Prayer, Betrayal, and Nudity

Introduction

Last week we were in the upper room with Jesus as he partook of the passover with the disciples. In this he instituted the Lord’s Supper and he told them that one of them would betray him. After all of this they left and went to Gethsemane. Tonight we are picking up here in this garden.

In this garden Jesus will pray a deep prayer and then this betrayal that we have seen coming for quite some time will finally take place. After this there will be the naked man running off.

These are the last moments of Jesus’s freedom. From here he will not be free again until he is risen from the dead. Let’s go ahead and read through this passage and see the prayer, betrayal, and nudity.

Mark 14:32–52 ESV

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

So Jesus and his disciples of out to Gethsemane and he tells them to wait while he goes out to pray but he took with him his inner circle, Peter, James, and John. Jesus is very troubled in this moment and he goes with them and begins to pray with great intensity. While he is doing this the inner circle begins to nod off asleep. Jesus wakes them up then resumes praying and then it happens again. After this Jesus it is enough and that his betrayer is there. This is when Judas comes out and betrays him. The great crowd seizes Jesus and the disciples begin to fight back but quickly stop. After they all stop they scatter away and one that is nearby is nearly caught but he sheds his clothes and runs off naked.

Through the last few weeks we have been seeing the emphasis on how Jesus is fully God through all the time, including hear at the end. Today we see the confirmation of all of that but also we see a call back to his humanity. Jesus knew what was about to happen but he was also troubled and fearful about it.

Through tonight we are going to see the faith that Jesus displays throughout this entire situation and we are going to look at the importance of prayer that Jesus emphasizes and we see in the book of Mark.

Lets start tonight with prayer then we can start with looking at faith.

Faith

Faith is a multifaceted word that meshes belief and trust together. It says in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Through this understanding of faith we can see that there were several times where it is displayed throughout these verses and in different ways too. The three that we see are faith and rest, faith and wrestling, and faith and fear.

faith and rest

Mark 14:36 ESV

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus here is resting in Gods will. Sure he is wrestling and there is some fear here but he puts all of that behind him and rest in the will of God knowing that it is what is best.

How often do you truly rest in God’s will? Think about this, Jesus knew he was about to die a gruesome death and he wished for another way but he rested in the Fathers will of this being the only way. This is a deep level of faith where though everything seemed grim Jesus knew better.

This is not the only time that we see this too in Mark 4:37–38 “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”” Jesus had so much faith here that he was literally resting in the boat.

We face so many storms in life and difficult situations and circumstances but through them all we must rest in the will of the Father.

faith and wrestling

Mark 14:36–39 ESV

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

We often do not associate wrestling with God in a good light but I think that we should. Jesus here was constant in prayer about his situation here. He desired another way but he did so in faith and submission to God.

We often question why on things in our life and we need to take those things to God in prayer. Often it is there that we will get our answer. Pray lots and listen to your own prayers, they might just provide the insight that you are looking for. Wrestle in prayer and allow God to speak to you in it.

faith and fear

Now I am not sure if fear really is the best word here but we see this in Mark 14:33 “And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.”

Jesus is not all happy about what is about to happen, he is deeply troubled about it. This is not because of what happens after his death but rather because of the awful way that he will die. He says later in Mark 14:38 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”” He is willing to do what must be done, he is walking in faith. Still yet though the flesh knows what is coming and is worried about it.

Even amongst all of this Jesus walks in faith. He doesn’t waver. Fear is not something that is inherently a bad thing, the question is what do you do with it. When you share the gospel with someone there is most likely some fear there in you and that is okay, the question is what will you do with it. Will you let it stop you or will you follow in faith. This is what Jesus is faced with in this moment and faith wins for him every time.

Prayer

Now for a moment about prayer. Mark 14.32

Mark 14:32 ESV

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

Mark 14:39 ESV

And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

Here Jesus prayed. He prayed a lot and he prayed for the same thing repeatedly. We have seen Jesus pray throughout the book of Mark. The first place is in Mark 1:35 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” and the second place in Mark 6:46 “And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.” and then finally now.

Prayer was a priority for Jesus, it is communication with God and it allows us to make our request to him while also shaping us. How amazing is that, while we think we are bringing our request to God he is molding our hearts.

Jesus prayed in the critical moments like in our passage tonight but he also prayed in the every day moments. May we do the same so that we to can have this beautiful relationship with God and allow him to shape our hearts and conform them to his will.

Conclusion

Here in this garden it is as through Jesus’s soul is crucified and now he just awaits his body. Through his prayer and great faith Jesus allows his enemies to capture him. Their location would have made for an easy getaway but that is not what he is there for. Through the fear and the wrestling and the prayer Jesus is resting in God’s will. He is fully resolved to go to the cross and die for our sins.

In this moment of betrayal we see that what Jesus spoke in Mark 14:27 is also fulfilled saying “And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” they all flee when this begins to go down.

Not only do all of the 12 flee but we see that there is someone else there that flees. Probably someone of wealth because of the clothing he was wearing he ran off and they grabbed him but he shed the clothes and fled. This is most likely Mark himself and he inserted it to confess his sins and associate himself among those who fled.

As funny as this portion is, it is good for some self reflection. When things are not easy and your faith is tested will you stand in your faith fully assured and full of prayer or will you fall asleep like the inner circle or will you run naked and ashamed.

We must be ready to stand firm in the faith because we are not promised to be treated well. The first thing necessary for this though is faith. If you have never put your faith in Jesus and accepted the salvation that he offers then I would encourage you to do just that today.