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3. Gethsemane and the Betrayal; or, the Lord’s sorrow of Soul.—The coming of the Traitor. Mar_14:32-42.—The Betrayal and its Effect. The Arrest of the Lord. The Flight of the Disciples. Mar_14:43-52
A. Gethsemane. Mar_14:32-42.
Mar_14:33. To be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; ἤñîáôï ἐêèáìâåῖóèáé êáὶ ἀäçìïíåῖí .—Matthew has ëõðåῖóèáé êáὶ ἀäçìïíåῖí . Luke, instead of either expressions: ãåíüìåíïò ἐí ἀãùíßᾳ (in a dreadful struggle or agony). This agony has its two sides, which are described with about equal force in the phraseology of Matthew and Luke; ἐêèáìâåῖóèáé is a stronger term than ëõðåῖóèáé , and is given only by Mark; indeed, the word is only found in the passages, Mar_9:15; Mar_16:5-6. Upon this point consult the Commentary on Matthew, Mat_26:37. The traitorous, false, despairing world, represented in Judas, fills Christ with sorrow to amazement; He shudders before it, before the infernal powers lying behind it, and before the abyss of wickedness in this spiritual hell; the impotent, poor, and lost world, which lay sleeping around Him, overcome with sorrow and devoid of all presentiment, as represented by the three sleeping disciples, gives Him the feeling of eternal abandonment, Isa_63:3. Comp. Matthew. Starke: ἐêèáìâåῖóèáé is used of fright at a peal of thunder, Act_9:3; Act_9:6; and before a phantom, Mat_14:26 : from this some conclude that the most frightful phantoms may have presented themselves to Christ, etc.
Mar_14:35. The hour might pass from Him.—Not His suffering generally, but that hour. The whole feeling of suffering and judgment, to be so betrayed by the one half of the world, and to be so forsaken by the other half. See Matthew. [The “feeling” cannot be entirely accounted for by the desertion of the creature merely; there was also to be the desertion of the Creator.—Ed.]
Mar_14:36. Abba.—Most vivid narration. Citation of the actual words, as in the expression, Talitha cumi, and the exclamation on the cross. Meyer: “This address, among the Greek-speaking Christians, acquired the nature of a nomen proprium.” Apart from the misunderstanding which would arise, the phrase Talitha cumi, and other expressions, speak against this opinion. Accordingly, ὁ ðáôÞñ is certainly an explanatory addition. [Meyer remarks, in loc., that the common view that ὁ ðáôÞñ is a translation of Abba, is not congruous with the idea of earnest supplication; and refers to Rom_8:15.—Ed.]—Nevertheless not.—We supply: “But do not this, as I will, as My feelings would have.” Meyer: “Let this not be which I will.” Matthew indicates by ðëὴí ïὐ÷ ὡò . Luke uses appropriately ôὸ èÝëçìá (inclination of the will), not èÝëçóéò (act of will). Accordingly, ἀëë ̓ ïὐ ôß is to be taken in rather a formal sense.
Mar_14:40. Found them asleep again.—Luke: “For sorrow.” Sorrow kept the Lord awake, but lulled the disciples to sleep.
Neither wist they what to answer.—Comp. Mar_9:6.
Mar_14:41. Sleep on now, and take your rest.—See Note upon Matthew. The ironical meaning, as conveyed by Matthew, is altered by Luke into a reproof: “Why sleep ye?” Mark presents an intermediate view: first irony, then the call to wake.—It is enough ( ἀðÝ÷åé ).—This is the opposite of ïὐäὲí ἀðÝ÷åé : nothing stands in the way, nothing hinders. The meaning accordingly is, It has failed; it is no more of use, etc. “Meyer: “It is enough,— ἐîáñêåῖ .” This is quite a derivative meaning, and an application of the word very remote indeed. (The Vulgate renders sufficit, &c.) Quite as untenable is another interpretation: “There is enough watching, ye have watched enough;” or, “My anguish is past.”
Mar_14:45. Master, Master.—Not merely an exclamation of excitement, but also of hypocritical reverence carried to its greatest height.
Mar_14:51. A certain young man.—This forms an episode as characteristic of Mark as the Emmaus disciples of Luke; and given for similar reasons. That he was no apostle is evident from the designation: “A certain young man;” from the circumstance that he had already the night-dress on; and especially from the contrast he presents to the Apostles. He only presents himself after their flight, a youthful Joseph of Arimathea, and so a precursor of him. Some have without reason settled upon John as the person (Ambrose, Chrysostom, Gregory the Great); others have selected, equally without ground, James the Just (Epiph. Hœres. 87, 13). That the youth belonged to a family standing in a relation of friendship to the Lord, we may safely assume; at least, he was himself an enthusiastic follower of Christ. On this account, it was natural to suppose a youth of the family where Jesus had eaten the Passover (Theophylact). In this case, however, we must assume that the young man had, on this occasion, been sleeping, or retiring to rest, in the house which belonged to the family, and which lay in the valley of the Cedron; for, that the young man had been startled from his sleep, or in preparing to retire to rest, in the neighborhood of Gethsemane (in some neighboring country-seat, says Grotius), is proved by his wearing the night-dress. Both circumstances might possibly be found united in Mark himself, whom we, with Olshausen, consider to be this “certain young man.” (See Introduction.) Reasons: 1. The youth’s picture agrees in every line with the character of Mark 2. The circumstances of the youth agreed perfectly with those of Mark: the friend of the Lord, resting in this country-house for the night. 3. There is an analogical support of this view, in the fact that John also, by a mere hint, weaves himself and His mother into the Evangelical narrative (Joh_1:40; Joh_19:25); and probably Luke does the same thing (Luk_24:18). 4. The fact that this circumstance is related by Mark alone, which Meyer considers so very trifling, and Bauer holds to be a piquant addition.—The young men—These certainly were not the temple-guards, nor yet the soldiery, but young persons who had of their own accord joined the company; partly from their interest in adventure. For this reason, they found themselves particularly tempted to make an attack upon this young man, their equal in years, in the nightdress, who wished to follow Jesus, clad in so ridiculous a manner.
Mar_14:52. And he left the linen cloth.—The night-mantle, thrown about him, was easily loosed. Bengel: pudorem vicit timor in magno periculo. Whitefield has properly pointed out the action of this youth as the emblem of a late reception of Jesus, though others have praised it as the emblem of an early following of the Lord, as belief in youth. Both are to be found in it: a beautiful enthusiasm of belief, and a fanatical self-dependence and over-estimation of personal strength. Rather far-fetched is Guyon’s allegory, that we must follow Jesus, stripping off all that is our own, and all that is false. This youth was a follower while he had the linen cloth; deprived of this, he became a deserter.
2. The suffering of Jesus in Gethsemane, and the treachery of Judas, stand in the most intimate relation to each other. The bringing about of His sufferings by means of the treachery which grew up in the midst of His disciples, and the spirit of worldliness, of worldly sorrow and worldly falseness, of self-disrespect and despair, manifested in this treachery,—this is, in the particular sense, the bitter cup which he had to drain; for it is the heaviest judgment of God, that sin itself must break forth in treachery proceeding out the disciple-circle; a fact, in which is revealed the full judgment of God upon the sin of the world in its faithlessness, and in its despair—upon the sin of that world which could break through the barriers separating the disciples of Christ from the world. In Christ’s experience of this judgment, there are two points to be marked: the realization of His being perfectly deserted; the manifestation of the world’s weakness, and of the imminent danger to which the wickedness of the world exposed Him even amid His disciples. That He must see Himself forsaken by His young Church, that He must grieve because of the apostasy in the midst of this Church: therein lies the bitter gall of His passion-cup, therein was judgment finished. He prayed that this hour might pass, if it were possible (Mar_14:35). And (Mar_14:41) it is said, The hour is come; behold, the Son of Man, etc. The betrayal marks and seals this hour.
3. The sleeping of the good disciples is contrasted with the watchfulness of the evil disciple. What was common to both parties, was the unspeakable sorrow. In the case of Judas, this has changed into absolute demoniacal distress, animosity, and rage; in the case of the Eleven, it is manifested in complete relaxation, cowardice, and indecision. On this account, Christ opposes to the sleep and indecision of the Eleven, the intensest agitation of soul and energy; to the fevered excitement of Judas, on the contrary, the most perfect quiet of soul.
4. The youth who follows the Lord in his night-garb, and then flees, is a striking picture of the pious resolutions of Jesus’ disciples, which are dissipated in the night of great temptation.
Starke:—To pray is the best thing we can do in the hour of temptation.—Quesnel:—God’s will must be at all times dearer than our own, let it cost what it may to perfect it.—Canstein:—Prayer is needed with watching, and watching with prayer. Both must go together.—Alas, if Israel’s Shepherd should not be watchful, how evil would it be with us, from our lethargic security and sloth!—Judas sells Jesus. We should not consider the whole world a sufficient purchase-price for Jesus.—Osiander:—The wickedness of the world is so great, that the very persons who are appointed to administer justice persecute the just, and defend the unjust.—Canstein:—Whosoever allures others into sin, sins himself, and loads himself with all the sin which the others commit.—Osiander:—Satan blinds men, that, when they do evil, they know not what will be its result.—Canstein:—A good intention may lead to evil (the blow of the sword).—Hasty passions are dangerous; therefore, resist a a blind zeal, which, the hotter it burns, displeases God the more.—Hedinger:—Where the cross is, there is flight.
Braune:—As Christ withdrew Himself, at the beginning of His public ministry, into the wilderness, so also now at the conclusion of His mission.—He addresses Himself to Peter at once, to do all that He could to bring him to see his weakness.—It is not the Scripture which makes the necessity of fulfilment: but the will of God, revealed in the prophets, causes the fulfilment of the Scriptures. The darkness, likewise, stands beneath God’s light.—It is noticeable, that upon the spot where Jesus was seized by the band, Titus, the Roman commander, pitched his camp forty years after. The Turks, however, have walled the place where Judas kissed Christ, as an accursed spot.
Brieger:—Had Christ not been tempted as well from the side of terror as formerly from that of lust, the Scriptures could not say: He was tempted in all points.—Was that, perhaps, now fulfilled in His own person, which He prophesied of this time (Luk_21:26)? Then did that statement receive its accomplishment in Gethsemane: “I have trodden the winepress alone,” Isa_63:3.—Rabbi, Rabbi. It was the last Rabbi his lips uttered.—The whole transaction (the arrest of Christ) presents itself as a drama arranged by the chief council. But all the pretence being, destroyed, the leaders of the people stand before us as common criminals.—This terror could not have overmastered the disciples, had they not erred regarding the Lord. Being dissatisfied that Jesus did not deliver Himself from suffering, they held themselves bound to withdraw from danger.—Gossner, on Mar_14:27 :—If thou canst not overcome sleep how wilt thou overcome death?—Bauer:—And these were the best of the disciples of Jesus!—Judas, accordingly, is there with his band already! He has been quick. Yes, sin runs a rapid race.
Footnotes:
Mar_14:35.—The remarkable difference between ðñïóåëèþí and ðñïåëèþí is found here, just as in Matthew. Most MSS. are in favor of the first; the sense favors the second. If we retain ðñïóåëèþí , the terminus ad quem is wanting: unless there he a reference to drawing near to God in prayer, ÷ָøַá . Luke uses an expression denoting separation.
Mar_14:43.—After “Judas,” A., D., K., Lachmann, Tischendorf read ὸ ’ Éóêáñéþôçò .]
[Mar_14:45.—The second ῥáââß omitted by Lachmann after B., C.*, D., L., Vulgate.]
[Mar_14:51,—Lachmann, Tischendorf, after B., C.*, D., L., Syriac, Persian, Coptic, Itala, Vulgate, omit ïἱ íåáíßóêïé .
[In Mat_14:26 the words employed are ἐôáñÜ÷èçóáí , and ἀðὸ ôïῦ öüâïõ ἔêñáîáí .—Ed.]