15) The Cup (Mark 14:32-36)

"God is the source of all love, all life, all light, all coherence. Therefore (Jesus') exclusion from God (on the cross) is exclusion from the source of all light, all love, all coherence. Jesus began to experience the spiritual, cosmic, infinite disintegration (in the garden of Gethsemane) that would happen when he became separated from his Father on the cross. Jesus began to experience merely a foretaste of that, and he staggered." (176)

"As horrible as the cup (of suffering) is, (Jesus) knows that his immediate desire (to be spared) must bow before his ultimate desire (to spare us). (180)

"Instead of perpetually denying your desires or changing your circumstances, you'll be able to trust the Father in your suffering." (181)

Intro: Heroes in history were calm when they faced their death. But not Jesus (Mark 14:32-36). Just before his execution, Jesus opens his heart to God, to his disciples, to the readers of Mark's Gospel, laying bare his struggles, his agony, his fears about facing death.

Why Did Jesus Unravel/Become Undone in the Garden?



Until this point, Jesus had been completely in control. Nothing ever surprised him or scared him or jarred him. But at Gethsemane, Jesus "began to be deeply distressed and troubled" (Mark 14:33). He said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (Mark 14:34). Till this point, Jesus had been totally unflappable. But here, suddenly, something he sees, something he realizes, something he experiences, stuns the eternal Son of God. (In Greek, "distressed" means "astonished," and "troubled" means "to be overcome with horror.") Imagine that while walking on the street, you turn a corner and you see someone you love mutilated, stabbed, and bloodied like a mashed piece of raw meat. That emotion was what Jesus experienced (Mark 14:34).

This is almost unique in church history. (Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, an early Christian leader, and Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer who were burned at the stake for their faith in Oxford, England, in 1555 had no fear before their death.) Isn't it strange that Christian men and women in history faced their deaths more calmly than Jesus did? Why is it that many of Jesus' followers have died "better" than Jesus?

Jesus was facing something that Polycarp, Ridley and Latimer were not facing, something that none of the other martyrs were facing. Something Jesus saw, felt, sensed in the garden and it shocked the unshockable Son of God. He was smothered by a mere whiff of what he would go through on the cross. Of course, Jesus knew he was going to die, and repeatedly told his disciples. But now he is beginning to taste what he will experience on the cross, and it goes far beyond physical torture and death. What is this terrible thing? It's at the very heart of Jesus' prayer, "Take this cup from me" (Mark 14:36).

In the Hebrew Scriptures, "the cup" is a metaphor for the wrath of God on human evil. It's an image of divine justice poured out on injustice (Eze 23:32-34; Isa 51:22). "All his life, because of Jesus' eternal dance with his Father and the Spirit, whenever he turned to the Father, the Spirit flooded him with love. What happened visibly and audibly at Jesus' baptism and at his transfiguration happened invisibly, inaudibly, every time he prayed." (176) In the garden, Jesus had a foretaste of what he would experience fully on the cross.

Love and Judgment/Wrath Go Together

People say, "I like the love of God, not the wrath of God." But if we want a loving God, we have to have an angry God. Loving people can get very angry, not in spite of their love, but because of it. The closer and deeper we love others, the angrier we can get. When others are harmed or abused or when they harm or abuse themselves, we get quite angry at them, out of love. Our senses of love and justice are activated together, not in opposition to each other. If we see others destroying themselves and we don't get angry, it's because we don't care. We're too self-absorbed, too cynical, too hard. "The more loving you are, the more ferociously angry you will be at whatever harms your beloved. And the greater the harm, the more resolute your opposition will be" (177) Those who care about justice get angry when they see justice being trampled upon, and we should expect a just God to do the same. God's anger is a function of his love and goodness. If God is loving and good, he must be angry at evil--angry enough to do something about it.

We also can't know how valuable we are, unless we know the tremendous cost to God to love us. Our conception of God's love--and of our value in his sight--will only be as big as your understanding of his wrath. (C.S. Lewis, Letter's to Malcolm.)


In Love, Jesus Relinquished Control Over His Life to God for Us

When life gives us what we want, we're content. Suffering occurs when there is a gap between what we want and the reality of our life's circumstances, and the bigger the gap, the greater the suffering. When the gap gets "too wide," one response is to try to change the circumstances, to get off the path that's taking us into suffering. This, at times, may be the right response.

Many deal with any suffering by escape: leaving town, breaking promises, ending relationships. They consider themselves and how they feel as of utmost importance, which makes the circumstances negotiable. They will do anything to avoid suffering. But whatever they change, in a few months, they feel the need to change again.
The 8-fold Path of Buddhism doesn't advocate that response, and neither did the ancient Stoics; they say that always avoiding suffering has no virtue or integrity at all. They say that when there's a gap between our desires and life's circumstances, we should out "cop out," but suppress our desires: be in control of them, be cool, detached, even dispassionate. Then you can keep your promises and stay on the path. Stay on course; desires are just an illusion. That's why Socrates wasn't panicking at the end of his life. He had succeeded in detaching himself.

Surely, there are times we need to suppress our desires, for they can become destructive. "But to eliminate all desire is to eliminate our ability to love; and God made us to love." (179)

Jesus here in the Garden is not taking the way of detachment; he's pouring his heart out (Mark 14:33-35). He's undone. But he's not taking circumstances into his own hands. In the end, he's obeying--relinquishing control over his circumstances and submitting his desires to the will of the Father (Mark 14:36).

"Often what seem to be our deepest desires are really just our loudest desires." (180) When we are in intense pain or great temptation, we just can't think straight. We say and do wrong things, turn on those who love us, make shockingly self-destructive decisions. But at Jesus' supreme moment of personal pain, Jesus subordinated his loudest desires to his deepest desires by putting them in the Father's hands. Jesus wasn't suppressing his desires (to be spared), but he wasn't going to surrender to them either. He trusted and obeyed God, put himself in God's hands, and went forward. "Jesus doesn't deny his emotions, and he doesn't avoid the suffering. He loves into the suffering. In the midst of his suffering, he obeys for the love of the Father--and for the love of us." (181) Because Jesus took the cup, our deepest desires and our actual circumstances are going to keep converging until they unite forever on the day of the eternal feast.


"There are two things that render Christ's love wonderful (in Gethsemane): 1. That he should be willing to endure sufferings that were so great; and 2. That he should be willing to endure them to make atonement for wickedness that was so great." Jonathan Edwards, Christ's Agony

Question: Can you live with a "gap" between your desire, and the actual "yet unfulfilled" reality of your life?

Chap 1: The Dance (Trinity) (Mark 1:9-11): Do you expect others to dance around you?
Chap 2: The Gospel, The Call (Mark 1:14-20): Is your gospel good news or good advice?
Chap 3: The Healing (Mark 2:1-5): Are your sins against God or people (Ps 51:4)?
Chap 4: The Rest (Mark 2:23-3:6): Are you desperately seeking significance?
Chap 5: The Power (Mark 4:35-41): Do you enjoy goodness and calm in a storm?
Chap 6: The Waiting (Mark 5:21-43): Do you have peace when God delays?
Chap 7: The Stain (Mark 7:1-23): Do you feel unclean, insignificant?
Chap 8: The Approach (Mark 7:24-37): Do you know you’re a dog, yet loved?
Chap 9: The Turn (Mark 8:27-9:1): Why is forgiveness so hard?
Chap 10: The Mountain (Mark 9:2-29): What if you are filled with doubt?
Chap 11: The Trap (Mark 10:17-27): Is money just money to you?
Chap 12: The Ransom (Mark 10:45): Is Jesus all you want and need?
Chap 13: The Temple (Mark 11:1-18): Are you both a lion and a lamb?
Chap 14: The Feast (Mark 14:12-26): Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

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