MARKAN MEDITATIONS

Meditations in the Gospel of St. Mark

St. Mark 14:32-42

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HOW GREATLY God, the Father and our Lord Jesus, must have loved us to bear all our grief and sorrow and pain and suffering due for sin. All through his earthly life Jesus suffered. To become human was suffering for him. To dwell in this sinful world was suffering. To be assaulted by the evil one was suffering. His life was a sacrifice for us. But now he enters into his deepest suffering for us, and we begin to behold it as he agonises in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus prays to the Father. He prays that all things are possible to God, and prays that the suffering to come could be taken from him, though in his praying he makes it clear he submits to the Father's will implicitly. Earlier he tells his disciples that his soul was sorrowful even unto death. So we enter a little into the anticipation of Jesus of all that is to come on the cross. But the anticipation was worse for Jesus. We can't anticipate entirely any horror that is to come, because we do not know the future, or entirely what an experience will be until it has happened. For Jesus it was different. He had planned this moment with the Father before the foundation of the world. He knew to the last drop the punishment due for the sins of the whole world. He knew that it would involve also separation from the Father which is the essence of death and hell. He was doing this not because there was any obligation for him to do it, but because of love for us sinners.

The prayer of Jesus was a cry from the heart, but he knew that although in theory God could do what he liked, and it was possible for God to withdraw his plan to save sinners, yet it was really impossible. God could not deny his love or his promise. There was no other way for sin to be atoned for. There could be no forgiveness and acceptance for sinners unless God's righteousness was satisfied in full. God could not deny his character, either of love or holiness, so Jesus had to die. It was not only Jesus who suffered, God, the Father, suffered also. The Father suffered because the one on whom he was visiting the punishment for the sins of the whole world was his one and only well beloved Son. He suffered because he was going to be separated from his dear dear Son. They, Father and Son, took the depth of suffering in love to save us from our sins which we have wilfully committed.

We are told in other Gospels that Jesus sweated great drops of blood, an indication of the severity of the anguish and pain he was experiencing. Let the love of God as it is shown forth in this great sacrifice fill your whole heart and mind until the tears of gratitude flow.

The whole and true humanity of Jesus is revealed again in his praying. He knew all the weakness of human flesh. He was dying as the second Adam, and although his deity gave his sacrifice infinite worth, it was the second Adam who was suffering and dying in the place of humanity. Knowing all the weakness of human flesh he needed the strength and power of the Father to carry him through successfully. His praying was the renewing of his strength, without which he could have failed. Praise be to God he did not fail and was never going to fail.

What a different picture is shown by the disciples. Their hearts were in the right place. They truly loved Jesus and in their hearts would gladly have given their lives for their Lord, but the flesh was weak. So weak was it that they were unable to watch in prayer with Jesus, but were overcome with sleep. Their need also was so great. They needed God's strength so that they may be enabled not to deny Jesus and forsake him, but the flesh was too strong, and they slept. They needed on this occasion to conquer sleep for the strength they needed from communion with the Father. Let us learn how important is constant communion with God. We shall only be strengthen to stand in the time of trial and temptation if we have renewed our strength through much communion with Jesus.

But notice the way Jesus treated them. They were going to forsake him, but Jesus did not forsake or reject them. He lovingly chided them for their weakness, but he understood and still enveloped them in the embrace of his love. We are often so hard on ourselves for the perception of the weakness we continually succumb to. This is no bad thing, as long as we never forget the grace and mercy of Jesus towards us and that his love never fails and is never removed from us.

Lastly, let us notice how Jesus was entirely alone in his work of sacrifice for us. It was so sad that there was no one with him in his hour of need, but in fact there could not be any one with him. He alone could meet the total demands which our salvation required. No human being could or ever can contribute a jot to this work. It is totally beyond us. Only Jesus could save, and so he went to the cross alone.