Mark - Lesson 14D

• Last week, we discussed the sneaky deception of self-reliance and how we tend to rely on our self-confidence rather than resting upon the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ and His word.

  • If you recall, Jesus and His disciples had completed the Passover Seder and the commencement of the Lord’s supper, where Jesus expressed the weightiness of the breaking of bread and the drinking of the wine.

    • Upon the conclusion of this time of fellowship for the Passover meal and commemoration, Jesus and the disciples made their way to the Mount of Olives.

    • And accompanied with their departure would be the liturgical tapestry of the Hallel hymns and they sang praises unto the Lord.

    • It would be after this moment of commemoration and praise that Jesus dropped a bomb-shell announcement on the disciples – they would all abandon Him.

  • Upon receiving this news, Peter denied and dismissed this statement from Jesus out of a sense of self-assurance that He would never abandon Him.

    • Although sincere in thought, it would not take long before Peter’s very words of assurance became a means of stumbling and failure for him and the disciples.

    • That as the time appointed for Jesus and His suffering was quickly approaching, the impending circumstances of Jesus’ reality would unveil:

      • the fickle actions of man and the perfect humanity and Holy Divinity of Jesus (Hypostatic Union)

  • The difficulty of tonight’s text will help us balance our understanding of Jesus’ humanity in the sense of the great distress He would undergo while at the same time, come to understand the great theological complexity of God Himself having to suffer and die.

    • Without wandering into Theological error, we are going to examine the text thoroughly to understand the complexity of this great moment at the Garden of Gethsemane.

    • And it is my prayer that we will see, very clearly, the greatness of God and His salvific plan executed within human history.

  • If I were to outline our flow of thought for tonight, it would be the following:

    • 1. A Distress (v.32-34)

    • 2. A Discourse (v.35-38)

    • 3. A Disappointment (v.39-42)

  • With that being said, I invite you to open up a copy of the text and meet me in Mark 14:32-42.

Mark 14:32  They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” 
Mark 14:33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 
Mark 14:34 And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 
Mark 14:35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 
Mark 14:36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 
Mark 14:37 And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 
Mark 14:38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 
Mark 14:39  Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 
Mark 14:40  And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 
Mark 14:41 And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 
Mark 14:42 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Mark 14:32  They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” 
Mark 14:33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 
Mark 14:34 And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 

• We begin tonight by picking up on this late Wednesday night after Jesus and His disciples have finished their Passover Seder, Communion, sang hymns, crossed over the Kidron Valley and made their way to the Mount of Olives.

  • From there they are moving towards a particular area near the foot of the Mount of Olives known as the Garden of Gethsemane.

    • The name “Gethsemane” can easily be translated “press of oils”, literally “a press for crushing oil out of olives.”

    • This was where gathered olives from the garden would be brought in an effort to be crushed to produce oil.

    • This location was a familiar place to the disciples as they would often gather here as their favorite meeting place. (Luke 22:39, John 18:2)

    • And being that this was a rather frequented spot by Jesus and the disciples, meant that Judas was aware of this location as well.

  • The text lets us know that upon arrival to Gethsemane, Jesus instructs His disciples to sit near the entrance of the garden while He goes to pray.

    • From there He takes with Him three familiar faces, Peter, James, and John, to go further to pray.

    • This would leave 8 of His disciples at the entrance while the remaining 3 would accompany Jesus further.

    • This inclusion of the “inner circle” is a very important detail to note because these are the same three disciples that accompanied Jesus in separate events in which they witnessed Jesus demonstrate Great Power.

  • The first is found in Mark 5:37 where they accompanied Jesus to Jairus’ home to heal his daughter who had died, but was soon resuscitated by the Lord Jesus.

    • The second time was on the Mount of Transfiguration in Mark 9:2 where Jesus showed these three His Shekinah Glory.

  • It would seem as if these three men were going to get another glimpse of something, yet again, in which Jesus wanted them to see.

    • And indeed, this is the case because there seems to be transitional language used in verse 33b.

  • The text mentions that after Jesus took the 3 with Him, He “began to be very distressed and troubled.”

    • There’s a sense here in the text that there is something “visibly noticeable” regarding Jesus’ demeanor or behavior.

  • The word “began” is the Greek word archo which means the state of initiating an action or process.

    • And in conjunction with the following two verbs “distressed” and “troubled”, it conveyed an increase of terror.

    • In other words, there was a change of emotions in which becomes gradually unavoidable and noticeable.

  • There are two rare words we need to examine in the Greek to better handle this change of emotion: The first word is distressed and the second is troubled.

    • The Greek word for “distressed” is ekthambeo (ek-tham-beo) which means to be deeply troubled or greatly overwhelmed with emotion.

    • And the Greek word for “troubled” is ademoneo (ad-e-moneo) which is when one becomes subject to extreme mental or spiritual anguish and distress to the point of losing composure.

  • Mark further expresses the weightiness of what Jesus is experiencing internally by saying in verse 34: “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death...”.

    • In other words, what Jesus was wrestling with internally regarding the reality of the Father’s plan was that this appointed time of death was quickly approaching.

    • That what He would accomplish on the cross was so heavy that He could almost feel it before it was going to even happen.

    • It’s like walking around the park in 104-degree weather and saying “I feel like I’m dying”.

    • The reality is you’re not actually dying, but that the heat is so intense that it feels as though it would be better to die than to endure the heat.

  • Well in Jesus’ case, He is so weighed by the reality of the coming cross and the judgement of God poured on Him for the sins of the world, that He felt as if in that very present moment he was dying.

    • It’s that feeling you have when you receive news of a loved one you lost. It’s as if the wind is sucked right out of you.

    • This immense pressure and distress is upon Jesus in a grave way.

    • However, notice Jesus’ reaction to these coming circumstances that He knows there is no escaping from.

  • Verse 34b, Jesus tells His disciples to remain there and watch as He goes “a stones’ throw away” to pray.

    • What a joy it is to know that even in Jesus’ greatest moment of grief, that He finds necessity and comfort in prayer.

    • I believe this is a takeaway for us today as well!

    • The reality is we will never know the pressure and pain that Jesus felt in that moment of distress, but we do know that through it all He knew He needed to rely upon the Father.

  • One question that could be asked is: “What was the agony or distress in which Jesus was about to encounter that has moved Him so deeply?”

    • Was it the Physical pain in which He was about to commence or was it something else?

  • Although the physical suffering upon the cross would be overwhelming at best, Jesus was about to depart from the three knowing He was about to endure this coming suffering alone.

    • Really quickly, as we assess the distress that Jesus is experiencing in the garden, we must keep in mind that the acknowledgment of His coming death did not escape Him.

    • He had mentioned this to the disciples three times in their time spent together.

    • Mark 10:45 makes mention that “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.”

    • The question would become: “What did this reality look like for Jesus and how would He become that ransom?”

  • To put it plainly, knowing that physical suffering was coming was not the issue, but rather the weight of what it meant to be a ransom for the many was.

    • Becoming a substitute for the sins of the many meant the realization of being forsaken by the Father!

    • That although death would be the means of accomplishing the atoning work of Christ (bloodshed), Jesus becoming a curse and taking on the sins of the many meant that God’s righteous Judgement had to be poured out on Him to accomplish this means of reconciliation by becoming our propitiation.

    • Check out what Paul said in Galatians 3:13 and 1 Timothy 2:6.

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—

1 Timothy 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

• Therefore, what Christ would enter by Himself required seclusion with the Father, so in the meantime, He gave instructions to the inner circle to remain there and keep watch.

  • One might ask here: “What are they to keep watch of or for?”

  • We will see later on in verse 38. In the meantime, let’s look at verses 35-38.

Mark 14:35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 
Mark 14:36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 
Mark 14:37 And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 
Mark 14:38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  

• As the pressure of Jesus’ impending suffering increases, verse 35 mentions that He “fell to the ground” to pray.

  • Matthew’s gospel provides us a bit more clarity as to what Mark records as Jesus “falling to the ground”.

    • The word “fell” in Greek here speaks to that of someone laying prostrate on the floor as a means of devotion in prayer.

    • This type of prayer was beyond kneeling, but a dire seeking from the Lord.

    • The verb form of the word “prayer” in verse 35 speaks to the fact that Jesus was constantly praying this prayer while in the garden seeking to find if the weight of what was to come could pass from Him.

  • According to verse 37b, the request in which Jesus is petitioning before the Father lasted at least an hour.

• Notice, what Jesus is requesting from the Father in the indirect discourse from Mark in verse 35. Jesus is asking “If it is possible, the hour might pass Him by.”

  • What we first must recognize in this statement is that it is in the first-class condition in Greek. Meaning that this question does not speak to Jesus’ doubt of the Father’s plan in which He knows is before Him.

    • The premise of this posed request speaks the reality that within the bounds of God’s omniscience, He can do anything He so desires.

    • Therefore, Jesus is not speaking to the doubting of the Father’s plan, rather it was Jesus, within His perfect humanity seeking from the Father “if there was another means by which to accomplish His plan”.

    • And He asks this by seeking if “the hour might pass”.

    • Mark provides clarity for the reader as to the request that Jesus is petitioning before the Father by providing a direct statement of the discourse in verse 36. Here’s what Jesus prayed.

Mark 14:36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 

• So, Jesus’ request regarding this coming hour of suffering, which refers to Jesus’ coming death, is that “the cup be removed from Him”.

  • Recognize the two terms here in which Jesus uses which correspond to one another: He makes mention of “the hour to pass and the cup to pass”.

  • Both are referring to the same devastating event.

  • These terms do not only speak to the coming physical harm of Jesus, but it speaks to the very wrath of God that would be poured out upon Him.

  • In other words, Jesus, the God-man would endure the tragedy of “being made sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

    • This concept, theologically, for many people becomes quite difficult to comprehend, yet it only becomes difficult when we fail to understand the hypostatic union.

    • In other words, when the 2nd Person of the Trinity put on flesh, “He didn’t relinquish His deity, but simply added to it!

    • Herein lies the great Mystery of the Incarnation!

    • Both the fulness of His divine nature and human nature dwelled together in bodily form yet did not mix – distinctly separate yet wholly dwelt in one person.

  • The mystery of this union can best be expressed in Philippians 2:5-5, where Paul mentions that Jesus “emptied” Himself. That Greek word is Kenosis.

    • Jesus emptied Himself by not abdicating or relinquishing His deity, but He willingly added to it the limitations of Humanity, yet He never used His divine attributes to relieve Himself of the limitations of being human.

  • For example, we know that Jesus’ question to the Father, praying that “this cup/this hour” would pass, was something that the Godhead planned in eternity’s past – meaning that this plan, this way of death, was always to be done.

    • Jesus told of His death centuries ago regarding the way in which He would become the suffering servant for Israel and a ransom for all.

    • Check out what the word says about Jesus’ passion in Isaiah 53:4-5.

Isaiah 53:4  Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

• And prior to that in the Pentateuch, Moses records how one who would be deemed cursed by God and shown as a public example of His Divine punishment, would be hung upon a tree in Deuteronomy 21:33.

  • But here, we have Jesus crying out to the Father, and for the first time in the New Testament calling the Father, “Abba” or “My Father”, and He is seeking to find another way? Herein lies the theological conundrum for some!

    • Was Jesus trying to pray to change the eternal plan of God as an effort to escape what would cause Him to be forsaken by the Father? How are we to best describe this moment?

    • Friends, this moment of prayer in Gethsemane demonstrates for the believer and reader, with much clarity, the reality of the humanity of Jesus as well!

  • From a human standpoint, what Jesus was about to endure was beyond simple physical pain, gruesome as it would be, but above all, Jesus would experience the immense crushing of human sin upon Himself!

    • Here is where, in Jesus’ greatest moment of distress and grief, He left us with the most beautiful gift in that moment – the gift of prayer!

    • That when we face the greatest moments of difficult through various circumstances in our lives, we too can seek the Father in our time of need.

    • Yet at the very same time, it is within those prayers that we come to learn, as Jesus teaches, that within our prayers we too must seek the Father’s will in it all.

    • Jesus states at the end of verse 36, “yet not what I will but You will”.

    • In it all, He willingly submits Himself to the plan of the Father and demonstrates that He will submit to the plan as the Suffering servant.

    • What could our prayer lives look like if we had the same mentality, to submit despite the circumstances to the will of the Father in all things? How much more would we be shaped into the image of Christ?

  • Well Mark continues and at least an hour has passed, yet the inner circle that Jesus has brought with Him to keep watch have fallen asleep.

    • Mark switches back from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden to the disciples’ failure in the garden.

  • In verse 37, Jesus calls out Peter, who at this point represents the whole of the bunch with Him.

    • And the text makes it plain that these men were found asleep, not once, not twice, but three times according to the Gospel record.

    • I mentioned earlier that they were supposed to be “keeping watch” and the question that some might have asked was: “What were they keeping watch for?” Well, here we have it at verse 38.

Mark 14:38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  

• They were to keep watch and pray that they may not come into temptation!

  • They were to be spiritually awake to seek dependence upon the Father just as Jesus was depending upon the Father for His very needs and strength.

    • This opportunity to witness Jesus in His greatest distress would have been a beautiful picture for the disciples as to what suffering well under pressure looks like when you lean upon the Lord!

    • What an example this would have been…but they were asleep!

  • Now, what about them falling into temptation? What was the temptation?

    • There are some that think this is speaking to the disciples being tempted to deny Jesus or “fall away” as Jesus had predicted earlier. This may very well be true.

    • However, I believe the immediate context renders that the temptation was speaking of them falling asleep and folding under this current pressure of weariness. For if they are asleep, how can they watch and pray?

  • Jesus then follows up by telling them that the “spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”.

    • In other words, their dependence and reliance upon the Father as their source of strength was greater than their human frailty.

  • What great strength do we find when we rely and rest upon the Lord for our needs, even in our greatest moments of weakness?

    • Jesus, after giving them instructions again to remain awake and in prayer, goes back for yet another hour of prayer. Check out verses 39-42.

Mark 14:39  Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 
Mark 14:40  And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 
Mark 14:41 And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 
Mark 14:42 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

• Mark tells us that this back and forth with the disciples and the intense prayer between Jesus and the Father was an all-night kind of ordeal.

  • They arrived at the Garden probably around 10/11PM and if prayer consisted at minimum of 1 hour spurts 3 times, that means that this event at Gethsemane lasted till probably 1AM.

    • So here it is, the disciples are terribly exhausted and at the end of their physical strength while Jesus is in the Garden, laying prostrate before the Father seeing if there could be another way.

  • Understand that what Jesus was enduring in this Garden was no small deal.

    • Luke’s gospel tells us that this moment of distress was so great that Jesus’ sweat “became like heavy drops of blood”.

    • In today’s medical description of this condition, Jesus experienced hematidrosis (hee-muh-ti-drow-suhs).

    • This is where individuals who experience extremely high stress levels have subcutaneous (sub-kyoo-tay-neous) capillaries burst, therefore causing blood and sweat to mix, producing a reddish color of perspiration.

  • Luke’s gospel even mentions that during this stressful time that Jesus is praying an angel appeared to Him to strengthen Him.

    • It was through the strengthening from the angel during Jesus’ greatest time of anguish in which gave Him the strength to endure – all of this accomplished through the prayers of Jesus.

    • What is most interesting is that the same way that the angels ministered to Jesus in His time of fasting in the wilderness after being baptized, we find a similar scene here in the Garden during His greatest moment of anguish.

  • What becomes an interesting fact to see within Luke’s gospel is that the mentioning of the angel ministering to Jesus was documented.

    • This means someone had to have been informed about this moment or at best, had seen this moment.

    • Most importantly, what a privilege it would have been for the ones in the inner circle to have witnessed such a mighty and Holy moment in the Garden.

    • It goes without saying that through each hour, Jesus returned to the same answer in which He began with regarding the eternal plan of salvation – Father not My will, but Thy will be done.

• It was now this last time (third time) upon Jesus’ return to the inner circle, that in finding the disciples asleep and disoriented that He lets them know “their time of resting and sleeping has passed for His time of betrayal had come.”

  • Within the text we find 3 times the failure of the disciples to remain awake to be watchful and to pray. And what a timely lesson for us this is.

    • If you were to ask people, on average, how much they pray throughout the day or even the week, prayer is probably the lowest thing on their priority list because of the time folks feel it takes.

    • Prayer is a practice in which requires much persistence and is something that we find, especially in this text, is of great importance.

    • Our prayer lives should not be centered upon the things in which we need alone, but rather how we can align our will to the will of God in all things.

  • When trials and circumstances often increase in our lives, we often default to pray and ask the Lord to take away these things, yet failing to realize that it is through this suffering that we find strength in the Lord. (1 Peter 5:6-10)

    • What if we saw prayer, not as a task, but as an opportunity to engage with the Creator of the universe in His work here on earth.

    • That rather than being seen as a time-waster, we see prayer as an opportunity to fellowship with the Lord and to know His will more.

  • It is in knowing the word of God more that we begin to align our prayers to His word and desired work for our lives.

    • We shouldn’t see prayer as an obligation, or just something we do at night, but it is daily communion with the Father that deepens our dependency upon Him.

  • But lastly, we also see the Glory in suffering.

    • Jesus teaches us here that suffering is not to be escaped from, but rather it is to be walked through.

    • We can walk through our suffering well because we know Who is in it with us and has endured it for us!

  • Friends, it is Jesus Christ who suffered the greatest amount of suffering that one could face, and yet through Jesus’ dependency upon the Father and the plans set before Him that through His suffering we are now at peace with God.

    • This is why Jesus is our Great High Priest! Check out what the Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 4:14-16.

Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 
Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

• Jesus sets the precedent for how one suffers well, in that He willingly allowed Himself to be betrayed, handed over, and now being led like a lamb to the slaughter to become the propitiation of our sins.

  • May we all grow in our prayer lives while learning to endure well through our various trials as our Savior did.

  • Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and a Suffering Servant He was to the very end.

  • Let’s Pray.

Citations:

• Gethsemane (lit., “press of oils,” i.e., a press for crushing oil out of olives). John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 179.

• “[Fell] means to fall down to the ground as a sign of devotion, especially when approaching someone with a petition” [BAGD]. BAGD Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Translated and revised from the 5th ed., 1958 by W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich; 2nd edition, revised and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

• The much-discussed contention of J. Jeremias that an address to God as Ἀββά is unparalleled in Jewish literature, and marks a unique sense of intimacy with God, remains valid, even if the issue has been clouded by the frequent assertion by preachers that this familiar term equates to the English ‘Daddy’. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 584.