Weekly Devotional 17th of April 2025
by Bruce Billington
Easter Devotional 4: The Garden of Gethsemane
Please read Mark 14:32-41
The Last Supper is over, and Jesus has been betrayed by Judas. He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, taking three disciples with Him, and leaves them to wait while He goes to pray. He becomes deeply distressed and troubled, throwing Himself to the ground in horror and fear (V34-35), which is so out of character for Him He asks God to remove the cup from Him. He wants out! Yes, he quickly recovers, but for a time, he expresses that he does not want to face this. What has caused him to experience such a degree of trauma?
Without a doubt, the horror of being crucified is a painful and horrific way to die. Despite this, crucifixion was common at the time, and history claims that many brave men faced it with great courage and fortitude. It is wrong to believe that Jesus was a lesser man than any of them. We must assume that He was able to confront it in a way that was even more noble than anyone else. So, when He cries to God, what is He asking?
The trauma Jesus endured primarily came from God’s hand. To His horror, He discovers that the relationship between the Father and the Son no longer exists. For the first time, Jesus finds Himself disconnected from God. He had always delightfully proclaimed that He and the Father were one. But here, the Father completely withdraws from Him, leaving Him alone. The horror of this situation leaves Him in agony and despair. The thing He cherished most – His relationship with His Father- has been terminated; it is over. Jesus is left utterly alone and cries out in anguish and despair.
In desperation, He turns to His disciples—His three closest friends—hoping to find some comfort from them. But alas, they are in a deep sleep and cannot respond to Him at the one moment when He truly needs them. So here, He must face even more rejection!
The cup that He wishes to pass from Him is His abandonment by the Father. The appalling silence from the Father torments Him significantly more than the fate of death. He did not just face a horrific death on the cross – He faced total and utter rejection by His Father. He didn’t only suffer physically or outwardly – but in the depths of His inner being, He endured a complete violation of His divine Sonship with the Father.
Hebrews 5:7 says, – “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.”
Yet this time has passed. He is no longer heard in His crying and tears, despite His piety. He is no longer saved from death – He was given over to it. In its place, He experiences complete rejection.
He is finally able to move forward again. He tells the disciples to awaken, informing them that the hour has come when He will be betrayed into the hands of sinners (V 41).
At this point, He is led away and delivered to Pilate. Here begins the greatest crime in history. Jesus, the most perfect human ever to live and walk the earth, is tortured, humiliated, and then condemned to the despicable death of a debased criminal (Chapter 15).
Of course, we know that this is not the end of the story – in fact, it is only the beginning. However, it is something we should ponder on as it is all part of the horrendous cost He paid so that we might be set free from the consequences of sin and death.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington