We turn congregation to John chapter 12, and we read the verses 27 through 36. John chapter 12, and we start reading at verse 27, and we read on till 36. John 12, verse 27, now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I into this hour. Father, glorify thy name.' Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified and will glorify again. The people, therefore, that stood by and heard said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, But for your sakes, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. And how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light, Those things spake Jesus and departed, and did hide himself from them. So by the reading of God's word, the text for the sermon this morning is verse 27. John 12, verse 27. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. beloved congregation, the Lord Jesus realizes that he has now come to his actual sufferings, that he is now close to the moment that he will be taken into custody, that he will be interrogated, but especially he will have to go to the cross, and there he will suffer he will be forsaken of his God. And that is the heart of his sufferings. And then he says in our text that he is troubled. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Here the Lord Jesus is reflecting upon his work on earth, and his work was to lay down his life as a sacrifice for sin. Therefore, he came into this world to give himself. He came to reconcile lost sinners with the Lord God in heaven, and so he had to shed his blood. Because the Lord had said, without remission of blood, there's no remission of sin. Then the Lord Jesus realizes that now this suffering is going to take place. He says here, I am troubled. But he doesn't say it this way. He says, my soul is troubled. But he means to say, I am troubled. He was greatly concerned. He was agitated. Here we see the Savior of the world, the all-powerful God, who commands the seas and the winds, and they listen to Him. We see here the Almighty God, who heals the sick, who is all-power, for whom the devils bow down cowardly. He, this One, He is troubled. And that's the amazing thing. And that shows us the reality of his sufferings. That his suffering was not something light. That it was a very heavy load he had to bear. And it's an ongoing emotion in the Lord Jesus. Because the verb used here shows us that this trouble has been going on for some time. and it's very intense, becoming more intense, and the horrors of his coming sufferings were now felt as never before. And why was the Lord so troubled? Well, we said that already, because he was going to be forsaken of his God. He was not troubled about the physical pain, although that was terrible, but he never complained about that. When he was flogged by the Roman soldiers, he never complained. When he was on the cross and was crucified, we can hardly imagine what there must have been, but he did not complain. But when his father, or his God, had forsaken him, then he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's what the Lord Jesus sees is coming. That's why he's troubled. It's actually a deep mystery, because we're speaking here about God. And here God himself declares that he is very troubled and anguished, God, in human flesh. Now, of course, the Lord Jesus speaks here according to his human nature, because the divine nature of Christ did not suffer It was his human nature that suffered, and his divine nature supported him in these sufferings. But according to his human nature, he is very troubled, and yet at the same time, he is God. He is the Almighty One. It's a deep mystery. But what we see here is the reality of the wrath of God. We see here to be outside of Christ, not to be reconciled to God, that means that you are still under this wrath of God. It's either you are reconciled to God, or you are under His wrath, because you need the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ to cover you of all your sins. And when we see that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is troubled, what shall it be for a sinner who does not know salvation, who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, and who lives for himself and for this world and for this life, and pretends that everything will go on fine, but his heart is not included in Christ? He does not know that communion with Christ. His life is not connected to the Lord Jesus. In the reality of everyday life, whose heart is still at a distance from Christ, such ones are not reconciled to God. Then you are still lost. And he is the Savior. and he is very troubled. What shall happen to you while the Savior had no sins of himself and you have sins of yourself? What do you think? Do you think God will not punish those sins? Do you think God will ignore it? Is there no day of reckoning? Is there no day of judgment? Oh, let sinners be aware that the Son of Man is troubled. And where will you or I be if we are not reconciled? Precious Savior, and let us therefore take note of this Savior. He's portraying himself here in his troubled soul. He's not calling for compassion. He's calling for repentance. It's calling for a turning to Him, to a giving up of our self-constructed ideas, and to realize that there's life only in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we learn to fall down at His feet in the surrender of the totality of our lives, that our life becomes Christ. That's what's needed. You see, it's everything or nothing. It's total commitment in spite of all our shortcomings. Total commitment or it's nothing. And when there's total commitment and you are incorporated in Christ, you live in him and he lives in you. And that symbolized, he and I were at the Lord's Supper, by eating that piece of bread, and it dissolves in your body. And drinking that zip of wine, it dissolves in your body. Likewise, Christ lives in his people. And that's why they are safe, safe in Christ. For whatever happens, whatever ill befalls them, whatever circumstance they are in. If death comes, they are safe in Him. They are safe through life because of that being incorporated in Christ. And that's being pictured here in the Lord's Supper this morning. The text says the Lord Jesus was troubled and what love, what a divine love we see here, this precious Savior who never did anything wrong, who always loved his Father, who was always faithful to the calling the Lord gave him. He is troubled, and he does this out of love, deep love for his bride, for his church, for you, child of God. for you who have learned to forsake your life, to deny it and to lay it down at his feet, that he gave everything for you. And here you see him performing his work. It's all divine love. The weight of the sins of his people was weighing upon him. Christ is going to give a payment a full payment. He's going to cry out on the cross, it is finished. That means it's paid for in full, and that will be applicable to all those who are in Christ. And so as we see this all pictured before us, the precious Savior troubled and in suffering, his people may yet, with holy awe, and trepidation, rejoice in their Savior. Rejoice in their salvation. That's what the Lord Jesus wants us to do. To rejoice in Him. To know Him. To love Him. And to love Him more. Because He is the God-given substitute. God the Father was pleased in the work of his Son. He was willing to punish his own Son so that his people would forego that punishment. It's all divine love, willing to bear their iniquities, willing to bear their shame, to undergo their pain, to die their death, so that his bridal church would be spared this divine love, the wealth of what the Lord Jesus has done for his people, dying for them. And that while they were yet sinners, you did not ask for him, he asked for you. And so we see here not only divine love, but also the almighty power of God. That the Lord Jesus had such power that he was able to lay down his life as a ransom price, and that his divine nature could support him in laying down his life, and yet dying at the same time, surviving it, and paying the price in full, the full redemption, But it did cost him spiritual agony. It did cost him deep anguish, but he never hesitated. And then you come back to his burning love. We see hidden in this text the great sinner's love of Christ Jesus. He in anguish, so they would never be in anguish. His soul is troubled, so that their soul never needs to be troubled. He was forsaken of his God, so that his people would never be forsaken, and that the Lord could say to them, Lo, I am with you all the days. I will never leave you nor forsake you. When you go through the waters, I will be there to lead you through. The waters will not overflow you. And when you go through the fire, the flame shall not burn upon you, because I am the Lord your Redeemer." He never forsakes. The Lord Jesus on the cross was outside of the most precious matter he knew, the communion with God. And he bore that so that his people would never have to be left out of God's communion. He suffered their sins. He repaid what he had never stolen and how he was pressed to do this. It weighed upon him. He wanted to do this. This was the urge, the drive that was upon him from the very outset. So we see here at the Lord's Supper how the Lord Jesus endured this all. You see that broken bread, how his body was broken, and his blood was poured out, the wine is poured out, and that this God loves his people with an everlasting love. And so there's so much reason to rejoice in who the Lord Jesus is, and to rejoice in the fullness of His deliverance, of His salvation. It's an eternal deliverance. It's everlasting. It's all-encompassing. He is faithful to the uttermost, and with Him you are safe throughout this life, through death, into the afterlife. With Him you have everything. Maybe you don't have much in this world. Maybe you feel lonely at times. Maybe you feel misunderstood. Maybe you have a cross to bear, and you know the Lord laid it upon you, and it weighs upon you. But in spite of all this, you may know that with Him all things will work together for your good, that He will be there beside you. to assist you, to help you, to dwell with you. And that's all because of the fact that the Lord Jesus was troubled in His soul. And there's something else we find here. The Lord Jesus was troubled in His soul, but He was without sin. Sometimes you can be troubled, is it not? Sometimes you can be bothered with something, you're troubled, there's turmoil, but that's not necessarily the same as sin. Because the Lord Jesus was in turmoil, was troubled, was weighing upon him, but he never sinned. But then a child of God, when there are these afflictions and when there are struggles, you can easily confuse it with sinning. And then you're brought low again, because I am restless, and I am afflicted, and my soul is troubled. I see my weakness, and so many matters can weigh upon you and trouble you, even in daily life, even worries. But that's not the same as sinning. We can easily sin by worrying. That's not trusting, I know that. But the Lord Jesus was troubled, and yet there was no sin in it. He was pure. And you know, often God's children can be assaulted because they feel as if they are sinning, that they are defiled, because their soul is troubled. But don't be too harsh on yourself. but flee to this Savior who is also troubled. You can have mental pain and anguish, and you feel it's sin, you go through life struggling, you go heavily even all your ways, all your days on the way to heaven, and then you think, I have no grace, because my soul is troubled and afflicted. I flee to the Lord, and it seems as if the Lord is not there, seems as if the Lord is not answered. You can feel a battle between flesh and spirit within you, and then you draw the conclusion that you're sinning, but realize the Lord Jesus went through troubles without sinning. With him it was not a battle between flesh and spirit, that is true, because he was perfect. But he did go through a struggle that he had to lay down his life as a ransom price for his people. He saw it all coming and he was afraid. In Gethsemane he was so afraid that he begged his disciples to stay with him and to pray for him. to pray with him. And he was so afraid, he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. That's how great his concerns and his fears were. And you, in your troubles, you may do the same thing. Fall down at the feet of the Lord Jesus and confess your weakness and confess your inability and look up to him. whose blood is a pure and full reconciliation, and that you receive of him strength to continue your struggle, looking unto him, knowing that the Master himself went through troubles and was led through. And so you may know that in your troubles you will be led through, you will not be forsaken, The Lord Jesus was not forsaken. And as you take the signs of his body and blood, you may look up to him who is there, ready to relieve you from your struggles and your sins. And so there's strength in the Lord Jesus to carry on. So we see here in this verse a mighty mental struggle in our blessed Savior. But we also find here the willingness of the Lord in this all. And we see that further as you look in the text. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I into this hour. Is the Lord Jesus now going to be delivered from this hour? No. This was the reason why He came into this world. He came to suffer. The shadow of the cross was already upon the manger in Bethlehem. And all throughout His life, the Lord Jesus knew the exact spot where He would suffer and where He would be in outer darkness. And He never hesitated. He knew exactly what was in store for Him. He went ahead of His disciples. He did not want to be delivered from this hour. He wanted this hour to take place. For this cause came I, into this hour, this terrible hour, and yet this glorious hour in which the love of God is displayed in such manners that we cannot fathom. He was willing to go this way, He wanted it to be like this, because He loved you, child of God. Think about that. Meditate on it. And may you become very small when you think of this love, what He did. The Lord Jesus could have asked His Father for angels to deliver Him, He could have said to his father, it's too much to bear, but then his church would perish forever. No, he was filled with devotion and love to continue the task the father has given him. That's for this cause he came into this hour, the hour of his suffering. Nobody would be with him. He did it all alone. That's how great His love is. And so at the Lord's Supper we may meditate upon this love of God. Amen.