Q4, S05 Gethsemane
Question 11:
Will You Suffer with Me?
As Jesus moved closer to his crucifixion, it’s difficult to imagine what the disciples must have been thinking. Jesus had been preparing them for what was coming next, but it’s clear they didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. And even if the disciples didn’t seem prepared beforehand, by looking at their reactions during Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection we can see that they had not been ready for any of this.
We can see many of the themes and essential concepts of Jesus’ earlier teaching and ministry becoming essential at this point. The disciples were being tested on all of the earlier questions as never before. Did they truly need Jesus, or were they willing to abandon him and go their own way? Did they desire him more than their own safety? Had they learned from him? Were they willing to remain with him? All of this moves from theory to practice as they are forced to ask if they would be willing to suffer with him. This is a crucial point in the path of their discipleship. Discipleship never truly takes shape without passing into and through suffering.
Tool: The Cross
Our tool for this section is the cross. It serves as a visual representation of what it truly means to follow Jesus. On the one hand, Jesus’ crucifixion is all we ever truly need. He suffered and died on our behalf because we are incapable of helping ourselves. He did what we could never do, simply because he loves us and wants to be with us. This is the most powerful imagery that we gain by considering the cross tool.
But the cross also reminds us that the path of discipleship leads through suffering. It doesn’t mean we’ll be dying to save ourselves, or purifying ourselves through suffering. But it does mean that if we want to follow Jesus, we will find him constantly on the path of suffering. Jesus does not shy away from what is difficult and demeaning. So if we will follow him on the path he sets, we will have to be willing to endure suffering—not in an attempt to earn his favor, but in our loving desire to be with him. And when we do this, we will find a strange joy that is not available in any other way.
Quarter 4, Session 5: Gethsemane
WILL YOU STAY WITH ME IN SUFFERING?
Passage
Mark 14:32–42
Concept
This session falls under Jesus’ eleventh question: Will you suffer with me? When the moment for Jesus’ greatest suffering arrived, he asked his disciples to watch and pray with him. For Jesus, suffering was not something to be avoided or downplayed, it was a necessary part of doing the Father’s will. The disciples’ inability to remain awake and pray was a reminder of their own weakness and of their need for Jesus and his strength on their behalf.
Key Question
Can you think of a situation where you remained closed to Jesus in the midst of suffering? What was that like and how did it shape you?
The Cross Tool
Do you see our Cross tool being played out in Mark 14:32–42? With whom? How so?
Gethsemane
Do you ever try to convince yourself or someone else that you’re stronger than you really are? We hate feeling weak, so we resist any suggestion that we’re not strong enough. This is true of our physical strength and weakness, but it also applies emotionally and spiritually. Which methods do you employ to try to strengthen the fiction that you are strong and capable when in reality you feel weak, exhausted, and incompetent?
It’s a common human tendency to pretend we’re stronger than we actually are. But Jesus did the opposite. In situations where we would expect to see Jesus standing strong, Jesus often did or said something that demonstrated weakness or servitude rather than strength or independence. We try to prove to ourselves and others that we are more than they perceive us to be. Jesus was never afraid to be perceived as less, to perform some action that lowered his status or esteem.
We get a picture of Jesus in one of these moments when Jesus enters the Garden of Gethsemane before his death. In this situation, Jesus is troubled, afraid, and distressed. He’s not putting on a brave face, he’s acknowledging the difficulty of the moment. As a human being, Jesus was acknowledging the difficulty of the situation. This is completely relatable, weakness is part of the human experience. And in the middle of this situation, Jesus models for us what it looks like to seek God in the midst of suffering.
1. Read Mark 14:32–42. Right off the bat, what strikes you about this passage? What do you find interesting or challenging or confusing?
Don’t Underestimate the Difficulty of Suffering
We sometimes have a tendency to downplay our suffering. “It’s not that bad.” “I’m fine.” “You’re fine.” Jesus didn’t do that. As we follow him into the Garden of Gethsemane, he fully acknowledges the weight of his situation. Mark tells us that Jesus “began to be greatly distressed and troubled.” Jesus tells his followers, “My soul is sorrowful, even to death.” Jesus is about to enter into extreme physical suffering, not to mention the emotional and spiritual pain. In the hours to come, Jesus would be abandoned by every one of his disciples, he would be beaten and then crucified, and in the immediate wake of his death, it would not be his followers who would step forward and acknowledge him, but a Roman soldier who would say, “Surely this was the Son of God.”
It’s easy to criticize the disciples here, but where would you be as Jesus was suffering? Can you really say that you’d stick with him in such extreme situations?
We sometimes imagine that if we can accumulate enough power, we can avoid suffering. But that’s not how it works. Nor is it the goal. The people of Israel at that time were hoping that Jesus would be the one to give them back their land and their political power. But Jesus demonstrated that power doesn’t come from the top. Contrary to what we’re tempted to believe, true power doesn’t come from money. It doesn’t come from political position. Power is not the opposite of suffering. Jesus’ death and resurrection proves that power sometimes comes from suffering, sacrifice, and love for other people. From the very beginning, Jesus has been insisting and demonstrating that his kingdom is an upside-down kingdom, where those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who love and serve others are actually the greatest.
Jesus is our model for how to deal with fear and powerlessness. What does Jesus do when he’s afraid and distressed? He prays to God. This is perhaps the greatest affirmation of the power of prayer in all of Scripture. The fact that Jesus turned to prayer in this hour of intense suffering should be all the convincing we’ll ever need that prayer is vital—it’s our greatest resource when we’re in need.
2. When things are difficult, is prayer your first impulse? Why or why not?
3. How have you found prayer to be beneficial in times of suffering?
Don’t Automatically Avoid Suffering
Jesus was not afraid to express his true desire: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me.” Jesus could see what was coming, and he clearly did not enjoy the prospect of the coming suffering. But there was something more important to Jesus than his desire to avoid the coming pain: “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus didn’t want the pain, but if serving God’s will required him to suffer, he was willing to endure it.
We run into trouble when we assume—as we often do—that God’s will for us is always the avoidance of suffering. There is no indication of this in the Bible. There is a greater plan in place, and we are foolish to assume that what God wants us to do aligns in every respect with what we naturally want to do. Jesus shows us that it’s not wrong to ask for health and happiness. But he also shows us that sometimes God’s path for each of us leads us through a time of suffering. And if this is where God is leading, it’s worth walking that path.
Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…” (Heb. 4:15). What we see in Gethsemane bears out this conclusion. Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer. To long for the pain to pass. He can relate to everything we experience. Every pain, every cry for help and relief that goes unanswered. We certainly wish that God would honor every prayer in which we ask him to relieve our suffering, but here we see him leading Jesus himself through a path of suffering—even when Jesus specifically asked to be spared the pain.
God’s will is always in our best interest, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t involve pain. And often, the pain is part of what shapes us into what he’s making us to be. If that sounds harsh, remember that Jesus walked through this himself—we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us—and that he shows us a way forward.
4. In which types of situations do you tend to avoid pain and suffering?
5. Have you ever experienced God using pain or suffering to strengthen you or shape you in a positive way? How so?
Don’t Downplay Your Own Weakness
Jesus was not alone when this night began, but he was abandoned by the end. When he went to pray, he brought his disciples with him and asked them to watch and pray. When he checked on them, they had fallen asleep. He woke them up and asked them again to watch and pray. When he came back to check on them again, they had fallen back to sleep. Again Jesus woke them, and again they fell asleep.
Upsetting as this must have been, Jesus acknowledged that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Unfortunately, this is simply part of what it means to be human.
When was the last time you made a resolution to grow more, or try harder, or do something worthwhile? And after you’ve done this, how often does it end up falling by the wayside? Just because your spirit is willing doesn’t mean that you’re going to actually follow through. Because our flesh is weak. This is just how it works. You can go for a while, maybe even a few days, without sleep. But eventually you’re going to fall asleep. Because human beings are weak. It’s just part of what it means to be human. We’re finite. We’re limited. We’re weak. God is not like that, but that’s what it means to be human.
It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t make this statement about a willing spirit and weak flesh in light of anger or lust or greed. He says it regarding their physical tiredness, regarding their need for sleep. It’s not just about their sin, it’s about their humanness.
The point is not their sleepiness. The point is their need for Jesus. Every time Jesus came back to wake up the disciples, he would have been reminded of why he needed to go to the cross. He would have seen more evidence that there was no other way. Because human beings are weak. We cannot do it ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. We can never be enough.
We need someone else to be the solution for us. And ultimately, this is the gospel. Without recognizing our own deficiencies and weaknesses we cannot recognize the good news for what it is. We are weak, but Jesus is strong. We struggle to watch and pray, but Jesus fulfills his mission of bringing us close to God. We fail, but he succeeds on our behalf. His calling was to be our Savior; our calling is to remain with him, and to approach God through him.
6. In which situations do you most resonate with Jesus’ statement that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?
7. How can you channel reminders of your own weakness into reminders of the good news of the gospel?
8. Spend some time in prayer. Ask God to be with you in your weakness. Pray for the grace to remain with him in suffering and to draw you closer to himself in these situations.
Key Question
Can you think of a situation where you remained closed to Jesus in the midst of suffering? What was that like and how did it shape you?