ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 12 DAY 4
Mark 14:32 – 42
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
“NO” is a strong and powerful word in the English language. We hate to hear it anytime we ask for something, or for permission, and it is certainly not the word we expect or want to hear from God.
And yet when Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, knowing the intense pain that was going to lead to death was coming for Him in the following hours, prayed out to the Father to relieve Him from that coming pain and death, not once or twice, but three times. Even for Jesus, the Father’s answer was “no.”
In order to accomplish salvation for the world, God would not let Jesus avoid the pain and suffering that was coming. What was coming for Jesus was so that the world (you and me), that God the Father loved so much, would receive the salvation it could not achieve on its own. That salvation, that we all need, could only come through bloodshed and death of the perfect Lamb: a life for a life.
God the Father said “no” to God the Son’s request because it was what was best for humanity! And if God would say “no” to His own Son for the benefit of all humanity, then God’s “no” to you and me is what is best for us, even though that is hard to accept!