Tag Archives: Gethsemane

MARK’S GOSPEL…GETHSEMANE – 37

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Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭32‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.””

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Gethsemane…”the press”. For believers, Gethsemane arouses feelings of sadness, foreboding, impending horror, but…Gethsemane was just an olive grove outside Jerusalem, a garden of trees that bore an abundance of olives. Who owned Gethsemane? No on knows but…Gethsemane was the place Jesus chose for His final and greatest battle. 

The name of the garden, Gethsemane, means “press”, an apt title for the processing of olives, and an even more apt symbol of Jesus’ next few hours. As the flesh of the olive fruit was bruised, broken, and severely pressed to extract the precious oil, so the “flesh” of our Saviour, His vulnerable human nature, was pressed beyond human limit to extract…what? To press every other consideration to protect and preserve Himself except His commitment to do the will of the Father. 

Said Isaiah…

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The piercing, the crushing, the wounding He anticipated was not against but in complete harmony with the Father’s will. In His battle in the garden, He must, once again, as He did throughout His life, surrender His will to the will of the Father. 

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

For Jesus, the issue of suffering and death was far more than the way He would leave earth and returned to heaven. It was how He made the transition from Gethsemane to Calvary, and Calvary to the tomb that would be the difference between life and death. 

Let’s consider one statement the writer to the Hebrews made that gives us a glimpse of the real nature of the battle.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How profound is this insight into the relentless war Jesus waged, a war which reached its climax in Gethsemane! Death would be, if He failed to submit to the Father, not just the end of His earthly life but also the end of His eternal position in heaven and the destiny of all mankind. He would suffer the same fate as all fallen humanity, and be separated from the Father forever. 

From the eternal “now” of eternity, when Jesus embraced the Father’s will to be the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world, to the moment of His conception in the womb of Mary and to this moment, Jesus had one all-consuming objective…to do the Father’s will.

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.””

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus submitted to Him in every thought, word, and deed during His life on earth. What, then, was the battle that He fought, that caused Him to suffer, and to learn obedience through His suffering? Was it the relentless temptation to choose self-will over the Father’s will?

Again, Hebrews answers the question for us. 

“For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Please note these Scriptures because in them is the heart of what Jesus came to do!

  1. Jesus was as fully human as we are…flesh and spirit. 
  2. Like the first Adam before he sinned, Jesus, the last Adam, was able to sin and able not to sin, able to obey or not to obey the Father. 
  3. To be a perfect high priest and atoning sacrifice, He had to do the Father’s will perfectly. 
  4. He had to endure and overcome the same temptations we suffer, to obey the father, no matter what. 

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In what way did Jesus suffer being tempted?

Here, Peter answers the question for us.

“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The crux of the issue was…how would Jesus react to unjust suffering, His way  as a man or God’s way as His Son? Suffering unjustly is the expression of what Jesus’ people did to Him…rejection…and produces one of two reactions…of the flesh or of the spirit? The flesh retaliates to protect self, the spirit responds to glorify and trust the Father. 

Again, Peter explains…

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The way Jesus responded to unjust suffering was the greatest evidence of His commitment to doing the Father’s will. In those final moments, in the heat of the fire that lay before Him, before His arrest and trial, He had to settle the issue once and for all, His will or the Father’s will?

For Jesus, this was “the press”, so intense that the sweat poured from Him like the flow of blood from a fatal wound. With His choice came the peace that carried Him through to His final breath. Compassion for His tormentors and His killers spoke forgiveness from His parched lips, and assurance to a lost soul hanging on a cross beside Him of a place in paradise with Him.

So, as for Jesus, so for us, His followers, our suffering in temptation and our victory over temptation is to choose Him over ourselves and His way over our way. The way of non-retaliation defeats every demand of the flesh for vindication. 

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬

Then we will be in the safest place on earth, in the will of God. 

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – ONE MAN – ALONE!

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ONE MAN – ALONE!

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer Mark 14:32-42

What did this time Jesus spent in the garden mean to Him and what could a time like this mean to us? He did not plunge into His agony and suffering unprepared. Just as it was His custom to spend time with the Father at the beginning of each day to prepare for His day, so now how much more did He need to be prepared for what lay ahead.

How hard it must have been for the Father to remain resolute in the face of His Son’s anguish! To remain silent to His Son’s plea and to allow Jesus to reach His decision alone and to determine in His heart to obey the decision they had made before the foundation of the world, must have wrung the Father’s heart out as well.

This had to be Jesus’ choice without argument or persuasion. He knew what the Father wanted. He understood the bigger picture. To refuse to comply to save His own skin was unthinkable because it would cost everything He had come to do – no family for God, no-one upon whom to lavish His love and generosity; all His dreams for the human race and for His eternal kingdom up in smoke. There was no plan B. Everything hung on this one decision and its consequences.

But Jesus’ heart was tender towards the Father. Above everything else He chose to be one with Him. But Jesus, like us, was not alone. He offered Himself as a sacrifice through the Eternal Spirit. He lived His entire human life in the environment of the Holy Spirit, in His company, in His power, under His guidance and in fellowship with Him. Not even on the road ahead would He be alone. Once the decision was made, He would carry it out in the power of the Spirit.

He could not continue unless and until He had made His choice. In that instant the camera began to roll on a most astonishing drama – the Son of God striding out to do battle with the enemy, not cringing in fear but resolute in faith and courage because He was already the winner. In His heart He challenged the devil to do His worst, to deluge Him with everything hell could muster to get Him to break rank with the Father. His choice would stand, and it did!

From that moment human beings revealed what they really thought of God; they ridiculed, insulted and humiliated Him; they spat in His face, pulled out His beard, beat Him almost to death, stripped Him naked, nailed Him to a cross and left Him there to die under the boiling midday sun. The only words He had for them were, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.”

Jesus showed the world what it is like to protect love and unity at any cost and to emerge the winner over both man and Satan. And He paid for man’s failure to do just that. He put the record straight, once and for all. One man obeyed God – completely!

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE UNITY

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THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE UNITY

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer Mark 14:32-42

Jesus’ hour was very near. He began to feel the weight of the ordeal He was entering. Gethsemane was the olive grove where olives were grown and processed for their oil. How appropriate that it was here that Jesus prayed and fought His greatest battle. Gethsemane means “press”, the place of the press, the name that is forever connected to Jesus and His prayer, “Not what I want but what you want.”

The gospels record two of Jesus’ great personal battles, one at the beginning of His public ministry and the other at the end. They represent the reversal of Adam’s failure in the Garden of Eden. Adam was lured into mistrusting God’s love and stepping out of his ECHAD with God by believing that being like God was being free to make his own rules.

Satan tried the same trick on Jesus but with no success because Jesus knew the meaning and value of being one with the Father. The devil tried to lure Him into independence and disobedience in the wilderness with no success, and now here in the olive grove He was pressed with the weight of the world’s sin to the extent that He wanted out.

What was at the heart of the struggle? To remain one with the Father in spite of the cost to Himself. This was not about reluctant submission or resignation to the inevitable. This was about willingly embracing the Father’s will so that they could go through the whole process of His death as an atoning sacrifice together. It was through the eternal Spirit that He offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God.

In this war to maintain ECHAD with God, we have a three-fold enemy: the world, the flesh and the devil. Each of these has one end in view – to break our ECHAD with God and lure us into acting independently of Him. Obedience to God’s will is the tangible evidence of the oneness we have with him. Like Jesus, our greatest battle is to preserve that unity through trust and obedience.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE FLESH IS WEAK

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THE FLESH IS WEAK

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer Mark 14:32-42

We can’t really blame the disciples for going to sleep while Jesus went off to pray. In spite of His many warnings, they didn’t know what lay up ahead for them. They had drunk wine at their Passover supper and it was late at night. They had not yet learned to be vigilant over their souls. They were perhaps not yet aware of the nature and intensity of the war they were in. While Jesus was fully aware of His struggle, they were not. It would only be on hindsight that the whole terrible picture would become clear to them.

Had we been any of them would we have been any different? Apart from their immediate circumstances, their minds were out of sync with Jesus and would remain stuck in their rut until the Holy Spirit came to dwell in them and to lead them into all truth.

Throughout their journey with the human Jesus, how much praying had they ever done? They were deeply impressed by His prayer life and begged Him to teach them to pray, but no amount of instruction would take the place of actually praying. It seems that they had not yet reached that stage of maturity in their walk with God. They were still spectators, watching and admiring Jesus, but not yet fully in the game themselves.

Is it any wonder that He told them that it was to their benefit that He would leave them? How were they ever going to become involved if He were always there to live the life for them? They needed to be thrown into the deep end, to be aware of their vulnerability when He was no longer with them, so that they would learn to lean hard on God through the Holy Spirit’s presence in them. Jesus was the only one, at this moment, who understood the struggle between flesh and spirit. To the one who simply follows the dictates of the flesh, there is no struggle, but to the one who sincerely desires to live for God, the war is on and only the power of God can give victory over the flesh.

The Agony Of The Hour

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THE AGONY OF THE HOUR

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ He said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’ Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from Him. ‘Abba, Father,’ He said, ‘everything is possible to you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’ (Mark 14: 32- 36).

It is painful to eavesdrop on a moment like this. How can we ever know what Jesus felt like as He agonised to the Father over the coming ordeal? Up to this point, His announcements to His disciples concerning His death were matter-of-fact and philosophical, but here, in the garden, the reality and inevitability of it all came rushing towards Him like a freight train. He had spent His last precious hours with His disciples. In a few minutes He would be ripped from them and dragged through the streets of Jerusalem to face the hostility and hatred that had festered for so long but was now coming to a head.  

He was human. He needed the reassurance and love of the men into whom He had poured His life for the past three years. He needed their nearness, even if they could do nothing for Him. He needed to know that they were there for Him when He looked around for them in the hostile territory of the enemy. He needed to know that they were still for Him even if the whole world was against Him.

As they walked together through the garden, the full moon lighting their way and casting eerie shadows across their path, Jesus became restless and agitated. They had never seen Him like this before. His usually calm and placid demeanour gave way to anguish and distress. Stopping a moment among the trees, He motioned for His men to stay there while He and His three closest companions went on ahead. Puzzled, they sat down to await His return.

Leaving the three behind on guard while He went a stones-throw from them and dropped to the ground in an agony of groaning, He entreated the Father to save Him from the coming horror. He could feel the hot breath of His betrayer on His cheek as he kissed Him, signalling to the mob that came to arrest Him who the “criminal” was. When they had Him in their clutches, there would be no escape. He would have to decide, then and there, whether He was willing to go through with it or not. There was still time for Him to slip away, as He had done in the past because His hour had not yet come. This was His hour. What would He do?

In characteristic fashion, Jesus turned to the Father. He had never acted outside His will, not for a second throughout His sojourn on earth, and He was not about to do so now. It must, as always, be the Father’s decision. He ached for release, but He would bow to the Father’s will, no matter what. Perspiration dripped from His brow, staining the soil around Him red with the bloody sweat.

Addressing His beloved Father in the most tender and intimate terms of endearment, ‘Abba,’ He pleaded for release. “Let this cup pass from me.”  What cup? There is a “cup” which everyone must drink. It is either a cup of suffering – a cup of God’s wrath, or a cup of salvation. For Jesus, it was the cup of God’s wrath, not just a cup, but the cup, the one that must be drained to the dregs for the sin of the whole world so that those who believe in Him would have no other cup to drink but the cup of salvation.

What was the cause of Jesus’ agony? Was it the thought of the physical pain that lay ahead of Him? Perhaps, but I believe that He faced something far worse than that. For the holy and perfect Son of God to be made sin for us must have filled His soul with revulsion. For Him to falter through the ordeal for even a second, to take His eyes off the Father and react like a mere man, would have doomed Him to eternal death like the rest of mankind.

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. (Heb. 5:7-9)

This was the moment! It was now that He had to decide, and with the decision, seal His own eternal destiny and the destiny of all mankind which hung on His choice. Listen to His heart. Yet not what I will, but what you will. The Father said nothing, and Jesus knew what His answer was. It had been planned from the beginning of creation.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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