The Gospel passage is a long one, and is the one read at Palm Sunday. It is Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection; which are the key events we reflect on during Holy Week. This commentary will focus only on the Agony in the Garden (Mark 14:32-42).
You’ve all probably seen the picture of Jesus praying with his hands folded on top of the rock, with a ray of light shining upon his face. It is a picture of the divine Jesus in deep contact with the Father; worried but confidently in control of circumstances.
Mark paints a dramatically different picture in this gospel passage!
- Jesus is “troubled and distressed” (Mark 14:33). Some scholars say that a more accurate translation should be “horrified and shocked.”
- He begs the Father to exempt him from what is about to happen, and he prays this not once, but thrice.
- He is frustrated with Peter, James and John (his core leaders) who probably drank too much wine.
But this is also the passage where:
- Jesus addresses God as “abba, father” for the first time.
- the proverbial “not what I will but what you will” is uttered
Abba is an endearing name of “father” usually uttered by a baby, and is similar to what we call our fathers, e.g. “daddy,” “papa” and so on. This shows the intimate relationship that Jesus had with God, connoting unquestionable trust. “Father,” on the other hand, expresses an intelligent appreciation of the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child.
Note that by saying Abba, Jesus is also already saying “not what I will but what you will” in the beginning of His prayer.
Yet, Jesus was not confident at this stage. He asked that the “cup” be taken away from him. (“Cup” is an Old Testament metaphor for punishment and divine retribution.) Jesus was filled with doubt, fear, and second thoughts.
This is not the divine Jesus in control; this is Jesus in his most human condition. This is not Jesus the Master, but the disciple to the Father, struggling with having to suffer. At agony in the garden, Jesus and we are MOST ALIKE.
Interpretation:
A major theme of the gospel of Mark is that DISCIPLESHIP ENTAILS SUFFERING. This is why Mark was not hesitant to present Jesus in his weakest circumstance. He knew that there were many Christians at that time who were either suffering OR were afraid of suffering.
Mark presents him as like a lamb being led to the slaughter. Jesus was tempted to walk away. He prays that he be allowed to do so. He does these three times, but always ending with “not what I will but what you will.”
Generalization:
We often pray “not what I will but what you will”. When we pray this, let’s admit that in the back of our mind, we hope that what we will is ALSO God will.
The gospel’s message is that God understands our struggle; he felt it too in the garden. But just like Jesus, we accept, and desire, God’s will together with every difficulty, heartache, and joy that comes with it.
Mark’s message is still true: to be a disciple is difficult, it entails sacrifices. Jesus’ “your will be done” does not mean a passive acceptance of whatever circumstances befall us. It means a “YES” to sacrifice as part of discipleship.
It is difficult to:
- attend to a difficult lamb
- forgive a person who hurt you for the second time
- keep on serving when your efforts are not recognized
- be kind and generous on a bad day
- let go of someone you love and move on
- break off from a “bad” but comfortable relationship
- wait than to settle for the next best thing (person)
- avoid bad company when asked to have a good time
- break industry practice which is wrong, but everyone is doing it
- correct a friend
- take the initiative in reconciling a friendship knowing that that the other person is wrong
- take an insult and silently understand
- and so on.
You’ve heard it said in corporate parlance that “the road to excellence is not easy.” Did you ever think that the road to discipleship would be any less easy?
Application:
You are most likely doing a lot of sacrifices right now as you travel the road of discipleship. What is the most difficult of these sacrifices? What do you consider to be the “next level” that is being asked of you?
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