Him in glory. He laid down His life so that the sin sick might be healed and sinners forgiven and saved. It is this that brings Him joy.

Won’t you give Him that joy? Stop making excuses and simply come and put the Lord Jesus to work.  Stop talking about what a miserable sinner you are, and start believing what a great Saviour He is!