Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 14:35
And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
35. forward a little ] “ about a stone’s throw ” (Luk 22:41), perhaps out of the moonlight into the shadow of the garden.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he went forward a little,…. About a stone’s cast,
Lu 22:41,
and fell on the ground, and prayed; he fell on his face to the ground, which was a praying posture. One of the Jewish canons concerning it, is this a:
“worshipping, how is it done? after a man has lifted up his head; he bows it five times, he sits upon the ground, and “falls upon his face”, , “to the ground”, and supplicates with whatsoever supplication he pleases: worshipping, or bowing, is the stretching out of hands and feet, until a man is found cast upon his face to the ground.”
[See comments on Mt 26:39]. The supplication Christ made in this posture was,
that, it were possible, the hour might pass from him; the time fixed and agreed upon for his sufferings and death; that is, that it might pass without his enduring them, if there was any possibility of excusing him, and of his people’s being saved without them;
[See comments on Mt 26:39].
a Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 5. sect. 13.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fell on the ground ( ). Descriptive imperfect. See him falling. Matthew has the aorist .
Prayed (). Imperfect, prayed repeatedly or inchoative, began to pray. Either makes good sense.
The hour ( ). Jesus had long looked forward to this “hour” and had often mentioned it (John 7:30; John 8:20; John 12:23; John 12:27; John 13:1). See again in Mr 14:41. Now he dreads it, surely a human trait that all can understand.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Prayed [] . Imperfect tense : began to pray.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
THE FIRST GARDEN PRAYER V. 35-38
1) “And He went forward a little,”(kai proelthon mikron) “And He went forward a little way,” about a stones throw away, from Peter, James, and John, Mar 14:33-34; Luk 22:41.
2) “And fell on the ground, and prayed that,” (epipten epi tes ges kai peoseucheto hina) “And He fell upon the ground and prayed in order that,” for the purpose that; The imperfect tense of “fell” indicates that He prayed arose and repeatedly fell, or fell again and again, Mat 26:39.
3) “If it were possible,” (ei dunaton estin) “If a possibility exists,” or if it is at all possible, in harmony with His Father’s will, which He came to do, if morally possible, Joh 5:30; Mat 26:39.
4) “The hour might pass from Him.” (parethe ap’ autou he hora) “The hour might pass away from Him,” the hour of His death by cruel crucifixion with the agony of sins of all the world bearing down upon His conscience and soul, also referred to as “the cup,” Luk 22:42; yet, for “this hour” He had come into the world, Joh 17:1.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘And he went forward a small distance and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass away from him. And he said, “Abba, Father. All things are possible to you. Remove this cup from me. However not as I will, but as you will.” ’
We can only be filled with awe as we consider His words. It was for this that He had come and now His very soul drew back at the thought. What blackness, what darkness, did He see ahead that made Him seek to withdraw from His destiny? We cannot even begin to comprehend. But there was a cup. And the wine was red as blood (see Psa 75:8). It would bring suffering beyond endurance until that terrible cry was rent from Him, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. And yet He chose to face it. That is the lesson here. He knew fully what was coming and He voluntarily chose to face it even though His very being shuddered at the thought and His heart recoiled from it. And remember the three only saw a small part of His anguish before they fell asleep. What followed we do not know.
‘A small distance.’ Near enough for the three to hear. Torn as He was by suffering His prayer would ring out loudly in the quiet of the night.
‘Fell on the ground.’ Compare Jdg 13:20; Job 1:20. Here expressing awe and worship, and intensity of feeling (Jews usually stood to pray).
‘If it were possible the hour might pass way from Him.’ He had spoken much of this hour (Luk 22:14; Joh 7:30; Joh 8:20; Joh 12:23; Joh 12:27; Joh 17:1), but now it was here He shrank from what it involved. It was not death He shrank from but what would accompany it. He shrank from bearing the consequences of sin, of our sin. He had carried the thought of it for many a day and had feared it (Joh 12:27) but now it was on Him and He must face it. He could have stood up and walked away. There was still time and He was forewarned. But in His heart He knew that there was no turning back. He was now committed and must wait and let things take their course.
‘Abba, Father.’ The respectful, personal approach of a child, or of a loyal son, to his loving father. This was unique to Jesus until it also became the privilege of His followers (Rom 8:15). It was a step further from ‘our Father’ (Mat 6:9). Not for one moment did Jesus doubt His Father or feel that He was being harsh. He knew that He was surrounded by His Father’s love. The repetition in two languages stresses the intimate relationship. How different from the ‘My God, My God’ of His desolation (Mar 15:34).
‘All things are possible to you.’ Even at this hour He knew that all was possible to God. That is important. If the cup was not removed it was not because it was not possible, but because it could not be if the world was to be redeemed. Jesus had a choice as to whether to drink it or not (compare Heb 10:5-10). And it was not only Jesus Who had a choice to make, the Father had to make the choice as well. And He made that choice. ‘God so loved — that He gave’ (Joh 3:16).
We are reminded here of something else that was possible to God, the salvation of sinful men (Mar 10:27). But that was only possible if Jesus bowed to the will of His Father.
‘Remove this cup from me.’ See Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22; Jer 25:15; Rev 14:10. It was the cup of the Lord’s anger, the cup of the righteous wrath of God against sin which He had to drink to the full. But in the past the cup had been taken out of the hand of His people once God felt that they had drunk enough (Isa 51:22) and Jesus hoped that this might also be possible for Him. However, He immediately made His request as being conditional on the Father’s will. He shrank from the cup, but He would not shrink from the will of God.
‘However not as I will, but as you will.’ His final will was full submission to the will of His Father at whatever cost. If His Father willed it He would take the cup to His lips and drain it to the last drop. There is the indication here that in His manhood Jesus did still not have full understanding of the absolute necessity of what He was facing (just as He did not know the time of His coming – Mar 13:32). It appears that He hoped, even at this late stage when its horror impressed itself upon Him, that it might be avoidable. Perhaps there was another way? But He made clear that in the end what His Father willed was what mattered. He longed to avoid what faced Him, but He would not do so if what He faced was the Father’s final will. This lack of knowledge stresses even more the constancy of His obedience. He went into the darkness, knowing how awful it would be, and yet not knowing quite how awful. He trusted His Father to the end.
In the words of Hebrew, He, ‘having offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, and having been made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation to those who obey Him’ (Heb 5:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The agony of Christ:
v. 35. And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.
v. 36. And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt.
v. 37. And He cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldest not thou watch one hour?
v. 38. Watch ye and pray lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
v. 39. And again He went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
v. 40. And when He returned, He found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer Him.
v. 41. And He cometh the third time and saith unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest; it is enough, the hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
v. 42. Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth Me is at hand. It was Christ, the man, the human being, that had uttered the pitiful appeal to the three disciples to aid Him at least by watching and praying with Him. And it was His human nature, aided and sustained, indeed, by His divine nature, that here suffered the wrath of the just God. As wave after wave of anguish swept over Him, threatening to engulf and overwhelm Him, the presence of even these devoted disciples became too much for His weakness. He went on from there a little distance, farther into the darkness and loneliness of the garden. Again and again He fell to the ground; it was a long, desperate struggle. And all the while His soul was battling in prayer with God, the sum and substance of His pleading being that the hour, this hour of terrible anguish, of unspeakable torture, might pass by without touching Him. He prays that this be done, if it be possible. He knows that all things are possible to His Father, but He knows also that there can be no contradiction between God’s justice and His love. The evangelist records a part of His urgent prayer: My Lord and My Father, all things are possible to Thee; let this cup pass by Me, so it may not touch Me! What deep, incomprehensible humiliation on the part of Christ! And yet. there is not the slightest murmuring or opposing the will of God. The just and stern Judge of the sins of the world is still His dear Father, under whose will He places His human will without restriction or reservation: But not what I will, but what Thou. The sentence is short, incomplete, as one would speak under the influence of great emotion. He sacrifices His will for the good of the world, for its redemption. After some time, Jesus returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. They had not been equal to the test which He had proposed to them. Sorrow and dread had so weighted down their eyelids that they could not throw off sleep. It was Peter whom the Lord addressed in a reproachful tone: Simon, sleepest thou? Not even one hour couldest thou watch? The name Simon itself is a rebuke, for it was the name he bore before becoming the disciple of Christ. Loudly, emphatically, and repeatedly he had I protested his ability to bear everything with the Lord, even death; and here he was not even able to watch with and for Him for one short hour! Again Jesus admonishes the disciples to watch I and pray, to be wide awake and to use the weapon of prayer. For the spirit, the new man in them, may be ever so willing and ready to work for Christ, yet the flesh, their old weak nature, is weak and stands in need of assistance in spiritual matters all the time. If only all Christians would remember this admonition in all times of spiritual crises, there would be little need of special efforts and unusual sacrifices after the damage has been done. A second and a third time Jesus left the disciples to return to His place of prayer and to wrestle with God in the fierce struggle because of the sins of mankind. When He returned to the disciples the second time, He found them asleep again, in spite of His earnest warning, and their eyes seemed weighted down with sleep; their answer to His call was given in a dazed manner, and they had no excuse to offer; they were helplessly overcome. In the meantime the struggle was continuing in the soul of the Lord, but He was gaining strength toward its close, He was conquering the fear of death, the pains of hell. When He came back to His disciples for the third time, His words sounded almost crisp: Are you still sleeping and resting nicely? It is enough! If not expressed in so many words, the meaning found by some commentators seems to be contained here: The struggle has been brought to an end, the agony has been conquered. Further suffering is before Me; I am about to be delivered into the hands of the heathen, the sinners. But the prospect holds no terrors for Me, though I know that the traitor is even now on his way and at the gates of the garden. Arise; let us go! The Scripture must be fulfilled amid the final conquest made. Christ is ever the Champion of His believers, He goes before them and leads the way; He also battles for them and overcomes the enemies in their stead. But He does not want them to sit idly by and do nothing. They shall follow in His footsteps, go the way that He has gone, and in His power vanquish the enemies.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mar 14:35 . ( [130] [131] [132] , T.R. as in Mt.), imperfect: He fell again and again on the ground. It was a protracted desperate struggle. : Mk. first indicates the gist of Christ’s prayers (= that if possible the hour might pass from Him), then reports what Jesus said (Mar 14:36 ). In the prayer of Jesus the experience dreaded is called the cup , as in Mt. The Hour and the Cup both alike solemn, suggestive names.
[130] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[131] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[132] Codex Regius–eighth century, represents an ancient text, and is often in agreement with and B.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
on = upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
ground. Greek. ge. App-129.,
prayed = was praying; as in Mar 14:32. Here in the Imperf. Tense.
hour. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct). App-6, for what is done in that time.
from = away from. Greek. apo. App-104. As in Mar 14:36 and Mar 14:52; not the same as in Mar 14:43.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
[35. , the hour might pass from Him) The hour, He saith. Jesus knew that the cup would speedily be drained, and His passion speedily be terminated; and as heretofore He had been sure of the issue being good, so not even now had He any room for doubting it. This certainty of the issue does not in any degree detract from the love either of the Son delivering Himself up, or even of the Father delivering His Son up for us. Yet the cup and the hour struck Jesus with anguish; for which reason He prayed for their passing from Him, subject to the condition of the Fathers will, and the possibility of the case.-Harm. p. 527.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
and fell: Gen 17:3, Deu 9:18, 1Ch 21:15, 1Ch 21:16, 2Ch 7:3, Mat 26:39, Luk 17:15, Luk 17:16, Act 10:25, Act 10:26, Heb 5:7, Rev 4:10, Rev 5:14
Reciprocal: 1Ki 18:42 – he cast himself Psa 95:6 – worship Luk 22:41 – and kneeled Joh 18:11 – the cup
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
Jesus went still farther from the three so as to be alone with his Father. He prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. This is the same prayer that is termed “cup” in Mat 26:39. The crucifixion was not to take place until the next day, so we know that the prayer about this “cup” and “the hour” could not refer to the cross. (See also the comments at Mat 26:39.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 14:35. The hour might pass away from him. The hour representing the specific conflict of that hour in the garden. See Mat 26:46.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The Jews did not address God with "Abba" (lit. Daddy) because they considered such intimacy disrespectful. Jesus used the word because He as the Son of God was on intimate terms with the Father (cf. Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). Jesus evidently prayed for the better part of an hour (Mar 14:37) though Mark only recorded the essence of His request (cf. Heb 5:7). In the ancient world almost everyone prayed aloud, and this is how Jesus probably prayed. [Note: Lane, p. 515.] His submission to His Father here recalls Gen 22:7 where Isaac addressed his father Abraham in a very similar situation quite near this place. [Note: See Joseph A. Grassi, "Abba, Father (Mark 14:36): Another Approach," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 50:3 (September 1982):449-58.]
Jesus expressed faith in God with whom all things consistent with His nature are possible (cf. Mar 9:23). The unclear issue to the God-man, who voluntarily limited His knowledge in the Incarnation, was not God’s ability but God’s will.
"It is this complete dependence on God for his own salvation which is the source of Jesus’ courage to renounce himself, be least, and lose his life." [Note: Rhoads and Michie, p. 108.]
Jesus referred to the Cross as the "hour" and the "cup." The first expression includes everything involved in the Cross (cf. Joh 7:30; Joh 8:20; et al.). The "cup" figuratively particularized God’s judgment in the Cross (cf. Mar 10:38-39; Mar 14:29). Jesus’ human will was distinct from the Father’s will but never opposed to it.