Day 122: Mark 14:32–42

He said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (v. 36).

Without Mark’s Gospel, we would not know Christ cried out to His Father using the name, “Abba.” I don’t often give you an extensive quote, but this one captured my soul with rich meditation; I hope it will yours.

Abba is originally . . . a word derived from baby-language. When a child is weaned, “it learns to say ’abba (daddy) and ’imma (mummy).” . . . Also used by adult sons and daughters. . . . ’abba acquired the warm, familiar ring which we may feel in such an expression as “dear father.” Nowhere in the entire wealth of devotional literature produced by ancient Judaism do we find ’abba being used as a way of addressing God. The pious Jew knew too much of the great gap between God and man to be free to address God with the familiar word used in everyday family life. . . . We find only one example of ’abba used in reference to God. It occurs in a story recorded in the Babylonian Talmud: “When the world had need of rain, our teachers used to send the schoolchildren to Rabbi Hanan ha Nehba [end of the 1st cent. b.c.], and they would seize the hem of his cloak and call out to him: ‘Dear father (’abba), dear father (’abba), give us rain.’ He said before God: ‘Sovereign of the world, do it for the sake of these who cannot distinguish between an ’abba who can give rain and an ’abba who can give no rain.’ ”30

When Christ Jesus fell to His face and cried out, “Abba, Father,” He cried out to the Abba who can give rain. The sovereign of the world was His Daddy. Everything was possible for Him . . . including removing the cup of dread.

Never minimize the moment by thinking God couldn’t have removed the cup. Do not subtract God’s freedom of choice from this picture. God could have chosen to reject the way of the cross. After all, He is the sovereign of the universe.

That God could have stopped the process yet didn’t is a matchless demonstration of love. Can you think of anyone for whom you’d watch your only child be tortured to death? “ ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me’ ” (Mark 14:36).

The request Christ placed before the Father ought to make us catch our breath. It ascended to heaven through wails of grief. God’s beloved was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Luke’s Gospel tells us His sweat dropped like blood, a condition almost unheard of except when the physical body is placed in more stress and grief than it was fashioned to handle. Do we think God sat upon His throne unmoved?

Our hearts ought to miss a beat. Christ could have walked past the cross. He could have—but He didn’t. Luke 22:47 tells us, “While he was still speaking a crowd came up.” Imagine the scene they walked into that night.

Please try to grasp Christ’s physical condition just before the crowd headed up the Mount of Olives to seize Him. Like a body that rejects a transplanted organ, the human body of Jesus Christ was practically tearing itself apart. The full throttle of divine impact and emotion was almost more than one human body could endure. The stress had nearly turned Him inside out. I do not make this point to emphasize His weakness. Quite the contrary. In fact I find the scene recorded in John 18:6 portrays His incredible power. When Jesus told the crowd, “I am he,” even overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, the proclaimed presence of Jesus Christ knocked the mob to the ground.

Dear sweet Jesus. We really have no idea who You are, do we? Your God-ness could not be diminished for a moment, in or out of that prison of flesh. Lord, don’t let us forget. You, who submitted Yourself to the hands of sinful men, were very God.