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Mark 6:34 "…and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd… "

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Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane

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Text Used in Creating the Splice “Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane”

Matthew 26:36-46 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Matthew 26:36)

Mark 14:32-42 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Mark 14:32)

Luke 22:40-46 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Luke 22:40)

 

Psalm 142:1
I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD.

 

THE SPLICE

When He and the disciples arrived at 1Gethsemane, He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray/until I have prayed, and you pray that you may not enter into temptation”.  And taking with Him Peter, James, and John (James and John, the sons of Zebedee), He withdrew to Gethsemane from the rest of His disciples at about 2a stone’s throw distance. 3Jesus began to be grieved, very distressed and troubled. He said to Peter, James and John, “My soul is deeply grieved, 4to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond Peter, James, and John, and knelt down/fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by; He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “Abba! My Father! All things are possible for You; if You are willing, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;  remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will/as I will; not My will, but Your will be done.” And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and 5His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.  When He was finished praying, 6He approached the disciples and found them sleeping and Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; 7the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” He went away again a second time and prayed, saying the same words as the first time, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Again He came and found the disciples sleeping; their eyes were very heavy. 8Jesus must have asked them to account for their behavior, because they did not know what to answer Him. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping again, specifically from 9sorrow and He said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And then perceiving (whether by sight or spirit) that the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, and his Sanhedrin-appointed thugs were 10approaching, He then said, “It is enough; Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

“Garden in the Morning”

 

  1. Gethsemane: There are still olive trees located in the Garden of Gethsemane. Do an internet search on “how old are the olive trees in Gethsemane” and you’ll get some fun reads on the remaining trees. Sadly, none have survived (it seems) from when Jesus walked the earth. ↩︎
  2. a stone’s throw distance: Meaning, a short distance away. Could the other disciples still see Jesus and P, J & J? Since the distance was rather abbreviated, I am uncertain as to why Jesus took P, J & J with Him. He even left P, J & J off to a distance from Himself, albeit a small distance. See Matthew 26:36-39, Mark 14:32-35, Luke 22:41. ↩︎
  3. Jesus began to be grieved and very distressed and troubled: It is easy to pass over these words, glassy eyed, while we read them and say, “Yep, I got it: grieved, distressed, troubled.” The levels of grief, distress and trouble experienced by Jesus were beyond anything we have experienced in our own lives. It’s a great reminder for us on how much Jesus took upon Himself to save us.   ↩︎
  4. to the point of death: It is easy to think of this as hyperbole, because it is the sort of hyperbole we might use today, as in, “I could just die” when of course, we wouldn’t. Jesus is not using hyperbole here. He didn’t use hyperbole in His statements or teachings, as His words were too serious and needed to be taken seriously. ↩︎
  5. His sweat became like drops of blood: This information comes from Luke 22:44. Sweating blood is a medical condition called hematidrosis. However, the Greek word used for “like” in Luke 22:44 doesn’t mean “one of the same things” such as a Fuji apple and a Granny Smith apple are the same or “like”, in that they are both apples. The word used in Luke 22:44 is “hósei”. This Greek word is more akin to “about” or “as if”, and therefore it is not a comparison of exacts, but more like an estimation. We don’t know if Jesus actually sweated drops of blood, just that His sweat became like drops of blood. The Bible states, that in any case, Jesus was under great distress. ↩︎
  6. He approached the disciples: Luke 22:45 leaves me wondering if all of the disciples had fallen asleep, due to heavy eyes of sorrow? Jesus particularly speaks to Peter during the second discovery of sleep (Matthew 26:40 and Mark 14:37), but isn’t it possible that the other disciples were close enough to P, J & J and Jesus for them to hear Him? The Bible doesn’t specify that only P, J & J are the ones sleeping, although by the way Mark worded 14:32-35, we might assume with confidence that it was P, J & J at the center of the sleeping situation. John does not mention the prayers in the garden at all Luke does not mention that P, J & J were separated out from the other disciples or that there were 3 prayer-times/3 discoveries of sleep by Jesus. Only Mark and Matthew mention the sleeping disciples and the 3 separate prayer times. See Matthew 26:37-45 and Mark 14:33-41. ↩︎
  7. “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”:  says Jesus, succinctly. Paul expands on this struggle in Romans 7:15-25. ↩︎
  8. Jesus must have asked them to account for their behavior: See Matthew 26:43-44 and Mark 14:40 for the only mentions concerning the second discovery of sleep. ↩︎
  9. sorrow: John 16:6 tells us that Jesus mentions their sorrow. They are filled with sorrow because of the things Jesus was telling them at the Last Supper. To read what Jesus said to them at the Last Supper, see Matthew 26:20-35; Mark 14:1-31; Luke 22:14-38; John 13:2-17:26. John gives us the most information on what Jesus said that night.  ↩︎
  10. were approaching: see Matthew 26:45-55, Mark 14:41-46, Luke 22:46-54; John 18:3-12 to read about Jesus’s last few minutes of freedom and the transition to His unjust and illegal arrest that led to those farcical trials and ultimately, to His wrongful death. God uses these flagrant injustices, not only with Jesus, but most of His servants, to complete His purposes. The Book of Acts records many details of injustice and wrongful persecution that leads His people to the places they need to be or to start events that unfold like dominos. We can even be sure today that injustice is used by God to complete His purpose, as God remains unchanged and the same (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8).  ↩︎