Passage
Jesus leads His disciples to a place called Gethsemane. Once there, He instructs His disciples to sit
and to pray. He then takes Peter, James,
and John and goes a little further, where it becomes apparent that He is in
distress. He instructs Peter, James, and
John to wait for Him while He goes to pray on His own on account of the weight
of the situation and its effect on His spirit.
He goes a little further beyond the three and falls to the ground,
praying that this time might pass from Him.
In prayer, Jesus then calls upon His Abba. He prays that His cup might pass from
Him. He also prays that not His own will
be done, but that God’s will should be done.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Once more we see the structure of Jesus’ companions. Jesus leads His disciples into
Gethsemane. Then He separates out His
inner circle and tells them to follow. It
isn’t that Jesus was playing favorites as much as these were the disciples who
had been with Jesus the most. These were
the ones that had accompanied him to Jairus’ house. These were the ones that had been with Him to
see the transfiguration. These were the
disciple who would be first among the twelve to be martyred (James), the
disciple who would lead the early church (Peter), and the disciple who would
speak to those in persecution (John). As
Jesus faces the cross, He wants those spiritually closest to Him beside Him so
that comfort as well as teaching may still occur.
Why do we want those to whom we are close to be near us
during difficult times? What comfort is
brought about through shared spirituality?
What can the disciples learn from Jesus even in this moment?
Second Thought:
Jesus is in distress in the garden. There can be no doubt that He felt human
emotions as He faced what lay before Him.
He was God; He knew the coming result.
He was human; He knew the pain that would need to be endured. In no greater story in scripture do I find
these aspects of Jesus more visible that here.
Jesus’ divinity and humanity wrestle within Him in a perfect balance of
God-made-man. Rest assured, this final
moment of freedom before the arrest, trial, and crucifixion was no easy moment
for Jesus.
Have you ever thought about how Jesus must have
wrestled? Why is it easy to think about
Jesus’ divinity in this part and ignore how hard this moment must have been for
Jesus? Why is it important that we do
not overlook His humanity in the garden?
Third Thought:
Jesus asks that the cup be taken away from Him. We do not know exactly to what Jesus is referring. Some people think Jesus is asking to get out
of the crucifixion entirely. Others
think that Jesus is pleading for mercy upon His disciples that they wouldn’t
have to go through this moment. I think instead
of either of these there is one really good candidate for speculation. In the Old Testament, the cup is often a sign
of God’s wrath. Jesus knows that by
going to the cross He will be drinking God’s cup of wrath to the fullest. God will “forsake” Him – a topic we’ll save
for when we study it in Mark 15.
However, what we truly see in Jesus in this story is a man who
submits. He is obedient. He is obedient because of His relationship
with His Father. That’s literally what
Abba means. Because Jesus knows who His
Father is, He can also know what His identity is. He knows He is the Messiah, who is come into
the world. Because He knows His
identity, He also knows how to obey. He
submits to God so that the will of the Father might be done.
Have you ever read this passage with respect to Christ’s
declaration of identity and how that helps Him submit to the Father? Why is it important to you to not miss the
declaration of submission Jesus makes in the garden?
Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 14: 37-42
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