Denver Seminary

14 SPRING 2018 According to Luke, Jesus walked a stone's throw from His disciples and kneeled before praying (22:41). Continuing their emphasis on Jesus' emotional state, Matthew (26:39) and Mark (14:35) write that Jesus fell and prayed. All three synoptic Gospels have a slightly different take on the wording of the prayer, but they each capture its essence. Jesus was completely willing to submit to His Father's will. Still, He yearned to be excused from the test, or, to use His metaphor, to have "this cup" taken from Him. Mark and Luke show Jesus directly entreating God with the imperative parenegke—"take away." Jesus' metaphor calls to mind the Passover cup He and His followers shared, which, by the time of the Gethsemane prayers, must have seemed like ancient history. How could Jesus ask that the cup of His blood, His suffering, the guarantee of the new covenant, be taken from Him? Only if it were within God's will. We may never know whether Jesus momentarily believed God might grant Him a reprieve. It does not really matter; a reprieve did not come, and Jesus did not deviate from His Father's will. He was tempted, externally by manifest evil and perhaps internally by a desire to find an easier way to complete His mission, but He remained without sin. UNDETERRED Jesus' prayer expressed His anguish of anticipation, His horror at what the coming hours still held. Only Luke (22:43–44) reports that an angel from heaven strengthened Jesus before He continued to pray in agony. Then Luke describes Jesus confronting His sleeping disciples. After asking why they were sleeping, He reiterated His command that they pray not to enter into temptation. Mark (14:37–41) and Matthew (26:40–45) provide us with more of the story's detail, relating Jesus' significant three returns to His sleeping disciples. When Jesus returned the first time in these two accounts, He told the disciples to pray about temptation. Though Jesus initially rebuked only Peter, the commands to watch and pray were directed to the entire group. They were sleeping through their test while Jesus actively prayed through His! Mark and Matthew build tension in the story as they describe Jesus praying the same prayer again and again. Almost as alone as He would be on the cross, Jesus wrestled through His own test, preparing for the ultimate confrontation between good and evil when Satan would appear to have won for three days. Unlike His weary followers, Jesus passed His test, submitting to His Father's will and pressing unwaveringly forward toward Golgotha and the cross. Jesus was completely willing to submit to His Father's will. Still, He yearned to be excused from the test, or, to use His metaphor, to have "this cup" taken from Him. When Jesus finished praying, He woke the disciples. He was ready for the arrival of Judas. Jesus didn't anticipate the cross with serene detachment, like Perpetua and her companions were said to have done. He suffered abandonment, anguish, and gnawing temptation. Yet He persisted in His mission. May we who endure life's hardships with eyes fixed upon the cross take comfort in the fact that our Lord did so as well. Elodie Ballantine Emig, MA INSTRUCTOR OF GREEK Professor Elodie Ballantine Emig began teaching Greek at home in 1985. In 1988 she became the Seminary's adjunct Greek teacher. She has been a full-time instructor and member of the Seminary faculty since 2010. Dr. David Mathewson and Professor Emig have written an intermediate Greek grammar textbook entitled Intermediate Greek Grammar: Syntax for Students of the New Testament. She has two wonderful sons and a fabulous daughter-in-law. 7 This doesn't necessarily contradict Luke's version; if we conflate the accounts, Jesus first fell, then kneeled to pray, which is entirely plausible. 8 John alludes to the prayer in 12:27–28, but doesn't describe it in detail. 9 The Son does not command the Father; rather, He asks or entreats Him. Mishella/iStock

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