Mark 14:35-36

‘And he went forward a small distance and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass away from him. And he said, “Abba, Father. All things are possible to you. Remove this cup from me. However not as I will, but as you will.” '

We can only be filled with awe as we consider His words. It was for this that He had come and now His very soul drew back at the thought. What blackness, what darkness, did He see ahead that made Him seek to withdraw from His destiny? We cannot even begin to comprehend. But there was a cup. And the wine was red as blood (see Psalms 75:8). It would bring suffering beyond endurance until that terrible cry was rent from Him, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. And yet He chose to face it. That is the lesson here. He knew fully what was coming and He voluntarily chose to face it even though His very being shuddered at the thought and His heart recoiled from it. And remember the three only saw a small part of His anguish before they fell asleep. What followed we do not know.

‘A small distance.' Near enough for the three to hear. Torn as He was by suffering His prayer would ring out loudly in the quiet of the night.

‘Fell on the ground.' Compare Judges 13:20; Job 1:20. Here expressing awe and worship, and intensity of feeling (Jews usually stood to pray).

‘If it were possible the hour might pass way from Him.' He had spoken much of this hour (Luke 22:14; John 7:30; John 8:20; John 12:23; John 12:27; John 17:1), but now it was here He shrank from what it involved. It was not death He shrank from but what would accompany it. He shrank from bearing the consequences of sin, of our sin. He had carried the thought of it for many a day and had feared it (John 12:27) but now it was on Him and He must face it. He could have stood up and walked away. There was still time and He was forewarned. But in His heart He knew that there was no turning back. He was now committed and must wait and let things take their course.

‘Abba, Father.' The respectful, personal approach of a child, or of a loyal son, to his loving father. This was unique to Jesus until it also became the privilege of His followers (Romans 8:15). It was a step further from ‘our Father' (Matthew 6:9). Not for one moment did Jesus doubt His Father or feel that He was being harsh. He knew that He was surrounded by His Father's love. The repetition in two languages stresses the intimate relationship. How different from the ‘My God, My God' of His desolation (Mark 15:34).

‘All things are possible to you.' Even at this hour He knew that all was possible to God. That is important. If the cup was not removed it was not because it was not possible, but because it could not be if the world was to be redeemed. Jesus had a choice as to whether to drink it or not (compare Hebrews 10:5). And it was not only Jesus Who had a choice to make, the Father had to make the choice as well. And He made that choice. ‘God so loved --- that He gave' (John 3:16).

We are reminded here of something else that was possible to God, the salvation of sinful men (Mark 10:27). But that was only possible if Jesus bowed to the will of His Father.

‘Remove this cup from me.' See Psalms 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Isaiah 51:22; Jeremiah 25:15; Revelation 14:10. It was the cup of the Lord's anger, the cup of the righteous wrath of God against sin which He had to drink to the full. But in the past the cup had been taken out of the hand of His people once God felt that they had drunk enough (Isaiah 51:22) and Jesus hoped that this might also be possible for Him. However, He immediately made His request as being conditional on the Father's will. He shrank from the cup, but He would not shrink from the will of God.

‘However not as I will, but as you will.' His final will was full submission to the will of His Father at whatever cost. If His Father willed it He would take the cup to His lips and drain it to the last drop. There is the indication here that in His manhood Jesus did still not have full understanding of the absolute necessity of what He was facing (just as He did not know the time of His coming - Mark 13:32). It appears that He hoped, even at this late stage when its horror impressed itself upon Him, that it might be avoidable. Perhaps there was another way? But He made clear that in the end what His Father willed was what mattered. He longed to avoid what faced Him, but He would not do so if what He faced was the Father's final will. This lack of knowledge stresses even more the constancy of His obedience. He went into the darkness, knowing how awful it would be, and yet not knowing quite how awful. He trusted His Father to the end.

In the words of Hebrew, He, ‘having offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, and having been made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation to those who obey Him' (Hebrews 5:7).