
THE GARDEN OF PRESSING
MARK 14:26-42
26 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
39 And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.
41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
1. The Prediction (vv. 27-28)
- To prepare His disciples for what was coming down the pike, Jesus disclosed to His men that they would all fall away, be offended.
- The word used here for be offended is the Greek word skandalizo. It means “to fall into a
To substantiate His prediction He quotes Old Testament prophecy – Zechariah 13:7 – smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
He lets them know some bad stuff is coming. The Shepherd (Me) is going to be struck. The sheep (you) are going to scatter. But, after I am risen, I will go before you and meet you in Galilee.
Even though the disciples would fail and fall away due to their weakness and fear,
- Jesus would recollect His men following the resurrection and put the mission and His men back on track.
2. The Proclamation (vv. 29-31)
- Peter boldly proclaims, “Lord, even though everyone else may fall away, not me. I won’t fall away. I am with you no matter what!”
Peter implies here that he
Jesus knew Peter was simply being impulsive and arrogant. He now informs Peter in precise detail how he will reject Jesus and even deny knowing Him not once, but three times. And that will happen before the sun even comes up!
Jesus will use this very night and Peter’s words to restore Peter.
- How awesome is it that Jesus doesn’t throw us away or relieve us of His calling due to our failures and lack of faithfulness.
If God intended to reject Peter for his failure, He would have left Peter in the boat mending his nets three years earlier.
All the other disciples join with Peter in saying, “We will not turn away. We will stand with you even if it cost us our lives.”
- No doubt they were thinking about some type of physical battle and perhaps they would have indeed laid their lives down. But, these guys had no idea what they would soon face.
3. The Pressing (vv. 32-39)
- The Garden of Gethsemane is located on the Mount of Olives. This is probably some private garden of olive trees enclosed by some type of fencing.
Gethsemane means “
How fitting that in the place of pressing, Jesus would be pressed by temptation. Satan would seek to crush Jesus under the weight of all that the cross entailed.
He would attack Jesus’
Jesus went to the Garden, but He didn’t go alone. He took His men. And He took His three closest friends with Him to pray.
- Jesus, as a man, needed
Jesus needed His friends to be in prayer with Him this night.
Mark describes Jesus as “sore amazed” (distressed) and “very heavy” (troubled).
- The word translated “sore amazed” means “to be moved to a relatively intense emotional state because of something causing great surprise or perplexity.”
- The word can be rendered “
Something in the garden came upon Jesus suddenly with great emotional intensity, leaving Him feeling anxious. “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death”
He tells His men how He feels and then tells them, watch.
The word watch means to be on the alert. Be ready for the inevitable.
This is the only time in Scripture where the Son’s will struggled with the will of the Father.
He is struggling with the temptation to
Satan is here offering Jesus an alternative to obedience; he made a self-service and self-preservation appear more attractive.
Unlike Adam in the first Garden, Jesus cries out to His Father. He acknowledges the temptation and His need for the Father’s
While Mark gives us quick summary of Jesus’ prayer, the reality is that Jesus agonized in prayer for hours.
- Jesus understood from His own personal experience the vulnerability and weakness of being human.
While he did not have a sin-sick nature enslaved to selfishness, He felt the powerful
Do we have any idea the danger we face when we neglect to seek God’s strength when our own strength is faltering?
4. The Overcoming (vv. 40-42)
- Jesus prayed and overcame the temptation to avoid the cross.
- It is important to note that the
- Evil lost the battle of temptation in the
Application:
Just as Jesus faced great temptation and pressing in the Garden of Gethsemane, even so, we too will face our own gardens of Gethsemane. We will face times when we are tempted to avoid doing what we should because we know that doing right will cost us dearly and hurt us deeply.
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- Never doubt this: Our Gethsemane will call for sacrifice over comfort, right over easy, obedience over avoidance.