Gospels

Matthew 26:39 (ESV) And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew 26:42 (ESV) Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Matthew 26:44 (ESV) So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

What is “the cup” Jesus is about to drink? The metaphor of a cup for God’s judgment is common in the Old Testament, and it probably has the same meaning here.

Jeremiah 25:15–29 (ESV) Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.

Isaiah 51:21–22 (ESV) Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: 22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more

Psalms of Solomon 8:14–15 Because of this God mixed them (a drink) of a wavering spirit, and gave them a cup of undiluted wine to make them drunk. 15 He brought someone from the end of the earth, one who attacks in strength; he declared war against Jerusalem, and her land.

1QpHab Col. xi:12-14 Its interpretation concerns the Priest whose disgrace exceeded his glory 13 because he did not circumcise the foreskin of his heart and has walked on paths of 14 excessiveness to slake his thirst; but the cup of 15 [Go]d’s anger will consume him, increasing [… ]his [dis]grace.

Revelation 16:19 God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.

When Jesus refers to drinking a cup in Matthew 20:22–23 and 26:27, the cup refers to the suffering of the crucifixion. This raises a difficult question. Is Jesus praying to his father to avoid the suffering of the cross? This seems unlikely since Jesus predicted his suffering several times and stated his death was the main reason he came to the world (Matthew 20:28).

As he instructed his disciples to pray, Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, knowing the will of the Father is to pour out his wrath on Jesus, the son. The theology of this prayer is important. This is a time of extreme temptation for Jesus, a temptation to not fulfill his father’s will and go through with the crucifixion. For many, Jesus is asking for the strength to endure the cross. Rather than asking to “get out of” the cross, he is asking for his humanity to be strengthened to endure the suffering he is under.

Is Jesus, while on earth, unable to know if there is an alternative to the crucifixion? Craig Blaising argued that there was a real possibility that God could accomplish the atonement without the crucifixion but that he willed that it should be through the crucifixion. Jesus would then say that he is submitting to the father by submitting to crucifixion.

It is probably best to see Jesus as genuinely tempted and troubled unto death. This makes the second half of his prayer more foundational; he submits himself to the will of the Father, not knowing the outcome. This also makes Jesus’s role as a servant clearer. While on earth, Jesus submits himself totally to the will of the Father as a servant, who came to us to die as an atonement (Mark 10:45). “Although Jesus has plainly prophesied his fate, he here recoils from it. This is not, however, an act of rebellion. Rather does the plea harmonize with the Jewish notion that God can, in response to prayer or repentance or sin, change his mind” (Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:497)

Jesus prays this prayer continually over some time (long enough for the disciples to fall asleep). It is not a quick one-sentence prayer. What we read is the substance of that prayer. When he returns to his closest disciples, he finds them sleeping rather than watching over him and joining him in prayer.

Bibliography: Craig A. Blaising, “Gethsemane: A Prayer of Faith,” JETS 22 (1979): 333–43; M. Kiley, “‘Lord, Save My Life’ (Ps 116:4) as Generative Text for Jesus’ Gethsemane Prayer (Mark 14:36a),” CBQ 48 (1986): 655–59.

This passage looks back to Matthew 20:22, Jesus tells James and John that they are not able to drink the cup that he is about to drink. In that context, the cup refers to the coming crucifixion, and James and John both swear that they can “drink that cup.” Like Peter in the previous paragraph, they swore to go to their deaths alongside Jesus. Now and the time has come for them to keep watch, they fail. All three will fall asleep in the garden, and all three will flee when Jesus is arrested.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John and asks them to sit with him to watch (26:38) while Jesus prays. Why these three disciples? The three disciples are usually called Jesus’s “inner circle” since out of the twelve, they are almost the only disciples mentioned by name and are the only disciples featured in some episodes. These three disciples accompanied Jesus during the transfiguration (Matthew 17). This is significant because they say the glory of God. They heard the voice from heaven and saw Moses and Elijah. After that revelation of who Jesus really was, they were the three disciples who ought to understand most clearly what was about to happen in the next few hours.

More importantly, all three boasted they would suffer alongside Jesus. In Matthew 20:20-28 the sons of Zebedee requested to sit on either side of Jesus when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus’s response anticipates Gethsemane. He tells them they are not able “to drink the cup that I am going to drink.” Both were indignant, and in Matthew 20:22, they claim they can drink “the same cup as Jesus.”  Peter had a similar boastful moment when he claimed he would not fall away, only a few hours earlier (Matt 26:31-35). Looking ahead to the book of Acts, Luke only mentions Peter and John in Acts 2-5 and then informs the reader James was killed by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1).

The disciples are told to “keep watch” (γρηγορέω). The word has the sense of alertness, to “stay awake.” It was used for literal “guard duty” (1 Macc 12:27) but is used in Christian literature for spiritual alertness (1 Cor 16:13, for example).  In Matthew 24:43, Jesus tells his disciples to “keep watch” because they do not know the time of his return (Parable of the thief in the night). The command is illustrated in the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (Matt 25:1-13, which ends with those words).

Jesus says his soul is “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” and asks them to stay and keep watch (Matthew 26:37-38). This is a rare word (περίλυπος). It is sorrow that covers one up, a sorrow that could cause death itself. It is sometimes translated as “afflicted beyond measure” The same phrase is used in Jonah 4:9; Jonah is so sorrowful that he would rather be dead. LXX Psalm 42:6 uses this word, “My soul is cast down within me.” It describes the reaction of the wise men in Babylon when they learn Nebuchadnezzar was going to execute them (LXX Dan 2:12). God asked Cain why he was so deeply grieved (LXX Genesis 4:6, most ET follow the Hebrew, he is angry).

Verse 38 adds that Jesus began to be “sorrowful and troubled.” Sorrowful is a common word in the NT for sorrow, but “troubled” (ἀδημονέω) is much more intense, sometimes translated as “tormented” or “disquieted” in ancient Greek (BrillDAG). Luke adds that Jesus sweats great drops of blood (Luke 22:44).

This agony in the Garden before his arrest, suffering, and crucifixion is a clear demonstration of the humanity of Jesus.

Often called the “Garden of,” the Greek word Γεθσημανί is a transliteration of גַּת שְׁמָנֵי, meaning “oil press.” The location is on the Mount of Olives. Presumably, Gethsemane was an olive orchard owned by a supporter of Jesus who allowed Jesus and his followers to stay there rather than return to Bethany. John 18:1 calls it a garden (κῆπος, a word which can refer to an enclosure), and the disciples “enter” it, implying it had a short wall marking out the boundaries of this particular orchard.

There are at least four possible sites; the most popular is the Church of All-Nations (constructed in 1919-1924, maintained by the Franciscans). The church has a small olive garden, and inside the church is the traditional “agony stone.” Early visitors reported a church at the location in the late fourth century. There was a crusader church until 1345 (Schnabel, Jesus in Jerusalem, 116).

In 2020, archaeologists discovered a Jewish mikveh while excavating a tunnel under the byzantine church. A mikveh is a pool used for ceremonial washing in the Second Temple period. This is the first archaeological evidence from the Second Temple period at Gethsemane. In the first century, Jewish workers producing wine or olive oil needed to be ceremonially clean, so if there was an olive press there, it is not surprising there was a mikveh.

Church of All Nations

The primary competing traditional location of the betrayal of Jesus is the Grotto of the Agony, near the Tomb of Mary on the Mount of Olives. The Book of John about the Dormition of Mary (a sermon written by John, Archbishop of Thessalonica in the seventh century) implies her tomb was in Gethsemane. Franciscans purchased the cave in the seventeenth century, but the Eastern Orthodox Christians continued to use the cave until 1919. The site is today maintained by the Franciscans. The cave may have had an olive press (although nothing remains). The cave would be large enough for Jesus and some disciples to get out of the weather (33 feet deep, 62 feet wide).

Joan Taylor, “The Garden of Gethsemane Not the Place of Jesus’ Arrest” BAR 21 (1995): 26–35. Taylor argues, “Jesus was arrested not at the traditional Garden of Gethsemane adjacent to the Church of All Nations but rather in the cave of Gethsemane (on the way to the Tomb of the Virgin Mary).”

Image Credit SPQR10 (derivative version). – Derivative work from the 1914 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, a publication now in the Public Domain., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94596868

It is best to agree with Davies and Allision, “Traditional and modern proposals (e.g., the Grotto of the Agony) are guesses” (Matthew, 3:494).

Peter’s betrayal is one of the most disturbing moments in the events leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion. In Matthew 26:31-35 Jesus predicts, in the next few hours, all the disciples will leave him, and Peter himself will deny him three times.

After the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples return to the Mount of Olives. Before the arrive at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus predicts all the disciples will fall away, fulfilling the words of Zechariah 13:7.

In Zechariah 13:7, the Lord of Hosts commands a sword to strike “my shepherd,” when the shepherd is struck the sheep scatter and then “I will turn my hands against the “little ones.” The next few verses describe the little ones as tested in the fire and refined, resulting the declaration “they are my people.” In the original context, the little ones are the remnant of Israel who will suffer in the exile (only a third will survive), but in the coming eschatological age (Zech 14) they will be God’s refined-by-fire righteous remnant. If Jesus intends us to hear echoes of the whole context of Zechariah 13, then the little ones are Jesus’s disciples (cf. 25:40, 45), and the testing is the next few hours and days.

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has warned his disciples about the danger of falling away, or stumbling” throughout Matthew. The ESV translates a future passive form of σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō) as “fall away.” In Matthew, it usually means something like “cause to sin” (Matt 5:29), in Matthew 18:6, “whoever causes a little on to sin,” and in 18:15-20 brothers who cause other brothers to sin.

But Jesus also tells them that he will be raised up, and that he will go back to Galilee before them (26:32). This anticipates the resurrection and the great commission (Matt 28:18-20).

Peter, however, disagrees with Jesus. Even if the other disciples fall away, Peter boldly claims he will never fall away. Jesus simply declares that by dawn, Peter will deny him three times, but Peter restates his resolve: even if he must die with him, he will not deny Jesus!

Robert Gundry recently analyzed every appearance of Peter in the Gospel of Matthew and argued that Matthew edited Mark’s narrative to present Peter as an example of a disciple who was very close to Jesus but ultimately failed to follow through on his commitment to Jesus. In the end, Peter is left “outside in the darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Although Gundry did not convince many readers Peter was a “false disciple and apostate,” Matthew certainly presents Peter as the most faithful disciple who boldly declares his loyalty before abandoning his master.

“Before the rooster crows” simply implies dawn. It is likely Caiaphas questions Jesus in the courtyard of his home, and Peter is nearby when he denies Jesus three times. According to the Mishnah, priests did not keep chickens in Jerusalem (perhaps because they might dig up unclean things when the scratch).

m. B. Qamma 7:7 C–D They do not rear chickens in Jerusalem, on account of the Holy Things, nor do priests [rear chickens] anywhere in the Land of Israel, because of the [necessity to preserve] the cleanness [of heave offering and certain other foods which are handed over to the priests].

It is possible this statement in the Mishnah (written about AD 250) reflects an ideal situation and priests did keep chickens in Jerusalem. But it is more likely that “when the rooster crows” is a proverbial way of saying “really early in the morning,” right around dawn. For example, If I get up at 4AM, I might say I was “up with the chickens” even though I do not own chickens.

Although we usually describe Peter as denying Jesus, and Judas as betraying Jesus, Peter’s denial just a few hours later is shocking after this bold declaration. But before dawn of that day, all the disciples will scatter like lost sheep and Peter will have denied Jesus three times.

Some of the details we are familiar with are not found in this version. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 is the earliest written version of the Lord’s Supper (or Communion, or Eucharist), Luke 22:19-23 has similar words focusing on the bread and wine. What is important about 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 is that Paul uses the words “on the night he was betrayed” and all three synoptic gospels include the prediction of betrayal as part of the meal.

There were many other parts of a Passover meal which Jesus does not reinterpret as anticipating his death. Jesus does not comment on eating lamb or the bitter herbs, etc. All of this is completely familiar to a Jewish reader, in the same way an American does not need to explain to Americans the food on the table at a thanksgiving meal (everyone knows:  turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, cranberry sauce, that weird sweet potato dish with the marshmallows, etc.) Matthew only includes the elements of the meal Jesus uses to explain the kind of death he was about to die, the two elements which become part of Christian worship practice in the earliest Christian communities.

The bread is his body (26:26). Remember this is unleavened bread, Jesus broke (κλάω) the bread. The verb s only used for breaking bread in the New Testament (Matt 14:19, 15:26, the two feeding miracles and this passage). As in English, “break bread” can refer to eating a meal (Acts 20:7, 11, although this arguably could be a communion). In classical Greek the verb is used for breaking branches (‘snap” for example, BrillDAG).  

In Deuteronomy 16:3, the unleavened bread was called “bread of affliction.” If the bread is unleavened, then breaking the bread is a visual analogy to what is about to happen to Jesus’s body. Although his bones are not broken, his body will be beaten and abused. Nolland (and others) suggest sharing the bread occurred during a question an answer part of the Passover meal based on Exodus 12:26-27. By sharing the bread, Jewish families were demonstrating that they were part of the community that was redeemed from slavery in Egypt by the blood of the lamb (Matthew, 1075). They are looking back to the salvation event of the Old Testament, when God imitated a covenant with his people.

The cup is the blood of the covenant (26:27-28). During the Passover meal, there were four cups of wine associated with stages in the meal. Most scholars think this is the third cup, the cup of blessing. It came after the meal and the father pronounced a blessing on the cup (as Jesus does in verse 27).

Sharing a cup of wine is unusual for a Passover meal. Each person has their own cup to drink from when the blessing is offered. Think of the way protestants do communion. Everyone gets  their own mini-cup rather than sharing a single cup of wine. This may be logistical, sharing a single cup among 500 people is not practical.  In this case, the sharing may indicate the covenant Jesus is inaugurate is for all the disciples equally. We often make the point that sharing the bread and the cup is a sign of Christian unity, based on 1 Corinthians 11.

Matthew does not include the word “new” (1 Cor 11:25; Luke 22:20).  In the King James Version, the words “new testament” appear, but the word “new” is likely not part of Matthew’s original text. It was added by later scribes who knew the communion liturgy from 1 Corinthians 11:25 or Luke 22:20. The word “testament” is a translation of the Greek word διαθήκη, now commonly translated as “covenant” because “testament” does not mean the same thing as covenant in contemporary English.

Matthew describes the blood as “poured out for many” and adds the phrase “for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 14:24).  Blood “poured out” (ἐκχέω) can refer to a violent death (Gen 9:6, referring to murder; the blood of the martyrs is “poured out” Matt 23:35; Acts 22:20, Stephen), so “poured out” may evoke Jesus’s physical death on the cross. But the word is used in the Septuagint in the context of sacrifice (Lev 4:7, for example). The word is commonly associated with drink offerings, pouring out a little bit of wine on an altar (Sirach 50:15, the high priest Simon son of Onias poured out the “blood of the grape” on the altar and made a pleasing odor to the Most High).

In LXX Exodus 24:6 Moses sprinkled (imperfect of ἐκχέω) blood on the altar when he read the book of the Covenant to the people. This is a very important Old Testament text for the last supper since God is inaugurating the original (old) covenant with blood, and seventy elders go up the mountain, see God’s glory and “ate and drank” (24:11). A covenant is usually established with a sacrifice and a shared meal (eating and drinking, almost always wine). Both Mark and Luke understand Jesus’s death as providing forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77), but Matthew makes the connection between the sacrifice that Jesus is about to make and the forgiveness of sins.

Finally, Jesus predicts he will not drink the fruit of the vine again until he drinks new wine with the disciples in his Father’s kingdom (26:29). The point here is that the breaking of the body and the shedding of blood is in the very near future. Jesus is about to pour out his blood to inaugurate the new covenant.

But the idea of drinking wine in the kingdom of God evokes the eschatological banquet (Isa 25:6-8). The parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matt 25:1-13) describes the soon-coming kingdom of God as like a wedding banquet as doe the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-12).

The other way the Old Testament described the banquet at the beginning of the kingdom is a victory banquet, Psalm 23:4-5, the Lord makes a victory banquet in the presence of the anointed one’s enemies. Revelation 19 calls the utter devastation of the enemies of God the “marriage supper of the lamb” (and then calls on the birds to come consume the corpses).

They sing a final hymn and return to the Mount of Olives for the night. What was that last hymn? Likely one of the Hallel psalms (113-118). On the way, Jesus predicts Peter too will betray Jesus.