Lesson 7, Unit 1, Choice 1: The Savior's Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane

Choice 1: Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1-2. The Savior’s Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane

1. Review Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46, making a list of words and phrases that describe the Savior’s suffering. Include in your list clarifications provided in the footnotes.
   
   Matthew 26
   “began to be sorrowful and very heavy” (v. 37)
   “began to be distressed and troubled” (v. 37 footnote)
   “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death” (v. 38)
   “deeply grieved” (v. 38 footnote)
   “fell on his face, and prayed saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (v. 39)
   
   Mark 14
   “began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (v. 33)
   “amazed, awestruck, astonished” (v. 33a footnote)
   “depressed, dejected, in anguish” (v. 33b footnote)
   “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death” (v. 34)
   “fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him” (v. 35)
   “Father… take away this cup from me” (v. 36)
   
   Luke 22
   “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me” (v. 42)
   “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (v. 44) “Pain” (v. 44a footnote)
   “And his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (v. 44b)
   “... and he sweat as it were great drops of blood…” (v. 44c footnote, JST)
   
   
   
2. Write additional insights about the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane found in the following resources:
• Mosiah 3:7 - “... he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.”
  Alma 7:11-13 - “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.”
  Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19 - “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.”
  
  
• The institute student manual commentary, “To What Extent Was the Atonement Completed in the Garden of Gethsemane?” (p. 173)
  
  This section of the student manual seems to say that the agony that Christ experienced in Gethsemane recurred while he was dying on the cross when Heavenly Father withdrew his presence from him. It said, “In that bitterest hour the dying Christ was alone, alone in most terrible reality. That the supreme sacrifice of the Son might be consumated in all its fulness, the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death.”
  
• The institute student manual commentary for Luke 22:44, “And Being in an Agony, He Prayed More Earnestly” (pp.173-74)
  
  “Jesus had to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. … And as He in His own person bore the sins of all, and atoned for them by the sacrifice of Himself, so there came upon Him the weight and agony of ages and generations, the indescribable agony consequent upon this great sacrificial atonement wherein He bore the sins of the world, and suffered in His own person the consequences of an eternal law of God broken by men. Hence His profound grief, His indescribable anguish, His overpowering torture…. The suffering of the Son of God was not simply the suffering of personal death; … He bore the weight, the responsibility, and the burden of the sins of all men, which, to us, is incomprehensible. … placed below all things, His mind surcharged with agony and pain, lonely and apparently helpless and forsaken, in his agony the blood oozed from His pores.”
  
• The institute student manual commentary for Luke 22:44, “And His Sweat Was As It Were Great Drops of Blood Falling Down to the Ground” (p. 174)
  
  “He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conveive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. … In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict.”
  
  
3. Read Matthew 26:36 and the institute student manual commentary for Matthew 26:36, “Then Cometh Jesus … unto a Place Called Gethsemane” (pp. 172-73). Write a paragraph about how the meaning of Gethsemane adds insight to what the Savior experienced there.
   
   “Gethsemane” means “oil-press.” This was probably a reference to a mill there that was used in the extraction of oil from the olives cultivated there. It was an enclosed space of private ownership that Jesus frequently sought retirement for prayer or to confidentially converse with the disciples. This student manual doesn’t say, but the name and place of Gethsemane is symbolically significant. The new student manual (on p. 84) mentions that the garden lay to the east of the temple in Jerusalem, which is significant because in the law of Moses, when someone desired to make a burnt offering he would present it to the priest at the east door of the tabernacle. This is a similitude of the Savior presenting Himself to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. There is also symbolism in the way that oil is extracted from the mill by being pressed down on by the weight of a crushing stone until the olives begin to ooze their oil. “When the oil began to run down the lip of the limestone basic, it had the distinctive red color characteristic of the first moments of the new pressing each year. … It was a stunning, even chilling, minute until the oil turned back to its usual golden color.”
   
   
4. Write response to each of the following questions, looking for lessons you can apply to your own life from the example of the Savior in Gethsemane:
   
• What were the Savior’s disciples doing while He was praying? What had the Lord taught the Apostles in Matthew 26:41? What does His example teach about how to be obedient even when “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak?” How does Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 apply to this verse?
  
  The disciples were sleeping while he was praying. The Lord taught them in Matthew 26:41 to “watch and pray” so as not to enter into temptation, because he acknowledged that even if the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. His example teaches us we must watch and pray in order to stay obedient and resist temptation. D&C 10:5 applies to this verse because it tells us to “pray always” in order to conquer Satan and resist his efforts to lead us astray.
  
  
• Read Mosiah 15:7; 3 Nephi 11:11; Doctrine and Covenants 19:19. Write the phrases from these verses that describe what motivated the Savior to “drink the bitter cup.”
  
  “the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father” (Mosiah 15:7 → It was Heavenly Father’s will, and Jesus carried out His Father’s will)
  
  “I have… glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” (3 Nephi 11:11 → Christ was following Heavenly Father’s will, and also did it to glorify Him)
  
  “glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” (D&C 19:19 → Christ did it to glorify Heavenly Father)
  
  
• Write your thoughts about the Savior’s use of the word nevertheless in Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42.
  
  Matthew 26:39: "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Mark 14:36: "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."

Luke 22:42: "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."

In each of these accounts, what did the Savior initially ask for? - To let the bitter cup pass from him/to let his suffering end

What did He say next, using the word nevertheless? - He said "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" meaning that he would continue in his suffering if that was the Father's will. It shows that he always puts his Father's will before his own, even in the darkest hour.

What does it require to submit one’s will to the Father in this way, no matter how painful or difficult the outcome might be? - I think it requires a huge deal of faith, humility, and love for Heavenly Father.

When have you followed the “nevertheless” pattern the Savior exemplified in these verses by submitting to Heavenly Father’s will even though it was very difficult? - Well I don't know if this is the exact thing, but when I was in middle school, I had a brother that was born with a heart defect and in critical condition. We prayed that he would get well and make it through his heart surgery, but he died the following day. We all had to come to terms with the fact that even though we pray for something and have faith doesn't mean it will happen. My dad even gave him a blessing to get better, but said not his will, but Heavenly Father's be done. He told me he thinks that if he hadn't said that perhaps he could have made my brother live, but that he would have probably had problems his whole life and couldn't have lived like a normal, happy child. It wasn't God's will for him to live, which is why even after a priesthood blessing he still died.

According to Luke 22:44, as the Savior’s agony became more intense, how did His prayer change?

"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

Do you feel more like praying or less like praying when you are suffering? - Usually I think I feel more like praying. Because the worse you're suffering, the more you want relief and help, and you will attempt to get it from any source--especially God. On the flip side though, I think some people get angry at God when they are suffering. So suffering can either make a person more humble, or cause him to harden his heart.

When has it made a difference in your suffering to have turned to the Lord with more earnest prayer? -

I can’t think of a time when I have prayed more earnestly and this has made a difference. Perhaps this is because I am not currently praying habitually, so whenever I do prayer it always is in earnest, so I have nothing really to compare it to.

Reflect on what you have learned about the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane. Write a paragraph about lessons you can apply to your own life from the example of the Savior in Gethsemane.

I really like that in the moment that Jesus asked for the cup to be removed from him, Luke 22:43 says "And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him." Heavenly Father didn't take away his burden, but he did send an angel to strengthen him. To me this shows that if we are willing to be humble and do Heavenly Father's will, he may not remove our burdens or obstacles, but he will help us get through them.