Read Mark 14:32–42. What did Jesus pray in Gethsemane, and how was the prayer answered?
Leaving the walled city of Jerusalem where they ate the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples go across the Kidron Valley to a garden on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The name Gethsemane means oil press, suggesting that there was an olive oil processing press in the vicinity. The exact location is unknown because the Romans cut down all the trees on the Mount of Olives during the siege in A.D. 70.
As Jesus enters the garden, He leaves His disciples there and goes farther with Peter, James, and John. But then He leaves these three, as well, and proceeds farther by Himself. This spatial distancing suggests Jesus is becoming more isolated as He faces His upcoming suffering.
Jesus prays for the cup of suffering to be removed but only if it is God’s will (Mark 14:36). He uses the Aramaic term Abba, which Mark translates as “Father.” The term does not mean “daddy,” as some have suggested. The term used by a child to address his father was abi (see Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah, Anchor Bible Reference Library [New York: Doubleday, 1994], vol. 1, pp. 172, 173). However, the use of the term Abba, “Father,” does carry the close familial linkage, which should not be diminished.
What Jesus prays for is the removal of the cup of suffering. But He submits Himself to the will of God (compare with the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. 6:10). It becomes obvious throughout the rest of the Passion Narrative that God’s answer to Jesus’ prayer is no. He will not remove the cup of suffering because through that experience salvation is offered to the world.
When you face hardships, it is encouraging to have friends who support you. In Philippians 4:13, Paul talks about doing all things through the One who strengthens him. Many forget Philippians 4:14, where the apostle begins, “Nevertheless.” It reads: “Nevertheless, it was kind of you to share my troubles” (ISV). This is what Jesus desired in Gethsemane. Three times He came seeking comfort from His disciples. Three times they were sleeping. At the end, He arouses them to go forth with Him to face the trial. He is ready; they are not.
Supplemental EGW Notes
In company with His disciples, the Saviour slowly made His way to the garden of Gethsemane. The Passover moon, broad and full, shone from a cloudless sky. The city of pilgrims’ tents was hushed into silence.
Jesus had been earnestly conversing with His disciples and instructing them; but as He neared Gethsemane, He became strangely silent. He had often visited this spot for meditation and prayer; but never with a heart so full of sorrow as upon this night of His last agony. Throughout His life on earth He had walked in the light of God’s presence. . . . But now He seemed to be shut out from the light of God’s sustaining presence. Now He was numbered with the transgressors. . . . Feeling how terrible is the wrath of God against transgression, He exclaims, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 685.
In this awful crisis, when everything was at stake, when the mysterious cup trembled in the hand of the sufferer, the heavens opened, a light shone forth amid the stormy darkness of the crisis hour, and the mighty angel who stands in God’s presence, occupying the position from which Satan fell, came to the side of Christ. The angel came not to take the cup from Christ’s hand, but to strengthen Him to drink it, with the assurance of the Father’s love. He came to give power to the divine-human suppliant. He pointed Him to the open heavens, telling Him of the souls that would be saved as the result of His sufferings. He assured Him that His Father is greater and more powerful than Satan, that His death would result in the utter discomfiture of Satan, and that the kingdom of this world would be given to the saints of the Most High. He told Him that He would see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied, for He would see a multitude of the human race saved, eternally saved.—The Desire of Ages, p. 693.
We cannot have a weak faith now; we cannot be safe in a listless, indolent, slothful attitude. Every jot of ability is to be used, and sharp, calm, deep thinking is to be done. The wisdom of any human agent is not sufficient for the planning and devising in this time. Spread every plan before God with fasting, [and] with the humbling of the soul before the Lord Jesus, and commit thy ways unto the Lord. The sure promise is, He will direct thy paths. He is infinite in resources. The Holy One of Israel, who calls the host of heaven by name, and holds the stars of heaven in position, has you individually in His keeping. . . .
I would that all could realize what possibilities and probabilities there are for all who make Christ their sufficiency and their trust. The life hid with Christ in God ever has a refuge; he can say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).—Selected Messages, book 2, p. 364.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.