Take This Cup From Me - Mark 14:32-36 Series

Introduction: Unanswered Prayer

Does prayer work? We all know the right answer: “Yes, of course it works. Prayer changes things!” But what about when you pray and nothing happens? Let me ask you this: Did Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane work?

To answer the question of whether prayer works, we need to know what the purpose of prayer is. If you think the purpose is to get God to do what you want, then lots of prayers don’t work.

But preachers will say, “Prayer isn’t about getting God to do what you want; it’s about getting you to do what God wants. The purpose is simply to align your will with what God has already decid-ed.” But if that’s the purpose of prayer, why didn’t Jesus just say, “Father—your will be done. Amen”? If the purpose is just to align my will with God’s, why make requests?

The scene in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of Jesus’ arrest feels to me like some of the most sacred ground in all of Scripture. I wish we could take the whole scene in one message, but we’d only be able to skim the surface, so for tonight, I just want to focus on Jesus’ prayer. Let’s make sure we understand that, and then next time we can back up and see how his prayer fits into the message of the whole scene.

Jesus’ Anguish

Jesus Comes Undone

Mark 14:32 They went to a place called Gethsemane , and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray. " 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him and he began to be deeply dis-tressed and troubled.

Jesus leaves the 8 behind, and as soon as it’s just him and his inner three, Jesus lets go of his brave face and just comes unglued. James says he became deeply distressed. That term refers to someone who is, disoriented, stunned, bewildered, and afraid. The other word (troubled) refers to an-guish and inner turmoil. That’s Mark’s description. Then he records Jesus’ own description of how he felt.

34 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

The word translated “overwhelmed with sorrow” is the word used to describe how Cain felt before murdering his brother. It’s also the term used in Psalms 42 and 43 in the refrain, “Why are you down-cast, oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” Jesus was downcast in his soul to the point of death. He was so torn up on the inside, he felt like he was going to die. And in Luke’s gospel you get the sense that if an angel hadn’t intervened, he would have died—just from the sheer horror of what he was feeling. You can imagine the knotted up stomach, nausea, migraine, feelings of panic, difficulty breathing. I think we’d be astonished if we knew just how close Jesus came to total collapse in the garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus knows what it’s like to be down and out. He knows what it’s like to have such blinding pain that you can’t think straight. To have your soul encircled by suffocating grief, closing in and crush-ing the life out of you.

We Get to Go Further

That’s how Jesus is with Peter, James, and John after leaving the others behind. But now he leaves even them behind. When he said that thing about being overwhelmed with anguish to the point of death—that was too personal, too private for the whole group. He only wanted to say that to the three. Now, this next part is so private, not even the three get to see it.

34 … "Stay here and keep watch." 35 Going a little farther …

So they set up a watch while Jesus disappears into the darkness alone. Peter doesn’t get to go, John doesn’t get to go, but we do!

Have you ever thought about that? We get to go in with him all the way. What an amazing grace God has given us to take us places like this to see Jesus in his most private, intimate dealings with the Father.

He walks alone, as far as he can before his knees buckle.

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground

True prayer involves your whole being, including your body. This is Jesus at his lowest—by him-self, in the dark, flat on the ground in the dirt.

The Cup

Why is he so upset? To use his words, it’s because of the cup he’s about to drink. Cup of what? People often say it was the cup of God’s wrath, but the Bible never says God was angry with Jesus. He was pleased with Jesus.

“The cup” can refer to whatever God has in store for you, positive or negative. Many times it’s the cup of judgment or punishment. I believe that’s what it means here. God made Jesus drink the cup of punishment for the sins of mankind.