What Old Testament prophecies connect to Jesus' prayer in Mark 14:36? The Setting in Gethsemane Mark 14:36: “ ‘Abba, Father,’ He said, ‘all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.’ ” Jesus’ words echo a rich tapestry of Old Testament prophecies and images. Key Phrase: “Abba, Father” • Isaiah 64:8: “Yet now, O LORD, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are our potter.” • Psalm 89:26: “He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’ ” These passages foreshadow the Messiah’s unique intimacy with God as Father, a relationship fully voiced in Jesus’ cry of “Abba.” The Cup Imagery in the Prophets • Jeremiah 25:15-17: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath and make all the nations… drink it.” • Isaiah 51:17: “You who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath, the chalice of reeling….” • Psalm 75:8: “For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and He pours it out; all the wicked of the earth will drain it….” The “cup” Jesus asks to be removed is the prophetic cup of divine wrath. He will drink it in place of sinners, fulfilling these warnings. Submission to the Father’s Will • Psalm 40:6-8: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire… Then I said, ‘Here I am… I delight to do Your will, O my God.’ ” • Isaiah 53:10: “Yet it pleased the LORD to crush Him… the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” The Messiah’s pre-announced delight in doing God’s will blossoms in Gethsemane when Jesus subordinates His own human desire to the Father’s redemptive plan. Suffering Servant Foretold • Isaiah 53:3-6: “He was despised and rejected… pierced for our transgressions….” • Psalm 22:14-18: “I am poured out like water… they pierce My hands and feet.” • Zechariah 13:7: “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Gethsemane stands at the threshold of these prophesied sufferings; Jesus’ prayer marks His voluntary entrance into them. Foreshadows of Messianic Anguish • Psalm 69:1-3: “Save me, O God, for the waters have risen to my neck… I am weary with my crying.” • Jonah 2:1-2 (a type): “From the belly of Sheol I cried… and You heard my voice.” These laments prefigure the intensity of Jesus’ distress as He contemplates the cup. Bringing It Together • “Abba, Father” answers OT revelations of God as Father (Isaiah 64:8; Psalm 89:26). • “Take this cup” links directly to prophecies of the cup of divine wrath (Jeremiah 25; Isaiah 51; Psalm 75). • “Not what I will, but what You will” fulfills messianic commitments to do God’s will (Psalm 40; Isaiah 53). • The entire prayer stands as the hinge between prophetic suffering texts (Isaiah 53; Psalm 22; Zechariah 13) and their New-Testament fulfillment at the cross. Old Testament prophecy and Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer fit together seamlessly, underscoring Scripture’s unified promise of a Savior who would willingly drink the cup for us. |
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