(Mark 14: 32 – 42) – No, the Garden of Gethsemane is not a story about miracles, as we understand what a miracle should be. It is not a story about God causing the extraordinary to break into the ordinary. But the Garden of Gethsemane is a story about God who seems to be silent in a moment of profound despair. Can God’s seeming silence in moments of despair be considered a miracle?
If we read the whole Gospel of Mark, we will see key moments when God was not silent. Or, should I say, the extraordinary broke into the ordinary,
“And a voice from heaven said, ‘You are my dear Son, and you bring me great joy” (Mark 1:11)
When Jesus powerfully transfigured himself in front of Peter, James, and John, the extraordinary broke into the ordinary and God speaks again,
“This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to Him” (Mark 9:7).
There are key moments in the life of Jesus when God spoke or the extraordinary broke into the ordinary. Furthermore, there are key moments when people were experiencing deep despair in their lives when the supernatural broke into the natural.
Now, in Mark 14: 32 – 42 Jesus is going through one of his deepest moments of despair (passion). Jesus knows that he will be betrayed and death is knocking on his door. Like any of us when facing moments of despair, Jesus was seeking for immediate answers. Jesus – fully human and fully divine – was seeking for the extraordinary to break into the ordinary. The story we heard just a few minutes ago says that Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him because he began to be filled with horror and deepest distress (v. 33 The Living Bible). Furthermore, it says that he went to God the Father,
“He threw himself on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour pass from him [the hour would disappear from him, never existed]” (Mark 14: 35).
Jesus’ deepest desire was to skip that moment. He desperately prayed to God the Father saying,
“Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (v. 36).
When despair takes us over, our number one desire is to skip that moment. Even the most skeptical person prays for a possible miracle to happen. Whenever we are in despair, we pray, “Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me…” We desperately pray for the extraordinary to immediately break through the ordinary. Yet, whenever we find ourselves in despair, unlike Jesus, we don’t want to submit our despair to the Father (God Himself) saying, “Yet, not what I wish but your will be done.” Despair demands immediate answers. When the demand is overbearing the last thing we want to do is to submit our despair to God. Because when we submit, we need to release control of our despair (situation).
Is God’s silence a miracle? Whenever we find ourselves in situations of despair and silence seems to be the only answer we get, abandonment takes over. Have you ever felt abandoned in a moment when you felt the most need?
At Gethsemane, Jesus went through a deep feeling of abandonment. He submitted his despair to the Father and the Father’s silence led to despair. Jesus goes to his disciples (friends) three times only to find them asleep. Actually, the story says that every time he went to his disciples and found them asleep, he went back to the Father and prayed for the cup to be moved away from him.
Peter, James, and John were the closest disciples to Jesus. They were the disciples who, in Mark 9, participated in Jesus’ transfiguration. Also, the ones, in Mark 13, to whom Jesus predicted that he would be betrayed, be given to the authorities, go through trials, and suffer. So, Jesus’ close relationship to Peter, James and John compelled him to take them for private moments of prayer and confession saying that his soul was troubled within him to the point of death just to find out that they continued to sleep.
It is believed that this story of Gethsemane occurred at the same time as the Passover (the festival kept in remembrance of God passing over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and not causing death to the first born sons). During this Festival, the Israelites were not supposed to eat unleavened bread, and at the end of Passover, the lamb was supposed to be sacrificed. Moreover, as part of the Passover celebration, if you invited someone and the company you invited fell into a deep sleep and could not answer at all, then the celebration was regarded as ended [over]. In other words, if your guests fell asleep and could not keep themselves awake, the celebration was over. That is, the lamb was supposed to be sacrificed.
Jesus is described in a number of Biblical passages as the Lamb of God. In one of his most agonizing and desperate moments, he knew that death was knocking on his door. His companions (guests) could not keep themselves awake. Jesus, fully human and fully divine, felt abandoned.
Jesus’ friends could not keep awake not even for an hour. God the Father seemed to be silent. Jesus went to the Father twice and, unlike in his baptism and his moment of transfiguration, God the Father seemed absolutely silent. The Father certainly had no pleasure in His son’s moments of suffering, despair, and feeling of abandonment. God has no pleasure in our moments of suffering, despair, and feeling of abandonment either. The Father’s (God’s) will, however, is always good and perfect.
Had Jesus not submitted his despair (painful reality to go to the cross) to the Father’s will? Had the Father not been painfully silent to fulfill His good and perfect purpose? Had the extraordinary broke into the ordinary and the cup removed, our sins would not have been forgiven, our broken relationship with God would still remain, our opportunity for healing and restoration would not exist, opportunity to be set free from oppression would be missed, and we would have no hope of eternal life.
