He
went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
Mark 14:35-36
Mark 14 [32.] They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.” He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch.”
Mark 14 [35.] He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
Mark 14 [37.] He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Meaning:
Having asked Peter, James and John to stay and watch (Mark 14:32-34), Jesus goes a little further on his own. These two verses record one of the most precious prayers in Scripture. In it we hear the Son speak to the Father with complete intimacy, complete honesty, and complete surrender. It is the prayer that turned the night of Gethsemane into the road to the cross.
- “He went forward a little, and fell on the ground”
Jews usually prayed standing, with eyes lifted to heaven. Jesus falls to the ground. The posture shows the depth of his distress and the humility of his request. He kept only a short distance from his friends, near enough for them to hear something of what he said, which may be how his words were remembered and passed on.
- “That, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him”
Throughout his ministry Jesus spoke of an appointed “hour”. It is the time set by the Father for his betrayal, suffering and death. Before the night is over he will say, “The hour has come” (Mark 14:41). Here he asks whether there is any other way. The request is real. Jesus did not want suffering for its own sake, and there was nothing false about his shrinking from it.
- “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you”
Abba is the Aramaic word a child used for “Father”, warm and respectful at the same time. Mark keeps the original word and translates it. Jesus prays not to a distant power but to the Father who loves him. Amazingly, those who belong to Jesus are given the same privilege. Paul writes that “you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15), and that God “sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts” (Galatians 4:6).
Jesus also confesses God’s power. He had told his disciples, “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). He does not doubt that the Father could rescue him.
- “Please remove this cup from me”
In the Old Testament “the cup” often stands for God’s judgment poured out on sin. Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem having “drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath” (Isaiah 51:17). Jesus had asked James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” (Mark 10:38). The cup he now faces is not only physical death but the judgment due to others, which he would drink in their place.
- “However, not what I desire, but what you desire”
Here is the heart of the prayer. Jesus states his desire honestly, and then places it beneath the will of his Father. This is not resignation to fate but trust in a loving Father whose purpose is good. When Peter later drew his sword, Jesus answered, “The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not surely drink it?” (John 18:11). The battle was won in prayer before the soldiers arrived. Paul summarises the result: “he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
The Significance of Mark 14:35-36
- Prayer that surrenders
Jesus shows that we may bring every desire to God, even the request to be spared pain, but that true prayer ends in trust: “not what I desire, but what you desire.” This is the deepest form of the prayer he taught, that God’s will be done.
- Children who may say “Abba”
Because Jesus drank the cup, those who trust him are adopted into God’s family. We can approach God not as strangers or slaves but as children who are welcome, loved and heard.
- When the answer is no
The Father did not remove the cup, yet he heard his Son, and through that suffering brought salvation to the world. An unanswered request is not a sign that God is absent or unloving. He may be working a far greater good than the one we asked for.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 51:17: "Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath." The cup of God’s judgment.
Romans 8:15: "For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”" Believers share the Son’s cry.
Hebrews 5:8: "though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered." Obedience through suffering.
Philippians 2:8: "And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross." The obedience that led to the cross.
Conclusion: Jesus fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, the hour of suffering might pass. Calling God “Abba, Father”, he confessed that all things are possible to him and asked that the cup be taken away. Yet he ended by placing his will under his Father’s: “not what I desire, but what you desire.” In this prayer we see his true humanity, his perfect trust, and the obedience by which he chose to drink the cup of judgment for us.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible