“‘Abba, Father,’ he cried out, ‘everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’” (Mark 14:36 nlt)
Mark 14 describes what may be the darkest night of the soul in human history. Jesus was “deeply troubled and distressed” (verse 33 nlt) because He knew the “awful hour” (verse 35 nlt) of His suffering was approaching.
Jesus knew that in a very short time He would be denied by one of His closest friends. He knew that He would be the object of Peter’s shame and the cause of his cursing. He knew that He would be rejected by the people of Israel whom He came to save. He knew that His disciple Judas would betray Him with a kiss. He knew that the rest of His disciples would scatter in fear. He knew that He would be tried in a kangaroo court, falsely accused, and convicted.
He understood the sheer torture of what He was about to do—that is, to take all the impurity, sin, and wickedness of humanity upon Himself. He who was righteous, holy, and pure was about to take upon Himself all that was unrighteous, unholy, and impure.
For eternity Jesus had enjoyed unbroken communion with His Father. But He knew that in a short time, when the sin of the world was poured upon Him, God would momentarily turn His face from Him. He would be forsaken.
That’s what He was recoiling from in the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s what He was dreading: the horrible moment when He would take all the sin of the world upon Himself.
The only one who could understand what He was about to experience was His Father. “‘Abba, Father,’ he cried out, ‘everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine’” (Mark 4:36 nlt). Abba is a term of intimate affection used by children for their father. It’s similar to the terms “Daddy” or “Papa.” Jesus the Son was crying out to God the Father in His moment of difficulty.
As He struggled with what lay ahead, Jesus asked His Father for one final reassurance that this was the only way to satisfy God’s justice and holiness—that this was the only way to make salvation and eternal life possible.
Through it all, Jesus had one overarching goal, and it wasn’t to spare Himself pain and suffering. Look at His resolute words again: “I want your will to be done, not mine” (nlt). In offering this prayer, Jesus gave us an example to follow.
None of us will ever be able to fathom the agony Jesus experienced that night. But we will experience our own consequences for pursuing God’s will. We may not always know what the will of God is in every situation. And when we do know it, we may not always like it. But we follow One who prioritized God’s will above everything else. And we must never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
Reflection question: What would embracing God’s will look like in your life?
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Greg Laurie is the pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and of Harvest Crusades. He is an evangelist, best-selling author, and movie producer. His latest film ‘Jesus Revolution,’ from Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, is now available on-demand worldwide.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
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