Abba! Father!

Mark 14:35,36
And He went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me!”

Luke 22:44
And being in agony He was praying very fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.  

It was raining that night in Gethsemane.

 
Jesus was distressed, deeply grieved to the point of death (Mark 14:33,34). Luke says He was “in agony” praying fervently. Sweat was raining to the ground like a hemorrhage (22:44). And although not specifically mentioned, I imagine tears were raining too.

 
Jesus was soaked with sweat. Perhaps His face was smeared with tears.

 
Jesus was also on the ground. Walking a short distance away from them, but still close enough for them to see Him and hear His prayers through their drowsiness, Jesus had dropped to the ground (pipto, to descend from a higher place to a lower). He was either sitting, kneeling or lying prostrate. Or perhaps at different times, He was doing all three.

We don’t know how long this period of prayer continued but the fact that Jesus returned to Peter, James and John three times suggests that it was an extended period, perhaps hours.

 
Jesus appealed to the power of God who could do anything, declaring that “All things are possible for You!” The cup before Him was the suffering and shame of the cross, the cup of the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all humanity’s ungodliness, unrighteousness and suppression of truth (Romans 1:18). The cup was bigger than just the consequences of my personal sins as I might superficially surmise. It was the cup of wrath against sin and death itself.

 
He asked whether it could be removed, whether there might be another way. Perhaps the words of one of the Hallel Psalms He had just sung with His disciples during Passover was still in His mind: “The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me. I found distress and sorrow. I called upon the name of the Lord, O Lord I beseech Thee, save my life!” (Psalm 116:3,4).

But amid His earth-wrenching grief He remembered one simple truth.

He was crying out to “Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithful truth” (Exodus 34:6). It is the first description of Yahweh’s character found in Scripture, spoken to Moses who was also prostrated before the Lord in worship (Exodus 34:8).  

And Jesus called His Father, in Aramaic “Abba,” using the first word that He had probably spoken as an infant. In this moment of profound grief, He knew the comfort of Abba whom He was convinced was near and listening. And it gave Him strength.

“I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my supplications” (Psalm 116:1).  
True for the Psalmist.
True for Jesus.
True for us.

 
We love you, Lord.