Unpacking Mark 14:36: Not My Will

Jesus in Gethsemane: The Weight of the Hour

Just before His arrest, Jesus enters the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples, overwhelmed by sorrow and facing the coming suffering.

He takes Peter, James, and John deeper into the garden and confesses, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death,' then goes a little farther, falls to the ground, and prays desperately: 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.' This prayer shows both His deep human anguish and His full trust in God’s plan.

The 'cup' symbolizes the suffering and judgment He was about to endure, and though He asks for it to pass, His ultimate desire is to do the Father’s will - not His own.

Understanding 'Abba' and 'The Cup': Language and Symbol in Jesus' Prayer

In Mark 14:36, two powerful words - 'Abba' and 'cup' - carry deep cultural and biblical meaning that reveal both Jesus’ relationship with God and the weight of what He faced.

The word 'Abba' is an Aramaic term for 'Father,' like a child saying 'Daddy' - warm, personal, and full of trust. Jesus uses this intimate word to show His close, loving connection with God, even in His darkest moment. This isn’t casual - it’s the language of deep relationship, and it’s echoed later in Romans 8:15, where believers are told they receive a spirit of adoption, crying out 'Abba, Father,' showing we’re invited into that same closeness.

Jesus called God 'Abba' - not out of fear, but deep, trusting closeness - even in agony.

Jesus says the 'cup' symbolizes God's judgment against sin, not merely physical suffering. In passages like Isaiah 51:17 and Jeremiah 25:15, God’s wrath is pictured as a cup people must drink. Jesus knows He’s about to take that cup - bearing the full force of sin and separation from God - so we wouldn’t have to.

Praying 'Not My Will': Learning Submission in Hard Times

Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane shows us how to bring our deepest fears to God while still trusting His plan.

He didn’t pretend He wasn’t hurting - He asked for another way - but His heart remained surrendered to the Father. In the same way, we can be honest about our pain and still choose to trust God, even when we don’t understand.

Even when we beg for relief, our hearts can still say, 'Your will be done.'

This moment fits Mark’s theme of Jesus as the suffering servant who fully obeys God, even at great cost. It teaches us that true faith isn’t the absence of fear, but the choice to say, like Jesus, 'Not what I will, but what you will.'

The Obedience of the Son: How Jesus' Prayer Fulfills the Mission of the Suffering Servant

Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane - 'Not what I will, but what you will' - represents the climax of His lifelong obedience, not merely a personal surrender, and is linked to His role as the suffering Messiah.

Hebrews 5:7-8 says, 'In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.' This shows that His agony in Gethsemane was part of His training in obedience - not because He was disobedient, but because true obedience must be tested and proven through suffering. Likewise, Philippians 2:8 highlights this moment: 'And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.'

Jesus learned obedience through suffering - so He could become the source of our salvation.

This complete submission fulfills the Old Testament pattern of the obedient servant and the sacrificial system - where Jesus becomes both the true worshipper and the final sacrifice, taking the cup of God’s wrath so we could be brought near.

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