27 

The Agony of the Cup
(Mark 14:27–42) 

And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also. They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, 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!” (14:27–42)

During His thirty-three years on earth, the Lord Jesus was repeatedly exposed to the trials and temptations of this life (cf. Heb. 4:15). As Isaiah 53:3 predicted of the Messiah, He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The New Testament never records a time when Jesus laughed, but it recounts occasions on which He experienced sadness and tears. He lamented the spiritual blindness of the people and their leaders (Mark 8:12, 18), grieved over the physical suffering of the sick and disabled (Mark 7:34; cf. Matt. 14:14; 20:34), and wept at the grave of a beloved friend (John 11:35). With divine perception (cf. John 2:25), the Lord Jesus witnessed the sorrow inherent in a world corrupted by sin, sickness, and death. His understanding of the suffering of others caused Him to be moved with compassion (cf. Mark 1:41; 6:34; 8:2). In John 11:33, His strong emotion is described, “When Jesus therefore saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.” This intense feeling was the result of the death of Lazarus, the grief of Mary and Martha, the reality of unbelieving Israel, and the understanding of the impact of sin and death on the history of mankind.

That intense pain over sin was akin to the pain, heartache, and severe anguish He experienced in the garden of Gethsemane. The depths of His agony, in those early morning hours before the cross, were infinitely greater than anything anyone else in human history has ever experienced. The spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19) would soon be alienated from His heavenly Father (Mark 15:34) and crushed under divine wrath (Isa. 53:10) in order to bear the sins of others (2 Cor. 5:21). No agony could be greater than knowing He would soon drink the cup of God’s judgment against sin (cf. Matt. 20:22; John 18:11).

On Thursday evening, Jesus and His disciples celebrated both the last Passover and the first Communion in an upper room in Jerusalem (Mark 14:12–26). The Passover meal likely lasted five to six hours, from after sunset (around 6:00 P. M.) to not long before midnight. When it was finished, Jesus and the eleven left the city and headed across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives (v. 26). This was the place where, just over twenty-four hours earlier, Jesus had instructed His disciples about the glories of His second coming. Now, around midnight on Friday morning, He would face the excruciating agony of His imminent crucifixion.

Five aspects of the Lord’s suffering are highlighted in this passage (Mark 14:27–42). These can be seen in His traumatic prediction, transcendent affliction, tearful petition, tender exhortation, and triumphant submission.

THE LORD’S TRAUMATIC PREDICTION

And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also. (14:27–31)

According to Mark 14:26, Jesus and the eleven left the upper room after finishing the Passover and walked toward the Mount of Olives. Leaving Jerusalem through the eastern gate, they would have traversed the Kidron Valley, crossing the brook that was still flowing with water from the late winter rains. During the Passover, the water in the brook was mingled with blood from the lambs slain at the temple—a vivid reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that the Son of God Himself would soon make. As they began to ascend the Mount of Olives, Jesus and His disciples basically followed the same route David had taken a millennium earlier as he fled, barefoot and weeping, from his treacherous son Absalom (2 Sam. 15:30).

Before reaching their destination at the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord issued a traumatic prediction to His disciples, explaining to them that their courage would fail and they would abandon Him. The disciples vehemently protested any such notion, but their words ultimately proved to be far more courageous than their subsequent actions. In just a few hours, everything Jesus predicted about them would occur.

Though the weakness of the disciples is clearly exposed in these verses (vv. 27–31), the text also reveals several wondrous truths about the Lord Jesus. His faithful endurance in the face of suffering shines brightly against the backdrop of their frailty and failure. Their ignorance, cowardice, weakness, and pride serves to highlight His majestic character, putting His knowledge, courage, power, and humility in vivid contrast.

His Knowledge. Over against the ignorance and doubt of the disciples, the Lord Jesus exhibited supernatural knowledge and unwavering certainty in the face of suffering. Because He possessed divine knowledge of the future, He had foreseen both His betrayal by Judas (Mark 14:18–21) and the subsequent scattering of the other disciples (cf. Matt. 26:56). Consequently, Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away. The Greek verb translated fall away (a form of skandalizō, from which the English word scandalize is derived) indicated that the eleven would soon abandon Him. Unlike Judas Iscariot, however, their defection would only be temporary. The Lord’s perfect knowledge not only included an understanding of what would happen in the future but also a full understanding of His Father’s will. Thus, even though He knew He would be arrested and deserted by His followers, Jesus did not shrink back from what His Father called Him to accomplish.

His Courage. The Lord underscored His traumatic prediction by citing words of biblical prophecy. It is written was a common formula for introducing content from the Old Testament (cf. Mark 1:2; 7:6; 9:13; 14:21, 27). Quoting from Zechariah 13:7, Jesus continued, “I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” Applying those words to Himself as the shepherd and to His disciples as the sheep, Jesus assured His followers that even their failings would not overturn the purposes of God. Their desertion had been foretold by the prophet Zechariah hundreds of years earlier. Jesus knew that He would be struck down while they scattered in fear, yet His resolve did not waver even in the face of abandonment and death. His undaunted courage stands in stark contrast to their disoriented cowardice.

His Power. Looking beyond the cross to His resurrection, the Lord encouraged His disciples by assuring them that their scattering would not be permanent. Though they would all abandon Him, He would gather them again. As He told them, But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. Throughout His ministry, Jesus repeatedly claimed resurrection power (John 2:19–21; 5:28–29; 6:40; 11:25–27), promising the disciples that after His death He would rise again (cf. Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:18–19). That divine power contrasted sharply with their obvious weakness.

The Lord’s promise, that He would go ahead of them to Galilee, was precisely fulfilled after the resurrection (cf. Matt. 28:7, 10, 16–17). It was in Galilee that the risen Christ again emphasized His divine power when He commissioned the apostles with these words,

His Humility. In spite of the Lord’s clear prediction, Peter proudly said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” In his overconfidence, the strident disciple brashly declared that his courage would never fail. Just a short time earlier, while still in the upper room during the Passover meal, the Lord issued Peter a similar warning. Luke records that prior conversation, beginning with the words of Jesus:

That same night, as they walked toward the garden of Gethsemane, Peter’s stubborn pride again refused to acknowledge the possibility of any weakness.

In response to His disciple’s brazen overconfidence, Jesus again said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” Of the four gospel writers, Mark alone explains that the rooster would crow twice, an added detail that in no way conflicts with the other gospel accounts. (For a harmony of the gospel accounts regarding the denials of Peter, see John MacArthur, One Perfect Life [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012], 437–44.) The “cock crow” represented the third watch of the night, ending at 3:00 A.M., around the time when roosters typically begin to crow in the hours before dawn. It was likely around midnight when Jesus said these words to Peter, as they walked toward the garden of Gethsemane. In a matter of hours, before the sun rose on Friday morning, Peter would deny the Lord three times, exactly as Jesus foretold (cf. Mark 14:66–72).

Refusing to receive the Lord’s warning, Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” Though Peter’s emphatic declaration of loyalty to Christ was noble, his unwillingness to listen to Jesus’ admonition was not. The self-assured disciple was blinded by pride and overconfidence. He would soon exemplify the words of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (cf. Prov. 11:2; 29:23). Though undoubtedly the most outspoken member of the disciples, Peter was not alone in his boastful protests. In overconfidence, as Mark recounts, they all were saying the same thing also.

The pride of the eleven was set sharply against the meekness of the Lord Jesus, as He entered the moment of His greatest humiliation (cf. Phil. 2:5–11). Later that day, He would die on a cross to bear their sins, including the foolish pride they exhibited in that moment, along with the sins of all who would believe in Him. After His resurrection, He would graciously restore Peter and the others to Himself, commissioning them for full-time ministry and missionary work (cf. John 21:15–17; Acts 1:8).

THE LORD’S TRANSCENDENT AFFLICTION

They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” (14:32–34)

Finally reaching their destination on the western slope of the Mount of Olives, Jesus and the disciples came to a place named Gethsemane, meaning “olive press.” The private garden (John 18:1) was probably owned by a wealthy follower of Jesus who gladly made it available to Him. Because of its proximity to Jerusalem, the secluded retreat was regularly used by the Lord and His disciples as a place of rest and escape from the bustling city (cf. John 18:2).

The garden itself was likely surrounded by a fence or wall with a gated entrance. When they arrived at the place, Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” Leaving eight of the eleven near the entrance to keep watch and to pray (cf. Luke 22:40), He went deeper into the garden, taking with Him Peter and James and John. These three, who along with Andrew comprised the innermost circle of the Twelve, were the privileged witnesses of Jesus’ heavenly glory at the transfiguration (Mark 9:2). Now they would witness the agonies of His earthly suffering in the garden of Gethsemane. This occasion would teach Peter, James, and John an important lesson about their own frailty and the vital necessity of prayer in the face of temptation. As the leaders of the apostles, they would pass what they learned along to the others.

As He anticipated what would soon take place, Jesus began to be very distressed and troubled. The word distressed (a form of the Greek verb ekthambeō) means to be alarmed or amazed. Troubled (from the Greek word adēmoneō) is a strong term indicating severe distress and anguish. This was the deepest sorrow Jesus had ever experienced (cf. John 11:33). The intensity of the pain was so great that He was astonished by it.

The primary cause of His anguish was not Israel’s rejection, Judas’s defection, or the disciples’ desertion. Nor was it the injustice of the religious leaders, the mockery of the Roman soldiers, or even the impending reality of physical death. All of those considerations, as hurtful or horrifying as they must have been, were secondary. The agony and astonishment that overcame Jesus in the garden went infinitely beyond any of those things. His grief was fueled, first and foremost, by the horrifying recognition that He would soon become the bearer of sin and the object of divine wrath (2 Cor. 5:21). For the first time in all of eternity, He would experience alienation from His Father (Mark 15:34; cf. Hab. 1:13), being crushed by Him as a guilt offering for sinners (Isa. 53:10). The reality of it was nearly too much for even Jesus to survive. As He said to His disciples, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” The Greek adjective perilupos (deeply grieved) conveys the notion of being surrounded by sorrow and overwhelmed with sadness. The wave of anguish that flooded Jesus’ mind was so intense it nearly killed Him, causing His subcutaneous capillaries to dilate and burst so that His sweat was like drops of blood (Luke 22:44).

THE LORD’S TEARFUL PETITION

And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” (14:35–36)

As noted above, the sorrow and grief that Jesus experienced in the garden defies comprehension, because it was a supernatural struggle. Outside of the cross itself, this was the apex of His suffering. It was in Gethsemane that Jesus experienced His greatest moment of temptation, as He contemplated the cup of divine wrath that would soon be poured out on Him. The battle He faced there was far more intense than His earlier encounter with the devil in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). It similarly exceeded the temptation He faced in Mark 8:32–33, when Peter became a spokesman for Satan in trying to persuade Jesus to avoid the cross.

Around midnight, just hours before His death, the Son of God endured Satan’s final attempt to dissuade Him from the cross (cf. Luke 22:53), being tempted to put His own human will above that of His heavenly Father. If the devil had succeeded, Jesus would not have accomplished God’s redemptive purposes. His messianic mission would have ended in failure; God’s Word would be untrue; the gospel would be meaningless; heaven would be empty; and Satan would have claimed the victory. Knowing what was at stake, Jesus earnestly petitioned His heavenly Father. He went a little beyond Peter, James, and John (cf. Luke 22:41) and fell to the ground and began to pray. Unlike the disciples, who kept falling asleep rather than staying vigilant, Jesus responded to each wave of temptation with intense periods of prolonged prayer (cf. vv. 35, 39; cf. Matt. 26:39, 42, 44). As the author of Hebrews explains, “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears” (Heb. 5:7).

The content of Jesus’ tearful petition was that if it were possible, the hour of His suffering and death might pass Him by. As He anticipated His suffering, Jesus asked the Father if the cross might be avoidable within the framework of God’s redemptive purposes. (The words of Jesus’ petition are recorded in the following verse.) And He was saying, “Abba! Father! As He consistently did when He prayed, Jesus addressed God as His heavenly Father (cf. Matt. 6:9; 11:25; Luke 23:34, 46; John 5:18; 17:1, 5, 11, 21, 24, 25). Abba is an Aramaic term of endearment and intimacy, and is basically equivalent to the English words “Papa” or “Daddy” (cf. Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Jesus’ use of the term reflected the earnestness and sincerity of His heartfelt plea.

In His prayer, Jesus began by acknowledging His Father’s omnipotence, saying, All things are possible for You. As the Lord articulated, nothing is outside of the power, privilege, and prerogative of God to do. Yet, Jesus also knew that God never acts contrary to His character, purpose, or Word. Clearly, He was not asking the Father to violate His redemptive plan or go back on His promises. Instead, Christ’s petition was an inquiry into whether or not redemption might be accomplished through some other means. Jesus’ request was not a sign of weakness, but the utterly expected response of one whose pure, sinless character necessarily and severely recoiled at the thought of bearing man’s sin and guilt, and suffering God’s wrathful judgment. If He had not reacted that way, it would raise questions about His absolute holiness, so Jesus beseeched the Father to remove this cup from Him. In the Old Testament, the cup was often used as a metaphor for the wrath of God (cf. Pss. 11:6; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15–17; 49:12; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:31–33; Hab. 2:16; Zech. 12:2). On the cross, Jesus would drink the cup of divine wrath against sin (John 18:11).

Though His horror made Him cry out to avoid the cross, the Lord was wholly submissive to the will of His Father (cf. Matt. 6:10). Thus, He articulated His triumphant resolution with these words, yet not what I will, but what You will. Submission to the Father’s will had characterized Jesus’ entire life and ministry (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38–40; 12:49; 14:31; 17:8); it would also characterize Him in death. Ultimately knowing that the cross was essential to the redemptive purposes of God (cf. Mark 8:31; 9:31–34; Luke 9:22, 44; John 12:32), Jesus surrendered Himself entirely to the Father, willingly “becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).

THE LORD’S TENDER EXHORTATION

And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? (14:37–41a)

In the midst of His agonizing struggle, Jesus compassionately returned to Peter, James, and John. And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?” Luke explains that the reason for their weariness was not only fatigue (due to the lateness of the hour) but compounded by sorrow and despair (Luke 22:45). Realizing their Lord was about to die, and having been forewarned that they would abandon Him, the disciples were overcome by the weariness of grief. Still, their sadness was no excuse. On such a critical night, they should have done whatever was necessary to stay alert, as Jesus had earlier instructed them to do (v. 34).

By addressing him as Simon, rather than by his new name Peter (cf. Matt. 16:18), Jesus may have been highlighting Peter’s frailty in the moment. Yet, the Lord’s rebuke, in light of all that was happening, was particularly mild and gracious. Even in the midst of His profound agony, the Lord was genuinely concerned about His men. That they could not remain vigilant for one hour suggests that Jesus had been praying for about that duration of time. He came and woke them, not to shame them but to tenderly exhort them to keep watching and praying so that they would not come into temptation (cf. Matt. 6:13). Jesus’ command to keep watching meant to stay alert, not only physically but spiritually (cf. Rom. 13:11–13), remaining vigilant in the face of spiritual attack. As Peter himself said, many years after he learned this lesson in Gethsemane, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The Lord’s instruction to watch and pray was necessary because, as He explained, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. If they were to overcome the weakness of their unredeemed flesh, they desperately needed to rely on divine power. The disciples undoubtedly wanted to stay alert. They likewise desired to remain loyal to Christ, insisting that they would never abandon Him (cf. vv. 27–31). Yet, even though they had good intentions, in both cases they succumbed to the flesh (cf. Rom. 7:15–23).

Leaving them, again He went away and prayed, saying the same words recorded in verse 36. As the parallel passage in Matthew 26:42 explains, “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.’” After a second period of intense petition with His heavenly Father, Jesus again came to check on His disciples. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy. For the second time, Jesus awakened them, likely repeating the questions He had asked them earlier (v. 37). Recognizing they could offer no valid excuse, they did not know what to answer Him.

Jesus then returned to pray a third time (cf. Matt. 26:44). Like the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8, who prayed three times for the thorn in the flesh to be removed, the Lord Jesus besought His Father three times to remove the cup of suffering. After the third wave of temptation ended, the submissive Son of God emerged triumphant from the battle, fully settled in His resolve to trust Himself to the Father’s will. The tempter had been vanquished, and Jesus remained in perfect step with His heavenly Father. When the Lord defeated Satan in the wilderness, God sent angels to minister to Him (Matt. 4:11); an angel from heaven was similarly dispatched on this occasion (Luke 22:43). Now that His final temptation was over, Jesus was ready to endure the cross.

Meanwhile, the disciples had again fallen asleep. And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?” In the weakness of their flesh, Peter, James, and John proved unable to stay alert, even after being awakened and exhorted twice by Jesus. When they should have been prayerfully readying themselves for the coming confrontation, they were sleeping. Now, the moment had arrived and they were woefully unprepared.

THE LORD’S TRIUMPHANT SUBMISSION

It is enough; the hour has come; behold, 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!” (14:41b–42)

Having yielded fully and unreservedly to His heavenly Father during those hours of prayer, Jesus left Gethsemane triumphant in His commitment to do all that the Father asked Him to do. Thus, He could tell the disciples, It is enough; the hour has come. Any temptation to avoid the cross was now past; the time had arrived for the Messiah to fulfill His earthly mission as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29; cf. Isa. 53:10–12).

Much to the shock of His sleepy disciples, the Lord announced, behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. A hostile mob—led by Judas Iscariot (John 18:3) and comprising a cohort of Roman soldiers (numbering up to six hundred men), the temple police, and antagonistic members of the Sanhedrin following—was on its way to take Jesus into custody. Whether He physically saw them approaching, or simply knew about them through divine omniscience, Jesus recognized that His enemies had nearly arrived at the garden.

Rather than shrinking back in fear or trying to hide, Jesus boldly went out to meet His attackers. Looking at Peter, James, and John—who were finally awake by this point—Jesus said, Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!” Having entrusted Himself to “the One able to save Him from death” (Heb. 5:7) and raise Him from the grave (Rom. 1:3–4; 6:4), the Lord exhibited no fear in the face of death. The cup of divine wrath was in His hand, but He was no longer trembling. Drops of blood, sweat, and tears were still visible on His brow when He issued the triumphant command to go out and meet the enemy. Instead of running away from the cross, Jesus moved toward it with settled confidence. His death at Calvary constituted His ultimate act of submission to the will of His Father (cf. Phil. 2:8; Heb. 12:2).

Commenting on the Lord’s triumphant submission in Gethsemane, the nineteenth-century British preacher Charles Spurgeon declared: