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.” ~ Mark 14:32-36
Today, we return to Mark 14 where the Lord Jesus has just told His disciples that after His crucifixion, they will all run for their lives. In doing so, they will deny their association with the Lord Jesus. In response, all of the disciples pled that they would never abandon the Lord. Of course, the Lord already knew their hearts, and this is why we love the Lord so much. He knows us better than we do ourselves, and yet, He is still committed to us.
In v.32-34 of today's passage we read,"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.'"
"Gethsemane" comes from two Hebrew words meaning "the olive press." In those days, olive oil was made by taking two stones, an upper stone which would revolve around the lower stone. And anything between the two stones was crushed. When the olives were crushed, the oil that came forth was gathered and collected and sold.
The real value of the olive comes when it's crushed. You can eat the olives, but the real value is discovered in the crushing of the olives. This is yet again another picture of the economy of God. The Lord Jesus came to this earth to be crushed for the forgiveness of our sin. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, "God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in him."
The Lord Jesus took Peter, James, and John along with Him while He prayed. He left the other eight at the entrance of the garden, but He took Peter, James, and John deeper into the garden because they were the leaders.
Interestingly, there were two other occasions when this inner circle joined the Lord Jesus exclusively: The first was at the house of Jairus when the Lord raised the daughter of Jarius from the dead. The second time was on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Lord Jesus was transfigured before Moses and Elijah and the three disciples. There the Lord Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah about His departure.
All three of these instances have something in common, and, it is death. And, here in today's passage, the Lord Jesus presented Himself to the Father for death. I also find it interesting that the very first Christian martyr was James. And, the last to die was John. The middle one was Peter who would be crucified upside down in Rome.
According to v.33, the Lord Jesus was "deeply distressed and troubled." The word "distressed" is a compound form of the verb "to be amazed." Even though He was omniscient, death was an experience that He had never had, and He was about to have it. He was amazed because death was totally alien to everything He had ever experienced and had ever known.
And, death caused Him to be troubled meaning to be astonished. The Lord Jesus was deeply amazed and astonished in His anguish. He possessed something we have never known with reference to sin: He had a perfect hatred for sin. Everything in His being was repulsed by the thought of it. His plea to avoid it was absolutely consistent with His nature as God.
As indicated in v.34, the Lord Jesus was "overwhelmed with sorrow" which literally means to be surrounded by sorrow. He was engulfed in this grief to the point of death. He had never said "yes" to alienation from His Father. He had never said "yes" to guilt. He had never said "yes" to sin-bearing. He had never said "yes" to punishment. His anguish was caused by the cup of God's wrath which He knew awaited Him on the cross, and He struggled with the idea. It bothered Him so much that He asked the Father for a way out of it.
In v.35-36 of today's passage we read, "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."
Peter, James and John went deeper with the Lord Jesus so that they would be taught how to pray amid weakness. James and John were the ones who were so confident they thought they ought to sit on the right hand and the left hand of the Lord Jesus in His kingdom. And, Peter thought of himself to be the most elevated and exalted of all. Given their strengths, they needed to be reminded of the place of weakness in effective leadership. We are at our strongest when we are most convinced that we need God. We are at our strongest when we are dependent upon the Lord.
The Lord Jesus referred to the Father as "Abba" which is a very intimate word meaning "daddy." No Jew would ever even consider calling God Father, let alone call Him Abba. But, our Lord calls on the affectionate, intimate, personal name of God as if pleading for that intimate love to rescue Him. And, notice the way the Lord Jesus prayed was to request of His Daddy and then rest in His response. This is the way we should prayer, to request and rest. The Lord Jesus submitted to the will of His Daddy. In His human nature the Lord Jesus felt anxiety, but, in the end He said, "Yet not what I will, but what you will." The Lord Jesus submitted Himself to whatever the Father wanted because He knew the character and nature of his Daddy, that He could be completely trusted with the outcome, even though He struggled with it.
