Mark 14 -the Second Garden

The second half of Mark 2 describes the events that happen the night before Jesus’s crucifixion. After the last supper, he sings a hymn with the disciples and goes out to the mount of Olives to a garden called Gethsemane. This is the transition from the celebration to the trial. Now Jesus gives them a warning.

“You will all fall away”

This must have been difficult to hear. These disciples had given everything to follow Jesus. They were his closest friends. They protested. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you,” Peter says. But words are cheap. By early morning he was gone, along with all the rest.

Why did it have to be this way? Why did Jesus insist that they would fall away?

First, it was fulfilled prophecy. Jesus explains, “for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Everything that happens this night fulfills prophecy that was given hundreds of years earlier. Their fulfillment establishes that Jesus is who he says he is.  

But why did it have to be this way? The disciples did die for him later. Tradition tells us that all the twelve disciples died as martyrs, except John, and he only because he survived his execution. They would die for him, but not that night.

This night was something that Jesus had to do alone. The significance of this moment cannot be overstated. This is about the redemption of the entire human race. To gain the proper perspective, we must go back to the very beginning of our history, to another garden.

In the garden of Eden, thousands of years before, the human race had chosen to turn away from God. In this garden, they had given into temptation, bought into the lie that they could take the place of God. You know the story (If you don’t read Genesis chapter 3). In that other garden, they had been driven out of God’s presence, and cursed to suffer. In that garden, sin had been brought into the world.

In the time between that garden and this one, human history had become a cesspool of war and oppression, rape and death. It turns out that sin has real consequences. “[T]he wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23). Our problem was that we were sinners. We had done things that were wrong, and these had separated us from God. This is a problem for all humans. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

But our problem also was with Sin. We have a nature that is drawn to sin. Not only have we done things that are wrong, but something inside of us is wrong. Sin appeals to us. Our flesh wants to indulge in sin, to justify sin, to hide sin inside. Therefore, it does no good to wash our past away unless something is done about our nature.

Jesus is the only solution. We know he is the only possibility because in the garden, he begs the Father to not make him go through it. But he submits to God’s will. “If it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matt. 26:42). There was no other way for the cup of God’s wrath to be poured out. If Jesus had not taken it, then we each would have paid the price for our sins in full.

He is the only solution to the Sin in us as well. We need his transformation of our desires, of our very selves, to be right with God and to be free of Sin. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

But why was Jesus uniquely able to do this?

The Bible tells us that a sacrifice is required for sin. It is because sin leads to death (Romans 6:23) and life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). So, blood must be spilt in order for sin to be atoned. Jesus had to spill his blood for us, in place of our own, so that the just penalty that was upon us could be paid. In the old testament, they would use the blood of lambs and bulls for these things. But that was a stop gap measure. But they were not able to really pay the price (Heb. 10:4). A lamb’s life is not the same as a man’s.

But Jesus was not just any man. He was pure. The old testament rules for a lamb to be sacrificed was that it had to be without blemish (Lev. 1:3, Duet. 15:21). The idea is that something cannot be used to purify something else, if they first thing is not clean. They would look for any blemish on the sacrifices. Jesus lived a completely perfect life on Earth. He never sinned, not even once, so when he died, he was the perfect sacrifice (1 Peter 1:19).

When he died, the scriptures say that his righteousness was transferred to us (2 Cor 5:21). Our sin went to him, and his righteousness went to us. So not only did we have the negative effects of our live taken away, we have good imputed to us.

Another thing that makes Jesus unique as a sacrifice is the fact that he was fully God and fully man. He was able to suffer with us. We see his distress at the thought of going to the cross in the garden. His soul was sorrowful unto death. He has experienced our weakness. But he is also God. His death as the son of God, was enough for all of God’s wrath to be poured out. He was able to stand in the place of all mankind.

Here in Gethsemane, we have God again in a garden, this time him taking on flesh. Gethsemane means the place of crushing. It was where the olives would be crushed into oil. In this garden, he is preparing to be crushed. He would take the suffering they earned in Eden. He, even though he is God, he is submitting himself to God, the very thing that the first Adam could not do (Phil. 2:6-8). He resists the temptation to let his will override his Father’s. From here he goes willingly to suffer, to take our curse upon himself. In this garden, he prepares to open the way that was closed to us. The veil in the temple, inscribed with angels, blocking off the way to the most Holy place would be torn in two, by the hand of heaven (Matt. 27:51). The garden that was closed to us in the beginning has been reopened. He does what we are too weak to do.

We are given such a clear example of our own weakness in Peter in this chapter. He is brash and bold, going so far to argue with Jesus about whether he will follow him to death. This is the Peter we have come to know. He claims that he will never fall away. He pulls out a sword to defend Jesus at his arrest (John 18:10). Jesus rebukes him again and heals the man.

This night all of Peter’s bravado melts away. He runs with the others. Sneaking along after the mob that arrested Jesus, we see him in the courtyard of the high priest, trying to pick up some news about the trial. And he is ousted with a servant girl. He denies he even knows Jesus. He declares it on an oath. He calls down curses on himself.

Then he realizes, it all went just as Jesus said it would. His master is condemned, and he has abandoned him, just like Jesus said he would.

The strength of man is small. When we rely on ourselves, we are insufficient. You will never be good enough on your own. You can’t earn God’s grace or his love. Like Peter, we are all utterly weak.

But there is good news. Because Jesus did what no one else could, we have hope. He died so we could live. He took our sin, so we could be clean. He sent his Spirit so we could live holy lives and serve him.

If you look at Peter after the resurrection, he is a changed man. He gets up on Pentecost and delivers a speech that brings in thousands of converts (Acts 2:14-41). He becomes a pillar of the church. He faces the Jewish authorities without fear and speaks with eloquence and power. He endures suffering without backing down, and eventually he dies for Jesus, as promised, without falling away.

The difference is that he was living on what Jesus had won. He was no longer working in his flesh. He was working in the Spirit. The cross changed everything.

So too for us, the cross changes everything. In our own strength, we are weak, sinful, selfish creatures. We don’t dare confess our faith before others. We follow the crowd and do our best to “fit in” no matter the cost to our integrity. Fear rules us. Our attempts at service are generally selfish.

But the Holy Spirit strengthens us. When I am weak, he is strong (2 Cor. 12:10). We walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We are unafraid. We live holy, pure lives. We are creatures of selflessness. We are willing and able to stand up to wrong that we see around us, and we can take the road less traveled. We can share our faith effortlessly. Fear is dead.

You might say: I am a Christian, but I feel like I am living in the first category rather than the second. I don’t feel like I am living a victorious life. What am I doing wrong?

You need to grasp what Christ has done for you at the cross. You need to know the love that was poured out for your sake. You must understand how precious you are to God. As Paul said in Ephesians, “And I pray that you, being rooted and stablished in love, may have power, together will all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and how long and how high and how deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17b-19).

You need to ask the Holy Spirit to come in and empower your life. Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they had received power from on high (Luke 24:49). It is absolutely essential that you are working in the power of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

And you need to submit to the will of God. We must pray as he did in the garden, “not my will but yours be done.” The places he will take you will not always be the feast and the mountain. Sometimes he will lead you through the valley of the shadow of death to the place of crushing. Remember, he has been there, and he will bring you through.