Mark 14: Jesus is arrested

Major Stephen Oliver reflects on words spoken in Gethsemane.

Key texts

• Mark 14:32-52

Most of us have cause to be grateful that our everyday comments and conversations are not generally recorded for posterity – although some of us may have learnt the hard way that social media is not always the best place to express a deeply held opinion.

The conversations in the Gospels are, thankfully, recorded for us, even though they don’t always show the followers of Jesus in the best light. Personally, I find this comforting. The disciples had the opportunity to airbrush their stories but chose not to. It shows us the extent to which Jesus is prepared to work with flawed individuals, just like you and me.

In our study passage, Mark hasn’t recorded conversations as such, rather the words that Jesus said to his disciples, his heavenly Father and those who came to Gethsemane to arrest him. Apart from Jesus, the only other person who spoke was Judas, with his one-word act of betrayal: ‘Rabbi!’ (v45).

Pause and reflect

• Review the conversations – written or spoken – you’ve been part of today. Is there anything you’d like to take back or say differently? 
• Note the things that Jesus said in our study passage. 
• If you were one of the disciples on that night, what would you have wanted to say to him?

As we read Mark’s account of Gethsemane and Jesus’ arrest, we can put ourselves in the story, picturing the scene and listening to the words that were spoken.

The first thing Jesus said to his disciples as they arrived in Gethsemane seems simple enough: ‘Sit here while I pray’ (v32). They weren’t required to do anything other than be present for their friend. This shows us that Jesus valued the friendship of his disciples. However, on this occasion they could only watch from a distance.

Gethsemane was an experience of suffering that only Jesus could undergo. The same would later be true of his trials before the high priest and the Roman governor, just as it would be true on the cross itself. Then, as in Gethsemane, the disciples would only be able to watch Jesus’ supreme act of sacrifice. Yet, both in Gethsemane and at Calvary, they would fail the simplest task – to sit and pay attention to Jesus, their friend.

Pause and reflect

• Jesus invited his disciples to sit while he did the hard work. Consider if the Lord is calling you to undertake a seemingly simple act of obedience – a partnership with Jesus in which he does the hard work. 
• What might that call look like? 
• Could you be obedient to it?

The next instruction of Jesus was specifically to Peter, James and John: ‘Stay here and keep watch’ (v34). These were the same disciples who witnessed Jesus raise Jairus’s daughter from the dead (see Mark 5:35–43) and who personally experienced Jesus’ glory at the Transfiguration (see Mark 9:2–8).

In Gethsemane, the scene was not one of miraculous experiences, rather one of Jesus in human frailty (see vv33 and 34). Mark confronts us with the depth of Jesus’ suffering. The failure of some of Jesus’ closest friends to support him when he needed them emphasises the sense of rejection.

Pause and reflect

• What does it mean to you that Jesus wants you to be his friend? 
• How do you respond to his desire for friendship, even when you let him down? 

‘Take this cup from me’ (v36). Jesus addressed these words to his heavenly Father. Jesus’ desire to avoid the suffering and death that would shortly be his was outweighed by his willingness to align his preferences to the will of God. His submission to the Father’s will and plan would bring about God’s Kingdom and the rescue and renewal of all creation. Mark contrasts Jesus’ obedience to God in this unimaginably large demand with the disciples’ failure to obey the simplest of tasks.

Pause and reflect

• What might it mean for you to align your will with God’s will? 
• Ask the Lord to help you to do this.

The instructions to the faltering and sleepy disciples became more specific: ‘Watch and pray’ (v38). It might be significant that in verse 37 Jesus referred to Peter as Simon, his old name – perhaps it is an indication that Peter will abandon Jesus and return to his old life, despite his claims otherwise. 

It’s also significant that watching and praying go together; this was an active prayer in which their eyes should remain open to the dangers approaching. However, it was only Jesus who saw the arresting crowd arrive, and only Jesus whose prayer had prepared him for the hour that had now come.

Pause and reflect

• Mark tells us that, confronted with their failure, the disciples ‘did not know what to say to him’ (v40). 
• Recall a time when you felt something similar. 
• What does Jesus say to you in those moments?

‘Am I leading a rebellion?’ (v48). Jesus’ question to the arresting crowd appears ironic. As his disciples fled, he hardly appeared to be a danger to society and, even if he were, there were plenty of other opportunities when he could have been arrested. The supreme irony, of course, was that Jesus was leading a rebellion! He was fulfilling God’s plan of redemption and ushering in the Kingdom of God to subvert corrupt human systems of power, bring down earthly rulers and lift up the humble (see Luke 1:52). The arresting crowd missed this, as did the disciples.

Pray that we will not make the same mistake as we reflect on the significance of Jesus’ suffering this Lent and Easter.