Mark 14 - The Garden of Gethsemane

The Garden of Gethsemane

They travel to Gethsemane, probably an olive grove which is located at the edge of the Kidron Valley on the eastern side of Jerusalem, and Jesus tells the group to wait for him as he goes and prays. According to John and Luke Jesus and the disciples had met there often. Mark does not say whether or not Judas was with the group at this point but according to John he left the group during dinner at Jesus' request. He takes Peter, James, and John with him. Along the way he says he is so sad he could die and tells them to keep watch and then walks off by himself and prays.

He asks God to grant him a reprieve from what he is about to undergo. "'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.'" (36) He mentioned the cup he had to drink in Mark 10:39. Jesus, after his three predictions of his Passion in Mark 8:31, 9:31, and 10:33-34, now says that he wants to live, but then tells God to do whatever God wants, submitting to God's will. Jesus shows total confidence in God, first seeming to say that God can change his plans even at this point if he wishes, and secondly that whatever God decides is the right decision. (Kilgallen 270)

He goes back and finds the three asleep and asks them why they could not even stay awake an hour and tells them to pray to avoid "temptation". Temptation might be tempted to fall asleep. In Matthew 6:13 during the Sermon on the Mount he speaks of the temptation of evil, which might be what he is referring to here. He goes back and asks God the same thing, then returns to find them asleep again. They wake up, say nothing, and Jesus leaves for a third time and returns and tells them to get up because the "hour has come" for him to be betrayed.

The number three occurs a significant number of times here. Jesus travels with three disciples, and leaves and prays three times. He has predicted all this will occur three times. Some have seen the occurrence of three a divine symbol, others a sign of Mark's narrative ability. The use of three is perhaps indicative of an oral source for Mark, as three is a common feature of orally transmitted stories, such as jokes (So Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha walk into a bar...). (Brown 145) Matthew has him leave and return three times but Luke seems to say he only went away once, and that he was visited by an angel and his sweat became "...like drops of blood...", perhaps a symptom of hematidrosis.

Judas arrives along with a crowd sent by the priests, teachers, and elders. Who exactly this crowd is Mark does not say, but the Sanhedrin did have a Temple police force (Kilgallen 271). According to John Judas came with soldiers and men from the Sanhedrin. Judas comes and kisses Jesus, which Mark says was a prearranged sign between Judas and the others. A kiss was a traditional greeting given to a teacher (Brown et al. 626) All the other Gospels have Jesus respond to Judas.

The men grab Jesus and an unnamed person there takes his sword and attacks one of the high priests' men and cuts off his ear. Matthew and Luke say it was done by an unnamed disciple. According to John, Peter was the one who cut off the man's ear, who John says was a servant of the high priest Caiaphas named Malchus. According to Luke Jesus healed the man. All the other Gospels, but not Mark, have Jesus telling his disciples to stop resisting his arrest.

"Am I leading a rebellion", said Jesus, "that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled." Then everyone deserted him and fled. (48-50)

Despite the fact that all the disciples swore to never leave him, they all quickly abandon him here. Mark then relates that there was a young man who was a follower of Jesus, who was wearing "nothing but a linen garment", was seized by the crowd and ditched his cloths and fled away naked. This incident only occurs in Mark. Some think this might be a self-reference, as in Mark himself. Others think it might refer to the man mentioned in the disputed Secret Gospel of Mark or the man in the white robe found at Jesus' tomb. (Miller 48) He could be a metaphor for the disciples, who are now naked in the world after abandoning Jesus. (Brown et al. 626)

Judas is not mentioned again in Mark. According to Matthew 27:5 Judas hanged himself after trying to give back the money to the priests but then putting it in the Temple. According to Acts of the Apostles 1:18 Judas took his money and bought a field, where he "fell" and died, which might or might not be hanging.