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JESUS PRAYS IN GETHSEMANE

Mark 14:27-42

Key Verse 32

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

Introduction

Through the previous passage, we learned what the blood of the covenant meant. Now the time of Jesus’ crucifixion was imminent. Jesus needed this time to prepare himself for his upcoming suffering on the cross. It appeared to be easy for Him to take the cross. But the truth is that Jesus had a human body and it must have been hard for Him to do so. It was absolutely necessary for Him to pray to reveal His humanity. Like Him, may God help us go to the Garden of Gethsemane to learn how Jesus prepared himself to obey God’s salvation plan, especially in this pandemic.

Read verses 27-31. What did Jesus say to His disciples? (27, 28) What was Peter’s response? (29) What can we learn from the conversation between Jesus and the disciples? (30, 31)

1-1, Read verses 27-31.

“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’[d]

28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice[e] you yourself will disown me three times.”

31 But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

1-2, What did Jesus say to His disciples? (27, 28)

“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’

28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

After having the Lord’s Supper, Jesus and his disciples went out to the mount of Olive, all except Judas Iscariot.
As soon as they arrived, Jesus told them that they would all fall away. Jesus told them, ‘for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”‘
Jesus already mentioned about the betrayal of one of his disciples. Now Jesus said that all of them would fall away and be scattered.
Jesus gave them the promise of his resurrection. “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
This promise declares that even though evil men put Jesus to death, he will rise again on the third day.
Even if his disciples fell away, Jesus would not abandon them. Jesus gave them hope by his words.
Jesus would indeed meet them in Galilee and reinstate them as witnesses of his death and resurrection to the ends of the earth.

1-3, What was Peter’s response? (29)

29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

Peter could not believe that he would fall away from Jesus like a coward. Peter’s pride was hurt because Jesus said “all” will fall away including himself.
He thought he was better than the rest. He thought he was special, different from other disciples. It’s pretty natural to think well of ourselves and poorly of others.

1-4, What can we learn from the conversation between Jesus and the disciples? (30, 31)

30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”

31 But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Jesus predicted that Peter would do worse than the other disciples. Even though they would fall away, Peter would deny Jesus “three times” that very night.
What a shocking prediction! Peter, the top disciple, would deny Jesus not just one time but two and three times!
Immediately Peter defended himself, saying, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you”.
Jesus knew that as long as Peter depended only on himself, he would never pray and surely fail at the time of his own trials.
We too can make bold statements that we are ready to die for Jesus. But in reality we have a hard time just keeping our day to day appointments.
Therefore, Jesus wanted Peter to realize how weak he was so that he might depend on God through prayer and join Jesus’ spiritual battle at Gethsemane.

Read verses 32-34. Why did Jesus go to a place called Gethsemane together with Peter, James, and John? (32, 33a) What can we learn about Jesus’ humanity? (33b, 34)

2-1, Read verses 32-34.

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.”

2-2, Why did Jesus go to a place called Gethsemane together with Peter, James, and John? (32, 33a)

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,

Jesus went with his disciples to Gethsemane to pray as the final preparation for his rejection, suffering and crucifixion.
He took Peter, James and John along with him, probably because He wanted to show how to struggle through prayer and they were considered to be partners.
Although they were spiritually immature, Jesus encouraged them to learn how to rely on the prayer and the Holy Spirit.

2-3, What can we learn about Jesus’ humanity? (33b, 34)

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.”

Most people think that Jesus was so extraordinary that it was no big deal for him to die on the cross.
But the Bible says it was not so. Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled. His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Jesus was like us.
No one wants to die. Especially no one wants to die a painful death on the cross. Everyone wants to live happily ever after.
But God’s will for Jesus was to die on the cross as the Lamb of God. Being crucified and nailed on the cross is too painful to think about.
More than that, on the cross the sinless Son of God had to take all our sins upon himself and be punished and condemned by God.
That was unbearable for him even to think about. He was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.
At this time of distress and trouble, Jesus came to Gethsemane with his disciples. In Jesus’ ministry he has always prayed for his disciples.
This time Jesus needed prayer support from his disciples. That was the reason Jesus said, “Stay here and keep watch.”

Here we learned that Jesus “prayed” at the time of distress and trouble. Some people doubt God’s love. Some become anxious and depressed.
Others seek sympathy from friends by sharing all their troubles with them. Others tried to forget it, going to see movies. We must come to God in prayer like Jesus.

Read verses 35-42. How did Jesus pray and what was His prayer topic? (35, 36) What happened to Jesus after His 3 consecutive and strenuous prayers? (37-42) What can we learn from Jesus and His disciples?

3-1, Read verses 35-42.

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[f] 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!”

3-2, How did Jesus pray and what was His prayer topic? (35, 36)

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[f] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus went a little farther and fell to the ground. His prayer was meant to be very personal before His Father in Heaven. His posture show His humility.
“‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Jesus began his prayer by calling God “Abba Father.” Abba means “Daddy.” What a sweet love relationship Jesus had with his Father.
Jesus had a deep and unshakable assurance of God’s love in his heart. Often we must go through hardships and adversities.
At these times, it is easy for us to become slaves to fear. It is easy for us to doubt God’s love, saying, “If God loves me, why am I suffering like this?”
Like Jesus, in all circumstances, we must call God, “Abba,” like Jesus and have assurance in God’s love.
Jesus said, “Take this cup from me.” Here the cup means the cup of betrayal, suffering and death on the cross.
If possible, Jesus did not want to take the cup of suffering and death. So he prayed to God, “Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.”
This was what he wanted and desired from his heart. Jesus was not really asking God to change his salvation plan.
Jesus was not being rebellious to God. Jesus was expressing his heart honestly before God. But he did not stop here. He went forward.
Jesus also prayed to obey God’s will. He prayed, “Yet not what I will but what you will.”
Even though he was the Son of God, he could not obey the will of God naturally. He needed a fierce battle against his own will.

Hebrews 5:8, 9 says,

“Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…”

If Jesus did not pray at Gethsemane, he might not accomplish the work of world salvation. The same is true with us.
Here we learn that we cannot obey God’s will naturally. In order to obey the will of God, we need to pray like Jesus’ prayer of Gethsemane.
God’s will for Jesus was that he became the way of salvation for all sinners through his death on the cross.
This was Jesus’ holy mission to carry out. As we study the Bible, we come to know what God’s will is, that is to spread the good news of Jesus to all nations.
Again due to our earthbound desire like His disciples we cannot carry out God’s great will and purpose for us with our human strength or willpower alone.
God wants us to carry out His will, co-working with one another with one mind. God wants us to carry out God’s will, depending on God in prayer.
Sinful human beings are self-centered. But we must be God-centered. We are fully aware of what we want. We want to have ease and pleasure.
We want worldly recognition. But we must be fully aware of what God wants us to do. “Yet not what I will but what you will” should be our prayer topic.
When we deny our petty desires and give up our own comfort zone and submit ourselves to God’s great will, God makes our lives great, fruitful, meaningful.

3-3, What happened to Jesus after His 3 consecutive and strenuous prayers? (37-42)

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.

3-4, What can we learn from Jesus and His disciples?

When Jesus returned to the disciples, He found that they did not pray. Probably they took the pose of prayer but soon fell asleep.
When Jesus came to his disciples the second time, they were still sleeping. This time, Jesus did not wake them up.
When he returned a third time, he saw that they were sleeping too much. So he said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough!”
Unlike them, after 3 consecutive prayers, Jesus was fully prepared to meet any kind of trial–even crucifixion. ‘The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Through prayer, Jesus received new spiritual strength from God. Before prayer at Gethsemane, Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled.
But after prayer, Jesus was full of spirit, ready to meet the betrayer, the trial, the suffering, and even death on the cross.
Here we learn that through prayer Jesus won the victory before fighting. May God help us to experience many victories through our own Gethsemane prayer.

Conclusion

Today we learned that Jesus prayed at Gethsemane before his upcoming suffering and crucifixion. Through prayer, Jesus decided to obey God’s will for himself. Through prayer, Jesus renewed his strength to meet the cross. May God help us to come to God in prayer in all circumstances, especially in times of distress and trouble like this pandemic. May God help us to carry out God’s will for each of us through our own Gethsemane prayer like Jesus.

One Word: Jesus prayed