Agony in Gethsemane
TRANSLATION
(31) Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ (32) But after I have been resurrected, I will go before you into Galilee.” (33) Peter answered him, “Though all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” (34) Jesus told him, “Truly I say to you that tonight, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” (35) Peter said to him, “Even if I must die for you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples said the same thing.
(36) Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” (37) And taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, he began to be sorrowful and deeply troubled. (38) Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.” (39) And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (40) And he returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “What? Could you not keep watch with me for just an hour? (41) Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (42) Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed: “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, let your will be done.” (43) And he came again and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. (44) And he left them again, went away and prayed the third time repeating the same words. (45) Then he returned to the disciples and told them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. (46) Get up and let us be going. Behold, my betrayer is right here.”
(47) And while he still spoke, Judas, one of the twelve, came with a great crowd, carrying swords and clubs, (sent) from the chief priests and elders of the people. (48) Now the one who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “The one whom I kiss is the man. Arrest him.” (49) And he came directly to Jesus, and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. (50) Then Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they stepped forward, seized Jesus, and arrested him. (51) And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. (52) Then Jesus told him, “Put your sword back into its sheathe, for all who take the sword will die by the sword. (53) Do you not know that I could appeal to my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? (54) How then would the scriptures be fulfilled that say this is how it must be?” (55) In that moment Jesus asked the crowd, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me then. (56) But all has happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
OBSERVATIONS
After warning his protesting disciples that he was about to be arrested and that they would be scattered, he led them to the Garden of Gethsemane where he agonized in prayer while they slept. He then woke them to face his betrayer and those who had come to arrest him. In these verses, we find many repetitions. The name, “Jesus,” was used nine times (in vss. 31, 34, 36, 49, 50, 51, 52, & 55) along with the title, “Son of Man” (vs. 45). The phrase, “all fall away because of me/you” was repeated (vss. 31 & 33) along with an additional occurrence of “fall away” (vs. 33). Words only repeated once included “deny” (vss. 34 & 35), “sorrowful” (vss. 37 & 38), “watch” (vss. 40 & 41), “kiss/kissed” (vss. 48 & 49), and the phrase, “Scriptures be fulfilled” (vss. 54 & 56). “Disciples” is found five times (vss. 35, 36, 40, 45, & 56). “Pray/prayed” also occurred five times (vss. 36, 39, 41, 42, & 44). “Sleep/sleeping” was used three times (vss. 40, 43, & 45) as was “betrayed/betrayer” (vss. 45, 46, & 48). Finally, “sword(s)” occurred six times in the last paragraph (in vss. 47, 51, 52, & 55).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus warned his disciples that they would all forsake him that very night. (31-35)
II. In Gethsemane Jesus agonized in prayer while his disciples could not stay awake. (36-46)
III. The crowd led by Judas arrested Jesus in spite of the disciples’ feeble resistance. (47-56)
IDEA STATEMENT
After preparing the disciples for his arrest and agonizing in prayer, Jesus allowed himself to be betrayed and seized, knowing that his suffering and death were an essential part of God’s plan.
APPLICATION
Two terms of address should grab our attention in the third paragraph of this segment. In the first, Judas, in betraying Jesus with a kiss, called him “Rabbi,” a title used in ancient Israel to honor a spiritual leader and religious teacher (vs. 49). It was the most frequently used way that the disciples referred directly to Jesus along with two other designations, “lord” and “master.” In response to this, Jesus called Judas “friend” even though he had betrayed him to those who were plotting to kill him (vs. 50). Was Jesus using this term ironically implying the opposite meaning, namely “enemy,” or was he saying something more? We can more readily understand Judas’ use of “rabbi” as the term he would normally have used when addressing Jesus directly. Any other term of address would have aroused suspicion at a moment when he wanted everything to appear normal. Jesus’ use of “friend” may well have been a carefully chosen and heavily nuanced appeal to Judas in which Jesus was essentially saying, “I know that you are betraying me, but it is not too late for you to repent and once again become my friend if you are willing.”
Jesus’ gracious response to his betrayer may have been one of the reasons why Judas almost immediately returned to Israel’s leaders to repay the money they had given him and then remorsefully hanged himself. He had come to realize all too late that the one against whom he had so grievously sinned was the only one whose death could have paid the penalty for even his most heinous sin.