Jesus Predicted His Abandonment By The Disciples
14:27-31
Mark continues his theme of Jesus being abandoned and left alone to suffer. As they left Jerusalem, after the supper, Jesus led them to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus told them they would all fall away, or abandon him. He put it in the context of Zechariah 13:7, which says “strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered”. He was speaking with divine authority. He is the shepherd God will strike him, or allow him to be struck, to fulfill his will. Isaiah 53:10 says: “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.”
Jesus had already told them that he would be betrayed by one of them. And now he tells them they will all abandon him. They are confronted with the lack of faithfulness as a group, even though they are, as the Twelve, those closest to Jesus.
Peter, of course, spoke up to say he would not fall away even if all of the other disciples did. (29) Jesus told him that he would indeed deny him, not once, but three times. (30) It would not be a momentary lapse. It would be a complete and thorough denial.
Peter did not take it to heart and continued to assert that he would even go to death with Jesus. (31) Notice that he did not defend the other disciples, only himself.
Had Peter had been more humble, he would have prayed and sought strength to face the coming trials. But he believed he was self reliant and strong. That led to his downfall.
Peter had to be humbled to be the servant leader Jesus called him to be. This humbling was painful. That is why I always encourage believers to humble themselves. It is much less painful.
The encouraging word from Jesus was that, after his resurrection, he would “go before” them to Galilee. (28) He would gather them to himself again after they scattered. As he did with the crowds in Galilee, he would have compassion on them as sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)
The disciples seemed to have completely missed part of what Jesus said. He said “after I am raised up” (ESV) or “after I have risen” (NIV). He was about to die, but he would be resurrected. And then he would gather them again. The actions of the disciples later affirm they did not understand this.
Praying At Gethsemane
14:32-42
At the base Mount of Olives, Jesus went to a place called Gethsemane. It was across the Kidron brook from Jerusalem. The word means “olive press”. It was an olive grove and probably had an olive press. It was a place they went often, as Luke 22:39 says he went there as was his custom.
Jesus told the disciples to sit down while he went to pray. (32) Mark does not tell us if they did, but given what the other three did, it is doubtful they prayed. They probably fell asleep.
Jesus took his inner circle with him: Peter, James, and John. These were his inner circle. They claimed to be strong: Peter said he would never fall away; James and John said they could drink the cup Jesus would drink.
He sat them down apart from the others. He was distressed, troubled, and very sorrowful. He said “sorrowful even unto death”. The New International Version says his soul was overwhelmed with sorry to the point of death.
He had intense spiritual suffering. He knew he was about to bear the sins of many. He would be abandoned by his friends, but worse, alienated from the Father.
Jesus told them to stay there and watch.
He then went off a ways and fell to the ground praying. You know it is bad when a man lays on the ground to pray.
Jesus asked the Father to let him avoid this bearing of humanity’s sin with all of its suffering, both spiritual and physical. Yet, he submitted to God’s will, saying “not what I will, but what you will”. (36)
Jesus returned to his three friends and found them sleeping. They were not watching. They were not praying. They were not even sympathizing; they were sleeping.
Jesus again chided Peter. (37) In effect, he said “you who said you were so strong you would not fall away, can you not even stay awake for me?”. He also told him to watch and pray, but specifically this time that Peter would not enter into temptation. And he told him his flesh was weak. (38)
Again, you would hope Peter would get the message, humble himself, and pray for strength. But he did not. Jesus went back to praying and when he returned they were again sleeping. And it happened a third time.
It was strange that men who so short a time before had been protesting that they would die for him, could not stay awake for him one single hour.
In their defense, it was night time, when people slept. They had eaten a big meal and drunk wine. They had experienced emotional turmoil. But they gave into physical needs without recognizing the great spiritual crisis that was soon to be upon them. As Jesus said, the flesh is weak.
When Jesus went to Gethsemane there were two things he sorely desired: human fellowship and God's fellowship. God acknowledged that need in the creation story, saying: ”It is not good that the man should be alone," God said in the beginning. (Genesis 2:18) In difficult times we want someone with us.
Sometimes, we do not even want God to do anything. We only want him there; we want to know he is there. Jesus was like that. He called God “Abba”, Aramaic for “my father”.
Betrayed, Arrested, and Abandoned
14:43-51
As Jesus spoke, a crowd arrived, led by Judas. The crowd, and Judas, were sent by the Sanhedrin. That is what Mark means when he wrote that the crowd was from the chief priests, scribes, and elders. (43)The crowd was armed with swords and clubs, ready for a fight.
Judas had lost all sense of honor. He told the crowd they would know whom to arrest when Judas kissed him. It was customary for a disciple to greet his rabbi with a kiss. It showed respect and affection.
There are two possibilities here. Maybe Judas somehow thought the kiss would disguise his intent, but the armed crowd behind him would show that not to be true. Or maybe Judas wanted to rub it in, knowing the kiss was not a sign of respect, but of betrayal and disrespect.
So Jesus was arrested. He pointed out their cowardice, arresting him at night with weapons when he had been with them for many days in the temple. (48) But he went with them anyway, obedient to the Father’s will and fulfilling the Scriptures.
Then come some of the saddest words in the New Testament: “they all left him and fled”. (50) Just as Jesus said they would do, the fell away. They were not willing to suffer along with Jesus.
Those who fled included a young man who was caught, but shrugged off his clothes and fled naked. Only Mark includes this, so many thing the young man was Mark himself.
Takeaways
The flesh is weak! Do not think you can fight spiritual battles in your own strength. Pray for God's help.
Jesus is our model of obedience. Despite the horror he faced, he moved forward to do God's will in complete obedience.
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