Mark 14:32 - Meaning and Application

Christ is now entering his sufferings, and he begins with the hardest part, the suffering in his soul. Here we see him in his agony, the same painful scene Matthew records. This inner distress was the bitterness and poison in all his affliction. It also showed that no suffering was forced on him, but that he willingly accepted it.

He first withdrew to pray. He said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go a little farther and pray.” He had recently prayed with them (John 17), and now he tells them to stay back while he goes to the Father on a matter that was his alone. Our prayers with our families do not excuse us from secret prayer. When Jacob entered his great struggle, he first sent away all that he had and was left alone, and then a man wrestled with him (Genesis 32:23-24), though he had prayed before, likely with his family (Mark 14:9).

Even in that retirement, he took Peter, James, and John with him (Mark 14:33), three proper witnesses of this part of his humiliation. Great spirits may not care how few people know of their suffering, but he was not ashamed for them to see. These three had boasted most of their willingness and ability to suffer with him. Peter had done so in this chapter, and James and John had done so earlier (Mark 10:39). So Christ took them aside to watch his struggle with the bloody baptism and bitter cup, to show them they did not understand what they were saying. It is fitting that those who are most confident should be tested first, so they may see their own weakness.

There he was in a terrible agitation. “He began to be sore amazed” is a very strong expression, more vivid than Matthew’s wording. It points to something like the deep darkness that fell on Abraham (Genesis 15:12), or even something worse and more fearful. The terrors of God seemed to gather against him, and he allowed himself to feel their full force. Never was sorrow like his then. No one had ever known, as he had from eternity, the full joy of God’s favor, and so no one could feel, as he did, the weight of its withdrawal.

Yet there was no disorder in this stirring of his spirit. His emotions rose, but they did not break loose wildly. He had no corrupt nature mixed in with them, as we do. Water with sediment at the bottom may look clear when still, but when shaken it turns muddy. Our feelings are like that. But pure water in a clean glass stays clear even when stirred, and so it was with Christ.

Dr. Lightfoot thought it likely that the devil now appeared to our Savior in visible form, in his own shape and color, to terrify him and shake his trust in God. That was what Satan had tried to do with Job, a picture of Christ, hoping to make him curse God and die. Satan wanted to keep Christ from going on with his work. Whatever tried to stop him, Christ saw as coming from Satan (Matthew 16:23). When the devil left him in the wilderness, it was only for a time (Luke 4:13). He had failed with flattery, so now he tried fear.

Christ then made a sad complaint about this inner agony. He said, “My soul is very sorrowful.” He was made sin for us, and that is why he was so sorrowful. He knew fully how evil the sins were that he would suffer for. He loved God, who was offended by them, and he loved people, who were harmed and endangered by them. So when those sins were set before him, it is no wonder his soul was overwhelmed. He was made to carry our sins and wearied by our iniquities.

He was also made a curse for us. The curses of the law were laid on him as our surety, our one who stood in our place, not as one originally bound with us, but as the one who took responsibility for the debt. As his soul was very sorrowful, he gave way to that burden and lay under it until his death paid for sin and removed the curse forever. He tasted death (Hebrews 2:9). That does not mean he only tasted a little of it. Rather, he drank even the dregs of the cup. It is a stronger word, because he felt all its bitterness. This was the fear the apostle speaks of, a natural shrinking from pain and death that belongs to human nature (Hebrews 5:7).

Christ’s sufferings in soul should help us in two ways. First, they should make us hate our sins. Can we ever think lightly of sin when we see what effect sin, even when only placed on him, had on the Lord Jesus? Should we treat lightly what pressed so heavily on him? Was Christ in such agony for our sins, and shall we never be in agony over them? We should look on the one we have pressed and pierced, and mourn deeply. It is right for us to be very sorrowful over sin, because Christ was so, and never make a mock of it. If Christ suffered this way because of sin, we should arm ourselves with the same mind.

Second, his sufferings should make our own sorrows sweeter. If our souls are ever very sorrowful because of present troubles, we should remember that our Master was sorrowful before us, and the servant is not greater than his Lord. Why should we try to avoid sorrow altogether, when Christ for our sake welcomed it and submitted to it? He not only took away its sting and made it bearable, but also gave it value and made it useful, since “the sadness of the face makes the heart better.” He even made sorrow comforting. Blessed Paul was sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing. If we are very sorrowful, it is only for a little while, until death. That will be the end of all our sorrows if Christ is ours, and then all tears will be wiped away.

He told his disciples to stay with him, not because he needed their help, but because he wanted them to watch and learn from him. He said to them, “Stay here and watch.” To the other disciples he had only said, “Sit here” (Mark 14:32). But to these three he said, “Stay and watch,” because he expected more from them than from the rest.

Then he turned to God in prayer (Mark 14:35). He fell on the ground and prayed. A little earlier, in prayer, he had lifted up his eyes (John 17:1), but here, in his agony, he falls on his face. He fits his posture to his humiliation and teaches us to bow low before God. It is fitting for us to be humble when we come before the Most High.

As man, he shrank from suffering and asked, if it were possible, that the hour might pass from him (Mark 14:35). In other words, “If this sharp suffering that I am about to enter could be left out, let human salvation be accomplished without it.” We have his own words in full: “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36).

The Syriac word is kept here because Christ used it, and it means “Father.” This shows the force and tenderness with which our Lord spoke in his grief, and it is how we should think of God too. Paul keeps this word for believers who have the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit that gives them a childlike place before God. They are taught to cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).

“Father, all things are possible to you.” Even when we cannot expect a certain thing to be done for us, we should still believe that God is able to do it. And when we submit to his will and trust his wisdom and mercy, we must also confess his power. Nothing is too hard for him.

As mediator, one who stands between God and people to bring them together, Christ yielded to the will of God for our sake. “Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” He knew the matter was settled and could not be changed. He must suffer and die, and he received that bitter path willingly.

He then returned to his disciples, who had fallen asleep while he was praying (Mark 14:37, Mark 14:38). He came to look after them, since they had not watched over him. He found them asleep, though they had heard his sorrow, his prayers, and his grief. Their carelessness was a sign of their later failure when they would abandon him, and it made their fault worse because he had so recently praised them for staying with him in his trials.

Peter is specially rebuked for his drowsiness: “Simon, are you sleeping?” This is a sharp reminder to the one who had so confidently promised never to deny him. “What, my son? You who said so strongly that you would never deny me, do you treat me like this? I expected better from you. Could you not watch one hour?” Christ did not ask for a long vigil, only one hour. It is a serious thing that we grow faint so quickly in Christ’s service, since he does not burden us beyond measure or weary us with heavy demands (Isaiah 43:23). He gives no heavier load than to hold fast until he comes (Revelation 2:24, Revelation 2:25), and he will soon come (Revelation 3:11).

As those whom Christ loves, he rebukes when they go wrong. And those whom he rebukes, he also counsels and comforts. His first word was wise and faithful: “Watch and pray, so that you may not enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38). It was bad enough that they slept while Christ was in agony, but worse trials were ahead. If they did not wake themselves up and draw grace and strength from God by prayer, they would fall further, which is exactly what happened when they all left him and ran away.

Christ also spoke gently for them: “The spirit indeed is willing.” He knew their hearts were sincere. They really did want to stay awake, but they could not. This also supports the warning, “Watch and pray,” because the spirit may truly be willing, yet the flesh is weak. The weakness of our human nature should push us toward prayer and watchfulness when temptation is near.

He then returned and prayed again, saying the same words, and then again a third time (Mark 14:39). This teaches us to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1). Even when answers do not come quickly, we should keep asking and keep praying, for the vision is for an appointed time, and it will speak at the end, not lie (Habakkuk 2:3). Paul also pleaded three times when he was tormented by a messenger of Satan, just as Christ did here, before he received peace (2 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Corinthians 12:8).

Earlier, when Christ prayed in distress, “Father, glorify your name,” he got an immediate answer from heaven. But here he must come a second and third time. God gives answers to prayer when he chooses, sooner or later, so that we may keep depending on him.

He also returned to his disciples more than once. In this, he showed his continuing care for his church on earth, even when it is half asleep and not properly watching over itself, while he lives forever making intercession for it with the Father in heaven. See how, as mediator, he goes back and forth between both sides. He came the second time and found them asleep again (Mark 14:40).

Their weakness returned on them, despite their good intentions, and overpowered their resistance. Our bodies are such a burden to our souls. That should make us long for the blessed state where they will no longer hold us back. The second time he spoke to them as before, but they did not know what to answer. They were ashamed of their sleepiness and had no excuse. Or they were so overcome by drowsiness that, like people between sleep and waking, they hardly knew where they were or what they were saying.

The third time, he told them to sleep on if they would (Mark 14:41). “Sleep on now and take your rest. I have no more need of your watching. If you want to sleep, do it.” “It is enough” is found in Matthew, though not here. The meaning is, “You have had warning enough to stay awake, and you would not listen. Now you will see how little reason you had to feel safe.” Some take it to mean, “I release you from further attendance.” Others understand him to mean, “Now the hour has come, the hour I knew would end this way, so take your course.”

“The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners,” meaning the chief priests and elders, the worst kind of sinners because they claimed to be holy. “Come, rise up. Do not sit there half asleep. Let us go and meet the enemy, for the one who betrays me is near.” He would not now think of escaping. When trouble is at the door, we should stir ourselves and get ready for it.