Friday, October 28, 2022

John E. McKinley on Jesus' Struggle in Gethsemane in the Gospel of Mark

  

Mark presents the prayerful struggle in Gethsemane as an explicit account of Christ’s temptation. Jesus warns the three disciples with him to “pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38). Christ’s explanation of the danger reflects his own struggle against temptation in the weakness of his flesh, as he says, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (ασθενης, cf. “our weaknesses” in Heb 4:15, ασθενειαις ημων). This is explicit evidence for Christ’s struggle against temptation within the limits of his humanity. The probability that Jesus is describing his own struggle against the temptation to avoid the vicarious punishment for sin is increased by the description in Mark 14:33 of his experience as “shock and intense distress” (εκθαμβεισθαι και αδημονειν). According to Mark 14:34, Jesus laments that “my soul is distraught to the limit of death” (περιλυπος εστιν η ψυχη μου εως θανατου) in his misery because of his impending suffering. The specific reason for Christ’s dread is not given, but it is probable that Jesus was aware at this point that his suffering would include his death and having to bear the curse for sin (cf. Matt 20:17-19; Isa 53). Jesus speaks of death as his internal experience of such sorrows that threaten to tear him apart. His shocked and distressed anticipation of the suffering in connection with death and judgment for the world’s sin is also the likely cause of those emotions that threatened to destroy him. (John E. McKinley, Tempted for Us: Theological Models and the Practical Relevance of Christ’s Impeccability and Temptation [Paternoster Theological Monographs; Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2009], 29-30)