BIBLE TIMES TABLE TALK: Please Take It Away, Papa

Mark 14:32-42

14:36, “ABBA FATHER” HE SAID, “EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU. TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME. YET NOT WHAT I WILL, BUT WHAT YOU WILL.”

Jesus had his Father’s full attention because nothing so seizes a father’s attention like hearing his child cry out, “Papa!” That’s a rough equivalent of the extraordinary intimacy and urgency implied by the words, “Abba, Father.” His son was in distress, and the Father could fix it. Everything is possible for him. Everything. He could have canceled the mission to the cross; he could have done it, he really could. Jesus was prostrate, pleading, “Please take it away, Papa.”

Gethsemane was the place. Gethsemane means, “olive oil press,” after the device by which olives are crushed under the weight of a big stone, their oil flowing into a receptacle, the way Jesus’ sweat fell like drops of blood to the ground (see Luke 22:44). Jesus was being crushed by the weight of his Father’s will for him. Jesus was to carry the load of our sins and sorrows.

Three times Jesus asked if he might be excused from his assignment. But three times he added, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” As hard as it was, his Father’s will became Jesus’ will too. Sometimes the only way for a cup to pass is to drink it to the dregs. Fully confident of God’s power (“everything is possible for you”) and love (“Abba, Father”). Jesus willingly submitted to his wisdom.

Thus, in his submission Jesus was never more powerful. His death on the cross looked like weakness, but it was in reality God’s mighty strength to save. By the world’s standards, a premature and ignominious death looked silly, but it was in reality God’s profound wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25). Because of this, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (see Philippians 2:10-11). What about you? The most powerful words you can ever say to God are the same as Jesus. “Yet not what I will, but what you will.”