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

When we read the stories of the great heroes of history, usually we see them face death fearlessly with calmness and poise. But here’s Jesus coming apart at the seams—literally, blood seeping out of his pours. Screaming and crying—he’s a mess.

Take any hero you want, and he may have been calm and poised right before his death, but at some point in his life he was a slobbering mess of tears and weakness. All of us, at some point, go through a dark valley that’s too much for us, and we feel like we’re drowning. If Jesus never went through that, how could he claim to be a sympathetic high priest?

Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.

And if this all seems too low for the Son of God, we probably don’t understand the incarnation. Going from his strongest moment down to the depths of Gethsemane is nothing compared to leaving his glory in heaven and becoming a man in the first place.

The Favorite Attribute

Why Tell God He Can Do Everything?

So that’s heading 1—The Shocking Request. The next one I’ll call, The Favorite Attribute. Before making his request, Jesus appeals to God’s omnipotence.

36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you.”

The reason I say that’s his favorite is because he’s always quick to mention that attribute of God. When the disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God.”

When the disciples couldn’t cast the demon out of the boy and the kid’s father says, “Jesus, if you can do anything, take pity on me,” Jesus said, “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” In chapter 11 he told Peter, “Have faith in God and you could tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea and it would happen.”

He’s said this multiple times to people, but here he’s saying it to God. Why say this to him?

He’s making an argument. Like Moses pleading with God not to destroy Israel because of the ef-fect it would have on his reputation with the nations. God wants us to make arguments for our re-quests based on his character.

And it’s also good for our own hearts. One of the purposes of prayer is to say things to God, hop-ing that your heart is eavesdropping on the prayer because it’s something you need to be reminded of.

Satan’s Use of Scripture

So Jesus’ argument is, “God, everything is possible for you, so please, use that omnipotent power and wisdom to come up with a way you can take this cup away from me.” So this is the right way to pray, but at the same time, the thing he is requesting gives us the willies because of what came earlier in the book. Jesus made it clear in ch.9 that any ideas of Jesus avoiding the cross are satanic. Satan’s whole objective is to prevent Jesus from drinking that cup.

And you know Satan was there tempting Jesus. The serpent slithers in to this garden, slides right into Jesus’ prayer, and tempts him using Jesus’ own words—using Jesus’ favorite attribute of God. You can imagine Satan whispering to Jesus, “All things are possible for God. All things. Think about it Jesus. Do you not believe the Father is smart enough to think of another plan? Is he that powerless, that he can’t do it a better way? Don’t you trust him, Jesus?”