We come now to the garden with Jesus. Three times in the gospel of Mark we are told of Jesus praying alone. We may safely assume that Jesus prayed more than three times, but three of those occasions were special enough that Mark thought them worthy of recording for us.
Once it was at the very beginning of his ministry. Jesus left the disciples in the middle of the night and went out into a deserted place to pray. This happened right after the first mention of the crowds. And we conjectured at the time that perhaps Jesus felt the weight of his mission and ministry upon him, for when the disciples found him he said, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
The next time Mark mentions Jesus in prayer is in chapter six, right after the feeding of the five thousand. It was there that the people had come out to take him by force and make him king. Expectations of a political Messiah were running high and perhaps Jesus felt the weight of this upon his shoulders as well. He had a mission to accomplish and he must stay on task. He needed the Father desperately.
Now here we are in chapter 14, in the midst of one of the darkest chapters in all the Bible. One disciple is about to betray him. The others will soon abandon him. The most outspoken will deny him. All of this Jesus has foretold. He is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, rejected by his people, and handed over to the Gentiles for execution. The weight of the world is upon his shoulders. So he once again seeks a solitary place to pray. And he finds it in Gethsemane.
That was my introduction to this, the 61st sermon in my journey through Mark. I’ve linked the audio recording of the original delivery of this sermon just below. I hope you’ll take the time to listen and be blessed.
Click here: Mark 14:31-42 - Jesus At Gethsemane
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