Tuesday: Gethsemane
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 10th of September 2024
Read Mark 14:32-42. What did Jesus pray in Gethsemane, and how was the prayer answered?
Leaving the walled city of Jerusalem where they ate the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples go across the Kidron Valley to a garden on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The name Gethsemane means oil press, suggesting that there was an olive oil processing press in the vicinity. The exact location is unknown because the Romans cut down all the trees on the Mount of Olives during the siege in A.D. 70.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
As Jesus enters the garden, He leaves His disciples there and goes farther with Peter, James, and John. But then He leaves these three, as well, and proceeds farther by Himself. This spatial distancing suggests Jesus is becoming more isolated as He faces His upcoming suffering.
Jesus prays for the cup of suffering to be removed but only if it is God’s will (Mark 14:36). He uses the Aramaic term Abba, which Mark translates as “Father.” The term does not mean “daddy,” as some have suggested. The term used by a child to address his father was abi (see Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah, Anchor Bible Reference Library [New York: Doubleday, 1994], vol. 1, Pages 172, 173). However, the use of the term Abba, “Father,” does carry the close familial linkage, which should not be diminished.
What Jesus prays for is the removal of the cup of suffering. But He submits Himself to the will of God (compare with the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:10). It becomes obvious throughout the rest of the Passion Narrative that God’s answer to Jesus’ prayer is no. He will not remove the cup of suffering because through that experience salvation is offered to the world.
When you face hardships, it is encouraging to have friends who support you. In Philippians 4:13, Paul talks about doing all things through the One who strengthens him. Many forget Philippians 4:14, where the apostle begins, “Nevertheless.” It reads: “Nevertheless, it was kind of you to share my troubles” (ISV). This is what Jesus desired in Gethsemane. Three times He came seeking comfort from His disciples. Three times they were sleeping. At the end, He arouses them to go forth with Him to face the trial. He is ready; they are not.
(15)
What I picture...
Jesus headed to Gethsemane for what He knew would be His hardest moment on planet Earth. This would be His time of greatest temptation. So much more difficult than the 40 days in the wilderness and the perverted whisperings of the Devil He fought off there. The Battle of Gethsemane would be His weakest moment in the flesh. This would be the pivotal time in Earth's history when all the weight of all the world's sins were placed upon Him by the Father. By His Father. Not by an enemy. The pain of separation from His greatest Love would begin here. The demon whisperings in His head would start to crescendo on this night. Voices that said His Father didn't love Him, didn't approve of Him anymore, wasn't that loving because how could a loving Father do this. Voices claiming that the very real separation He was feeling was somehow His fault. Voices casting doubt on the plan created in heaven before the foundation of the world. He endured these temptations, along with the guilt and images being downloaded into His brain of all those sins that felt like His own. Think of all the most horrible news stories throughout time...and Jesus/God felt like He had done these things.
The heaviness of this battle was internal, so the blood started to seep out of the battlefield of the mind, from the inside out. We see Jesus walking along shedding friends in steps as He moves towards this moment that is His alone. He alone is the Chosen One, the Messiah. But....but....to me this is so meaningful....He doesn't shed his friends and disciples all together. He doesn't say, "Hey guys, this is going to be a stressful night for me. I've got to do something that you won't be able to help me with so why don't you go home and get some sleep. I'll meet up with you all again on Sunday after I'm done with this something big I've got to do." No. Jesus is always working the plan of salvation WITH HIS PEOPLE.
The spiritually weaker disciples He settles down first. 8 of the 12. Two-thirds. They are just to wait and sit while Jesus prays. Maybe they don't have the skills and stamina for praying purposefully yet. Jesus is going to do the praying for them...."Sit here until I have prayed" (Mark 14:32). Jesus brings Peter, James and John the closest in to the battleground spot, maybe because they are to be pillars of the early church (Gal. 2:9) and they will need extra training on being strong in adversity. Or maybe because spiritually they are ready for this advanced class. 3 out of 12. Only 25% of His followers are ready for this. He tells them to "keep watch" for Jesus and with Jesus, and pray in order to strengthen weak flesh before temptation (Mark 14:38). He specifically mentions Peter (Mark 14:37)...He knows Peter is about to be hit hard by the dark spiritual forces out that night. Peter is later going to preach great sermons that change the world after Pentecost, and perform great miracles. The healing presence of Jesus is going to one day be so intense on Peter that people were healed just by being around him (Acts 5:15)! Satan wants Peter taken out.
So this night is all about Jesus' work. But how meaningful is it that we see Jesus inviting His disciples to share this work with Him. Indeed, it is their witness to this night in Gethsemane that has been recorded in all the gospels. Jesus wants us to see what He is doing, pray with Him and for His mission and our part in it, and spread this story of His work to everyone. Jesus' work and us as witnesses to His work go hand-in-hand. We join Jesus on the inner battlefield in the fight against the immobilizing weight and sorrow of sin. We fight with Him against hopelessness, heaviness, and a distorted view of reality. Jesus had to bear sin by Himself, but He invites us to be His Body, battling in the Great Controversy beside Him and with Him. He gives us the power, the armor, the battle plan, the standard, the victory, the everything...but He does not ever say, "Don't worry, I'll do it all by myself, I don't need you." God chooses to yoke up with us for His work.
And the ending of this scene in Mark 14:42? ... It stands out for me that Jesus said, "Rise, let US be going." His disciples, and supposed-to-be friends, really hadn't been present with Him like He had asked. He could have left them there sleeping and headed to the Cross alone. But no, Jesus never gives up. He says "Us". After their failure at the Battle of Gethsemane, He invites them to the next battle.
Jesus does the same for us. He knows our faith will fail, and prays that it will not fail utterly (Luke 22:32). He gives us chances to enter trial after trial with Him. To grow stronger. To win more and more battles. To become very like our Commander-in-Chief while fighting off temptation. All the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are given promises "to he that overcometh". We overcome by watching with Jesus, watching Jesus, staying present with Him, following Him into the next battle, even if we've just failed Him miserably. Heaven came to strengthen Jesus to drink His cup (Luke 22:43) and heaven comes to strengthen us too, as we pray.
I just read your narrative of the Gethsemane experience and was very moved by it. I just shared it with the leader of a Bible Study group in which I participate (the only Adventist) and did give you credit. In this group we are currently discussing witnessing and sharing the gospel, and I thought that your emphasis of God's wanting to work with us, even though we often fall short, was very pertinent. I hope you don't mind. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission sometimes. I always look forward to your comments. May God bless and keep you.
Thank you for sharing, my brother Joe, and may God bless and keep you in the warmth of His love, also.
We tend to focus on the suffering of Jesus in Gethsemane, but I want to briefly mention that in his time of greatest need, Jesus' closest mates were sound asleep. That must have been hard. When I have been in serious trouble, I have found solace in sharing with someone I can trust. They don't even need to do anything other than be there and listen.
In the lead-up to this scene, the disciples had been concerned about the way things were turning out. Jesus, the Messiah was not going to set up a kingdom with his disciples as important people in the government. Their vision had been selfish and it had worn them out.
We are Christ's disciples in the modern world and I need to think of how I relate to Christ. Am I waiting for some vindication of how I have invested in my beliefs and am sleeping and slumbering on the job until it happens?
When we do wake up, is our reaction going to be as unrealistic as that of the disciples? That is something to think about in tomorrow's study.
I agree with the idea of the "greatest temptation." The often- cited temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, chaperoned by the Holy Spirit, was a "walk in the park" compared with this final period of temptation. I found it interesting that theologians fail to tag these events as the "temptation of Jesus Christ."
Gethsemane was where the fate of humanity hung in the balance. This was "ground zero" for the most intense and punishing psychological warfare ever.
Three times the Savior pleads that the cup of suffering He is beginning to experience be taken away, if possible. Three times He concludes, "nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done". The decision is made to go to the Cross for the sake of humanity, even if it means the eternal loss of His existence. This psychological battle was so intense that Jesus sweat became blood. You and I may have been in some hard places in our lifetimes, but never anything that intense. The devil knew that he had to break Christ now, or his dominion over mankind would be defeated. With the decision made, Christ rises to his feet, wipes the bloody sweat off his brow, and staggers over to his sleeping friends.
Where were his disciples when he needed them the most? Sleeping?! How could they sleep when they knew Jesus was starting to act strangely different than they ever saw him act? He clearly said that his "heart was sorrowful, even unto death". Translation, he felt like he was going to die right there. This is the "mother of all" anxiety attacks, and yet the disciples couldn't watch and pray to help him through it. Are we really much different today? I'm afraid that I am not.
"The words of the Saviour were borne to the ears of the drowsy disciples, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.”
The first impulse of the disciples was to go to Him; but He had bidden them tarry there, watching unto prayer. When Jesus came to them, He found them still sleeping.... His presence aroused them. They saw His face marked with the bloody sweat of agony, and they were filled with fear. His anguish of mind they could not understand. “His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” Isaiah 52:14.
Turning away, Jesus sought again His retreat, and fell prostrate, overcome by the horror of a great darkness. The humanity of the Son of God trembled in that trying hour. He prayed not now for His disciples that their faith might not fail, but for His own tempted, agonized soul. The awful moment had come—that moment which was to decide the destiny of the world. The fate of humanity trembled in the balance. Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup apportioned to guilty man. It was not yet too late. He might wipe the bloody sweat from His brow, and leave man to perish in his iniquity. He might say, Let the transgressor receive the penalty of his sin, and I will go back to My Father. Will the Son of God drink the bitter cup of humiliation and agony? Will the innocent suffer the consequences of the curse of sin, to save the guilty? The words fall tremblingly from the pale lips of Jesus, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.” CSA 33.2- 33.5
"Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish that the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as the sinner's substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God."
—The Desire of Ages, 753.
And to think that He did that for me, as well as thee. "What wondrous love is this, oh my soul?..."
Very good explanation Tim of what Christ went through for us. After reading all of your presentation, I appreciate what you presented to us. A solom thought for us you bring to my mind. What is Christ going through in heaven now for us when we sleep at the time we should now be wide awake.
Read Mark 14:32-42. What did Jesus pray in Gethsemane, and how was the prayer answered?
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
In Mark 14:32-42, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane asking God to let the cup of suffering pass from him if it was possible, but ultimately submitting to God's will. Jesus prayed, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will."
The prayer was ultimately answered when Jesus was arrested, crucified, and died on the cross. It was through his suffering and death that he was able to fulfill God's plan for the redemption of humanity. Jesus' ultimate acceptance of God's will in his prayer in Gethsemane shows his perfect obedience and submission to God's plan for salvation.
We need further description of the 'CUP'used in this narrative. Anyone with contextual background ?
Rutasha - it might be helpful to consider Matt.20:20-23, as well as Mark 10:35-45 when contemplating the meaning of the 'CUP'. Jesus' words describe the meaning in clear terms. The Book of Revelation provides references to the meaning of 'CUP' as well. 1 Cor.10:21 provides another reference.
Would there have been a different way to show the world that our Creator God has the power to resurrect those who believe and die in Jesus Christ by faith in Him and His Word? No! Jesus taught from the beginning that He came to fulfill His Father's Will. It was prophesied that an event would come to call upon Him to lay down His life for us – John 15:13.
Jesus knew that the time had come, but the Father did not offer Him another way; His death and resurrection was to be the last testimony to demonstrate the power of Israel’s God, but His disciples slept as Jesus Christ readied Himself to return to the Father.
There was no better way for Jesus to let the world know that trusting His heavenly Father and having faith in His Word will lead to everlasting Life - so He drank the 'cup' offered to Him; it was to be His Father's last request before calling Him back from the grave to be His Son who had become our Lord and Savior.
It was Jesus' cup to drink and He did not disappoint His Father. Looking back, I can see God’s Grace working out His plan of Salvation from the Beginning. His Son, who became our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was called to be the last witness to show Isreal and all the world that the cycle of sin and death had come to an end.
Jesus was faithful as He laid down His life so we can receive life everlasting. He did not leave us, giving us the Holy Spirit to comfort us and take His place in leading us into all Truth - John 14:16.
What I get from this is that even a "No" from God comes from a place of love. Today we have the gift of salvation and the promise of eternal life because God said "no" in that garden. We should keep the faith even when things aren't going well, even when life isn't so rosy and trust that God is working good for us, although I do acknowledge that this is easier said than done so God help us.
It is essential to know God’s purpose for your life, but even more important to remain submitted to God’s will throughout your life. Jesus knew his purpose but had to remain submitted to God to the very end. His life is a model for my continuous submission.
The experience of Jesus and his tired disciples who did not yet understand the assignment shows me how crucial it is to have a personal prayer life for myself, where I can agonize with Christ. Others are not always aware of the gravity of the assignment God has given to us and may not therefore see the need for deep, agonizing prayer to God.