Jesus - Humbling Himself for the Sake of God the Father - Mark 14:32-52

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

Have you ever known parents who really wanted their children to go to college after high school but dreaded the idea of their children growing up and moving away from home?  Think about how that typically plays out.  Mom and dad are excited about the achievement of their child and so they celebrate his or her hard work and graduation from high school.  They know that college is a good thing and that it will provide their child with the tools he or she needs to have a career, so they spend the summer preparing.  They go on shopping trips to make sure their child has everything he or she needs for the dorm room.  They buy mini-refrigerators, coffee pots, and storage containers.  They start purchasing text books and computers.  All the while they may be dreading having their son or daughter out of the house.  Still they continue to move forward because they know in their hearts that this is the best thing for their son or daughter.  Then the dreaded day in August comes – freshman move-in day.  The family piles in the already stuffed SUV, drives to the campus, unloads the SUV and helps get the dorm room situated.  By mid-afternoon the SUV is empty, the dorm room looks like a habitable space, and now mom and dad are staring reality in the face.  Before it was far off.  Before it was something that was still a few months, weeks, or even days away.  But now it’s here.  In just a few minutes they are going to get back in the SUV and return home, but their son or daughter won’t be coming with them.  For the first time since the birth of their son or daughter they will be forced to experience an extended separation from him or her.  And with that reality staring them right in the face, what does the mom typically do?  She starts crying.  Why?  Because her heart is filled with sorrow and anguish because the one she loves so much is going to be separated from her for the first time.  Those feelings had been easier to deal with earlier on, because separation wasn’t a present reality and because she could remind herself of the good that college would do for her son or daughter.  But now the time has come to separate and the weight of that separation is much heavier.  There is no time left and the reality of this separation is breaking the mother’s heart.      

Would you be surprised if I told you that Jesus experienced something very similar to what the mother in this illustration experienced?  God had sent Jesus to earth to accomplish a very specific purpose.  Jesus knew that it would be costly on His part to accomplish the task, but He also knew that it would bring about the most good.  So for most of His life He moved forward with great resolve to accomplish that purpose.  But the Bible also tells us that when Jesus came face to face with the reality of what He was going to experience His heart was filled with sorrow and anguish.  Understading this moment of great sorrow and anguish in Jesus’ life is crucial for us if we are to rightly understand who Jesus is and the mission that He was sent to accomplish.  That moment and what follows paint a clear picture for us of who Jesus is, what He was going to do, and how that would impact His relationship with God the Father.  In addition we’ll note two specific ways that Jesus humbled Himself for the sake of God the Father.

After Jesus and His disciples had celebrated the Passover meal together and spent some time on the Mount of Olives, Mark says that He and His disciples went down the mountain to a place called “Gethsemane” (vs. 32).  Gethsemane was a valley at the foot of the Mount of Olives which derived its name from the Hebrew word meaning ‘wine press.’  Mark tells us that Jesus had come here for a very specific reason, to pray.  Verse 32 says that Jesus asked His disciples to sit and wait for Him while He went to pray.  But not all of the disciples remained there because Jesus took His closest disciples, Peter, James, and John with Him a little further.  It was while Jesus was with these three that Mark says Jesus began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 

For Mark’s original readers, those who would have been reading the text in the Greek language, this is where they would have begun to pay close attention because of Mark’s use of some very descriptive language.  It is while He is in Gethsemane that Jesus begins to experience a great spiritual and emotional affliction.  The Greek word that our Bibles translate as ‘distressed’ is a rare word in the NT, found only in Mark’s gospel.  It actually carries the meaning of being alarmed or struck with terror.  The Greek word that our Bibles translates as ‘troubled’ is also a rare word in the NT, found only once in Matthew’s gospel and here in Mark’s.  It carries the meaning of being greatly distressed or anguished, and is the strongest of the Greek verbs that communicate this idea.  So Jesus was not a little distressed or troubled.  The language Mark uses suggests that Jesus was struck with terror and experiencing great anguish.  In verse 34 Jesus even communicates this to Peter, James, and John when He says, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.”  Again Mark uses a rare word in the Greek which means “exceedingly sorrowful” or “overcome with such sorrow as to cause death.”  The sorrow, distress, and trouble that Jesus was experiencing at that moment were unlike any that any other person has ever experienced.  James Edwards adds that “nothing in all the Bible compares to Jesus’ agony and anguish in Gethsemane.”  Because of His great anguish and because Jesus knew what was to come, He gives these three disciples the command to remain there and watch.  These three were the ones who had boasted about their discipleship and had made a big deal of their loyalty and faithfulness (James and John when they had asked if they could be seated at Jesus’ right and left and then boasted that they could be baptized with the same baptism that Jesus was going to receive, 10:38-39; Peter when he boasted that he would not fall away, even if everyone else did, 14:29-31).  Certainly if any of the disciples could be counted on it was supposed to be these three.  So Jesus commands them to remain there and watch and then verse 36 tells us that Jesus went on a little further and literally fell on the ground and began to pray.

The question that begs to be answered is, “What is it that is causing Jesus to experience such great sorrow, distress, and anguish?  Why does Jesus, who had proclaimed His coming death and has resolutely led His disciples into Jerusalem where He would face His death, become so burdened in this place and at this time?”  The content of Jesus’ prayer helps answer this question.  The end of verse 35 and verse 36 says that He prayed, “if it were possible, that hour might pass from Him.  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.’”  Jesus’ prayer seems to suggest that He is wrestling with something that is more involved than just His death.  Mark expressed Jesus’ purpose in coming in 10:45 when He quoted Jesus saying, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”  But before Jesus could give His life as a ransom, He had to acquiesce to the Father’s will of “bearing the sin of many and making intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).  James Edwards asks the question, “who can imagine what it would be like to stand before God to answer for every sin and crime and act of malice and injury and cowardice and evil in the world.”  With the cross just a few hours away Jesus is wrestling with what exactly lies before Him.  In bearing the sin of humanity Jesus will become completely alienated from His Father.  “The specter of identifying with sinners so fully as to become the object of God’s wrath against sin – it is this that overwhelms Jesus’ soul ‘to the point of death’” (J. Edwards).  In Gethsemane Jesus is standing face to face with the reality of God’s will.  The reality of what it means to fully submit to God’s will is just a few short hours away.  And as Jesus stares this frightening reality in the face He’s asking the Father if there’s any other way.  Jesus doesn’t want to experience the Father’s wrath.  He doesn’t want to be cut off from the Father.  Being separated from the Father is something Jesus has never experienced.  And so we see the heart of the Son which longs to remain in contact with the Father wrestling with the will of the Father which is to have His Son be the substitute for sin.  But the last part of Jesus’ prayer, “yet not what I will, but what you will” shows that His desire to carry out His Father’s will is greater than His own desire to avoid this separation.  It’s here that we see Jesus humble Himself for the sake of God the Father by submitting to the will of the Father.

In verse 37 Jesus returns to Peter, James and John and finds these three ‘model’ disciples sleeping.  (The reality is it was probably incredibly difficult for them to stay awake – it was late at night, they had just consumed a very big meal, and had probably had two or three glasses of wine.)  Jesus is frustrated when He finds them this way.  So He wakes the three and rebukes them for falling asleep.  Then He commands them in verse 38 to remain vigilant and to pray, “that you may not enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Jesus was reminding these three (and Mark his readers) that “trusting and obeying God are not default responses of disciples of Jesus, but ongoing struggles against temptation and weakness” (J. Edwards). 

In verses 39 and 40 we see the same thing repeated.  Jesus goes away alone to pray some more.  Still wrestling with what is to come He pleads with the Father in the same manner.  When He returns a second time to Peter, James, and John they are again sleeping.  Verse 41 suggests that Jesus then goes away a third time, but this time, upon His return to Peter, James, and John He has something new to say.  Jesus finds Peter, James, and John sleeping and still frustrated calls them not only to wake up, but to get up.  Jesus tells them there’s been enough sleeping and the hour is at hand.  In other words, the time which Jesus would bring salvation through His suffering and death had arrived.  Jesus said in 9:31, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”  Now in the second part of 14:41 Jesus tells His disciples, “The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”  The hour has indeed arrived as we see the first prediction of Jesus’ passion come to pass.

Mark says in verse 43 that while Jesus was still speaking to His disciples Judas arrived with a crowd that had been sent by the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders and that the crowd came carrying swords and clubs.  While the description of the crowd will be important to the reader’s understanding, Mark is also subtly reminding his readers of an important fact regarding Judas.  In verse 43 Mark inserts the comment “one of the twelve” to describe Judas.  But in verse 44 Mark refers to Judas differently.  In verse 44 Mark doesn’t even refer to him by name but instead labels him “the betrayer.”  Mark’s references to Judas in these verses serve as great reminders to his readers that the betrayer of Jesus hadn’t come from some obscure group but rather came out of the group of Jesus’ closest followers.  The readers then discover that Judas had formulated a plan for identifying Jesus.  Judas instructed those who had come with him to seize and lead away the one whom he would kiss.  Then in verse 45 we see Judas carrying out this plan.  He approaches Jesus using the flattering title of ‘Rabbi’ and then gave Jesus a kiss.  Those in the crowd recognized the signal and immediately laid hold of Jesus.  Verse 47 reveals that in the excitement of that moment one particular individual drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. 

At this point many people want to see Jesus stand up for Himself and His disciples.  Many would like to see Jesus rise up in His great power and authority and show these people who was really in control.  But that isn’t at all what Jesus does.  As a result, many people probably wonder if this Jesus really is who He says He is.  Many probably begin to doubt as they read this account.  This doesn’t appear to be a great leader who is in control, but rather a man who is being forced to submit to the authorities.  It’s Jesus’ words in verses 48 and 49 that provide better clarity on the current set of events and which provide us with continued insight into Jesus’ perspective of what was taking place.  Jesus begins by asking a question, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?  Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.”  But in reality, Jesus isn’t asking a question as much as He is making a point.  These religious and civil authorities have had multiple opportunities to arrest Jesus while He was teaching.  But they chose not to arrest Him in that manner.  Instead they chose to wait until the darkness had set in and to come out after Him with swords and clubs, as if He was some form of robber.  Could Jesus have stopped this from taking place?  Absolutely!  Could Jesus have done something in this moment to demonstrate His divine authority and control!  You bet!  Then why didn’t He?  The last part of Jesus’ response in verse 49 answers that question, “But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”  Isaiah 53:12 says that the Messiah would be “numbered with the transgressors.”  The chief priests, scribes, and elders had had opportunities to judge Jesus’ character in the temple.  But instead of treating Him as a civil teacher of the Law, they chose instead to treat Him like one who knowingly and intentionally acts in violation of the Law.  Jesus did not rise up in power, for in allowing these authorities to arrest Him under these conditions Jesus was humbling Himself for the sake of God the Father by fulfilling the plan of the Father as it was laid out in the OT.  If Jesus had not allowed Himself to be arrested in this manner then God’s prophecy would have been untrue.  But Jesus did humble Himself and allowed Himself to be arrested just as a criminal would have, thus fulfilling the prophecy of God, and glorifying God as the true Author of salvation.

When this took place, Mark says that all of Jesus’ companions left Him (vs. 50).  The ones who had all drank from the cup in verse 23, the ones who had all vowed that they would not deny or flee from Him in verse 31, are now all leaving and fleeing.  Even a certain, unnamed, young man, who does whatever he can to get away – to the point of wiggling out of his clothes and running away naked.  At Jesus’ arrest, His followers didn’t stand around and begin to dissipate after Jesus was led away.  At Jesus’ arrest, His followers did whatever they could to escape and to ensure that they were not arrested either.

Small Group Questions for Discussion:

1. Read Mark 14:32-42.  In these verses we emphasized the truth that Jesus humbled Himself for the sake of the Father by submitting to the will of the Father.  In this particular passage Jesus' heart wanted to stay connected with the Father, but God's will was for Jesus to take upon Himself the sins of the world, to die, and to pay the penalty for sin.  What are some areas of our lives where we wrestle with submitting to the will of God?  When we choose something other than the will of God what effect does that have on us?  What effect does that have on others?  Why is it so important to posess humility when we face these circumstances?

2. Read Mark 14:43-52.  In theses verses we emphasized the truth that Jesus humbled Himself for the sake of the Father by fulfilling the plan of the Father.  Instead of rising up in power and demonstrating His authority when the crowd came to arrest Him, Jesus allowed Himself to be taken into custody so that He might fulfill God's plan revealed in Isaiah 53 of how the Messiah would be treated.  Has God revealed any of His plans for our time, and if so what are they?  Are we humbly submitting to those plans so that God might receive praise and glory for what He accomplished?  If so, how?  If not, how do we need to humble ourselves and what do we need to do to help fulfill God's plan for His glory?

3. In verses 50-52 we saw all of Jesus' companions fleeing from Him.  Are church bodies ever guilty of fleeing from Jesus?  If so, what does that look like; what are the circumstances involved?  Is our church fleeing from Jesus in anyway right now, and if so, what do we need to do to change that?

4. What step of faith does this passage of Scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?