Mark 14:32-35
Just the Facts
Mark 14:32 And they came to a place which was
named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples,
Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and
John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be
very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is
exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here,
and watch.
35 And he went forward a little, and fell on
the ground, and prayed…
Mark is our summarizer. All gospel writers summarize. It does not
matter how many details they gave, there will always be more to tell;
but Mark seemed determine to summarize.
In my Bible, Mark’s gospel is 24 pages, Matthew’s is 38 pages, and
Luke’s is 41 pages. Even John’s gospel, which gives us the least
details of Jesus’ life and records the fewest miracles of any gospel
is longer than Mark’s, being 30 pages long.
John spent 5 full chapters recording what went on in the Upper Room
that night. Mark only nine verse. Matthew spent two long chapters
answering the disciples questions about when the temple would be left
without one stone upon another. Mark only spend one chapter, and his
one chapter is shorter than either one of Matthew’s two chapters on
the same subject.
Why? Because Mark summarized. There is nothing wrong with that. It
is what the Holy Spirit lead him to do, but it means something. It
means the Holy Spirit wanted us to make sure we got what Mark wrote.
Mark didn’t write a lot; so what he did write, was important. Every
word of God is important, but this was the most important for Mark
to write to His readers. As the old detective show used to say, Mark
gave us “just the facts.”
What did he write here? What message did the Holy Spirit want us to
get about these last hours. The late hours of what I believe to be
our Wednesday night and the early hours of the Jewish Thursday?
I will give you three thoughts.
I. The Heaviness of God’s Will
A. Jesus Made A Request
1. Jesus divided the disciples into two groups.
a. No one knows why. He just did.
b. But Jesus asked of them all the same thing, i.e. to
pray for Him.
2. Why? Because a sensation, an emotion, a spirit came over
Jesus.
a. The Bible says he "began to be SORE AMAZED."
(1) That is one word in the Greek.
(2) It means to be frightened or very astonished or
both.
(3) It is the same Greek word used of the women when
they came to the empty tomb and found the guards
passed out, the rolled away, and the tomb empty
except for two men dressed in white and glowing
inside it.
(4) That is the same word so whatever those ladies
were feeling, the Holy Spirit said that was
similar to what Jesus began to feel.
b. It also says that Jesus began to be "very heavy."
(1) That word means to be distressed.
(2) His soul began to feel the weight of what was
about to be done to Him.
3. And feeling these sensations, these emotions, this spirit
upon Him, Jesus asked the disciples to pray for Him and
He went to pray for Himself.
a. As far as I know, this is the only time in the Bible
Jesus ever asked anything for Himself.
(1) When He was hungry, Satan tried to get Jesus to
do miracles for Himself, but Jesus refused.
(2) Many were the requests made of Jesus, but Jesus
never made a request and never did a miracle for
Himself unless you count having Peter pay their
taxes with the coin found in the fish’s mouth.
b. But Jesus asked something here, and Jesus did
something for Himself here.
c. What does that mean?
(1) It means Jesus was experiencing something that
He had never experienced before.
(2) It means Jesus either wanted or needed help for
weight that God has placed upon Him.
e. I say every time I read these Scriptures because I
think every time I read these Scriptures.
(1) This was the one time when our Lord needed us…
(2) This was the one time when our Lord asked
something of us, and we failed Him.
(3) Yes, WE.
(a) You and I would have done no better had we
been on that hillside that night.
(b) Just like Adam and Eve represent all of
humanity in the Garden of Eden, these men
represent all of humanity in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
(c) On that night when Jesus only asked that
someone pray with Him and for Him, we all
fell asleep.
B. \\#37-40\\ Jesus Repeated His Request
1. We will read those verses in a moment, but consider
Jesus made the request at least three times.
2. Jesus was experiencing a great heaviness.
C. Jesus Prayed A Strange Prayer.
Mark 14:35 …and prayed that, if it were
possible, the hour might pass from him.
36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are
possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
1. Jesus prayed that if it were possible, if it could be
the Father’s will, that the cup might be taken away.
2. What cup?
a. I have read and heard some that say:
(1) "Jesus could not be praying that cup of the
cross and suffering be removed!"
(2) "He’s God," they say. "He would never be so
weak as to pray that!"
b. I have thought that, considered it, wrestled with it;
but we cannot change the Scripture because we don’t
understand them.
(1) That is exactly what Jesus was praying.
(a) Nothing but the cross could weigh so much.
(b) No other burden could be so heavy.
(2) Instead of changing His request, we should try to
comprehend His load.
c. 100% God. 100% man.
(1) Tempted in all points, like as we are.
(2) IF there was a mis-statement anywhere in the
Bible, that would be it.
(a) There isn’t a mis-statement but if there
ever was that would be it.
(b) Jesus wasn’t tempted LIKE we are.
(c) Jesus was tempted WELL BEYOND what we are!
i. No human being has ever been tempted
like this One.
ii No mere mortal has ever been asked to
carry this weight, to drink from this
cup.
iii. Yet, WITHOUT SIN!
d. Sometimes we feel the need to defend Jesus’ deity, but
we need not.
(1) It’s there, clearly visible.
(2) Despite the weight of what God will was Jesus
surrendered to the Father’s will.
(3) That His deity showing itself.
(4) No fleshly being could have done what Jesus did,
especially knowing in advance what it would be.
(5) There is Jesus’ deity.
(6) But His prayer was showing His humanity!
e. Instead of defending Jesus’ deity, we need to
understand His humanity.
(1) What He was about to do was so heavy, that even
Emmanuel, God in the flesh, was very astonished,
was heavy.
(2) His humanity prayed "IF it were God’s will, IF
it were God’s will that this cup" of suffering
and sorrow might be taking away.
(3) But it wasn’t not God’s will, so the deity of
Jesus picked up that cup and drank it all down!
D. I have no problem with Jesus’ deity.
1. I just see the heaviness of God’s will.
2. By the way, you and I might see it too!
II. The Worthlessness of the Man’s Flesh
A. That is seen multiple times through this account as well.
1. It is seen when the disciples kept falling asleep.
Mark 14:37 And he cometh, and findeth them
sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest
thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into
temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the
flesh is weak.
39 And again he went away, and prayed, and spake
the same words.
40 And when he returned, he found them asleep
again, for their eyes were heavy, neither wist
they what to answer him.
41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto
them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is
enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me
is at hand.
2. It is seen again when the disciples all abandon Jesus.
Mark 14:50 And they all forsook him, and fled.
3. It is seen yet again in the intensity with which they
abandon Jesus. (Don’t you know the rulers and their
police got a good laugh out of that?)
Mark 14:51 And there followed him a certain
young man, having a linen cloth cast about his
naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:
52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from
them naked.
B. Remember, these were not counterfeit disciple.
1. The betrayer was out doing his betraying.
2. These are the true disciples, the really saved and
believing disciples, the best-Jesus-had disciples.
3. But they still fell asleep, fled, and at least one ran
through the woods naked to escape.
C. But then again, we don’t have to read the Bible to learn of
the worthlessness of flesh, do we?
1. We see it every time we fail.
2. Every day that passes…
a. …and we ignore God’s will for our lives.
b. …and we fail to obey God’s Word.
c. …and we refuse God’s Holy Spirit.
3. No, we don’t need to read it in the Bible, but maybe we do
need the reminder that it’s not just others who wear this
worthless flesh, we do too.
D. I would really like to encourage you here.
1. Give you a Bible verse that would make the flesh stronger.
2. Share a prayer or testimony how it will get better, but
the flesh never will.
3. That is the reason we should not walk in it but in the
Holy Spirit.
III. The Wickedness of the Devil’s Possession
A. Everyone may be wearing the worthless flesh, but not everyone
is a Judas.
Mark 14:43 And immediately, while he yet spake,
cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a
great multitude with swords and staves, from the
chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
44 And he that betrayed him had given them a
token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that
same is he; take him, and lead [him] away safely.
45 And as soon as he was come, he goeth
straightway to him, and saith, Master, master;
and kissed him.
46 And they laid their hands on him, and took
him.
B. Perhaps I should not, but I feel sorry for Judas.
1. Flip Wilson made a fortune off his line, "The devil made
me do it," and generally I agree that the devil over
people are limited, sometimes I wonder.
2. If Judas wanted to betray Jesus, why did he give the money
back and hang himself?
3. I don’t know, but he did.
4. How is it that the devil can so deceive us, trick us,
tempt us, and lead us that we do the most foolish and
ungodly things only to regret them seconds after we have
done them?
5. I don’t know the answer to that question, but think the
devil has a way of taking those who surrender to him a
lot further than they ever wanted to go!
C. This I do know. In a world where the anti-Christ is getting
more and more control, I not only want the Christ to be my
Savior, but my Lord, my Guide, and my Deliverer.
1. You may be content with Jesus being your Elf on a Shelf,
but I want Him to be the Guide in my Hide.
2. It should be the prayer of every saint, "Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil."
3. Because, friend, this ride may just be getting started,
and as I have been saying for the last several years, it
is only going to get rougher from here.
4. The possessed can do such evil that they even disgust
themselves.
5. The only limits placed upon them are the limits that God
places and those limits are going to become more and more
refined so that the masses do more and more evil and the
only ones that will be exempt will be the individuals
that God himself protects from their onslaught.
I must stop, but among the many things that Mark may be pointing out
in his summarized writings, I see that the weight of God’s will can
be heavy, the worth of the flesh is not much, and the wickedness of
the possessed is great. If that frightens us, good. Perhaps it will
turn us toward the Savior.
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