Mark 14:35 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And he went forward a little’ – Luke tells us that he prayed about a stone’s throw from the three disciples – ‘and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him’ – the hour of foretaste, and the hour of Calvary. It doesn't just mean the following hours in Gethsemane. It is about all he must do as part of the work of redemption. That is what he prayed. His human nature with this preview of Calvary cried out for deliverance and yet he submitted to the terrible experience. ‘If it be possible’ – of course, it wasn’t possible. The only way that millions could be saved was through his suffering and death on Calvary. This was what he had determined with the Father in the eternal counsel before the world began. It wasn’t possible for him to avoid it, and he was willing to see it through. What we see here is Christ – and especially in his humanity – longing for deliverance, that some other way could be found and yet at the same time willingly, voluntarily saying, ‘I will die for them. Thy will be done.’ His humanity says, ‘I cannot do it and yet I must do it, I will do it.’ Here is the triumph of his obedience to his own divine plan, made with the Father and the Spirit.