Looking To The Cross | Day 6 | Mark 14:32-36

It is no accident that Gethsemane means oil press, and thus among the grove of olive trees, our Lord would himself be pressed under the excruciating weight of the punishment that was ours to endure. I’ve often wondered what it was that caused Jesus the most significant anguish as he prayed. Was it the beating, the mocking, the humiliation, or the torture of a Roman crucifixion? 

His ultimate distress was the agony of enduring separation from the Father as he took on the world’s sin. The thought of such abandonment elicits a response that reflects the sheer unity and intimacy Jesus has with his Father. Jesus addresses the Father “Abba,” which can be considered equivalent to “daddy” in today’s vernacular. Jesus does not recoil from the cross in His request for the Father to remove the cup of wrath. Instead, He acknowledges the God of all possibilities and submits to His Father’s will. 

Was Jesus’ request of his three disciples to sit and watch with him out of loneliness, or was there another agenda? Perhaps Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples for what was to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was cruel physically and emotionally and displayed a punishment those who would follow him would never have to endure - separation from the Father. May we have such close intimacy with our God that the thought of a moment without Him causes us to pause and reflect on Jesus’ example in the garden of sorrows.