Resolving the Gethsemane Contradiction
Previously:
Announcing A New Blog Series: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL
The Corrupt Trial of Jesus and Paul
Let’s try to resolve an apparent contradiction between the Gethsemane prayer in Hebrews and the one in Mark. We read:
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. (Hebrews 5:7)
33 He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” 35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He said, “Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me, yet not what I want but what you want.” (Mark 14:33-37)
What we seem to have here at first glance is a massive contradiction, one where the Gethsemane prayer is answered (Hebrews) and one where it isn’t (Mark). But, if the writer of Hebrews knew Jesus was killed, the passage can’t mean what it seems to and may in fact be a clue to understanding Mark.
Paul specialist Pamela Eisenbaum notes Hebrews has been notoriously difficult to date whether pre or post temple destruction:
We cannot with confidence determine whether Hebrews was written before or after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 ce. Arguments for a pre-70 date observe that Hebrews nowhere mentions the destruction. Indeed, Hebrews makes no comment about the Temple; rather, it focuses on the wilderness Tabernacle (Ex 25.1– 31.11; 36.1– 40.38). Because the text claims that the Jewish sacrificial system is replaced by the one-time sacrifice of Jesus, an appeal to the Temple’s destruction would have greatly bolstered its central argument that Levitical sacrifices had become obsolete (chs 8– 10). Conversely, the text may be assuming the reality of the Temple’s destruction and is responding to the catastrophe. Indeed, other Jewish texts produced after the destruction of the Temple sometimes read as if the Temple is still standing, as exemplified in the last two orders of the Mishnah, where we find elaborate instructions about appropriate ways to conduct the Temple sacrifices. (Eisenbaum, Pamela in Amy-Jill Levine; Marc Zvi Brettler. The Jewish Annotated New Testament (p. 460). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
Perhaps Hebrews 5:7 as a summary of a successful Markan Gethsemane prayer actually points to a late date for Hebrews as it seems to be offering a commentary on Mark’s Gethsemane pericope. One thing that is quite striking is that Jesus seemed to think it was not necessary for him to endure tortuous prolonged crucifixion for God’s plan to be realized. Let’s briefly talk about prayer in the bible and then return to give an interpretation regarding Hebrews, Mark, and Gethsemane regarding an answered Gethsemane prayer. Perhaps God answered the prayer, just not the way an apocalyptic Jesus thought God would answer (by sending Elijah to save him)
An important theme in the bible are stories illustrating the consequences of desires or prayer requests that lead to unintended or negative outcomes. For example: Israel’s Demand for a King (1 Samuel 8); The Israelites and the Quail (Numbers 11:4-34); Lot’s Choice of Sodom (Genesis 13:10-13); Hezekiah’s Request for a Longer Life (2 Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38). These stories suggest a biblical principle: desires or prayer requests, when not aligned with wisdom or God’s will, can lead to outcomes that are harmful or regrettable. The underlying message is to seek discernment and trust divine guidance rather than pursuing fleeting or self-centered wishes.
It is remarkable in Gethsemane Jesus thinks God’s plan can be fulfilled without him knowing the horror of the slow, agonizing cross, so how is the prayer answered? Crossan and Ehrman note it seems unhistorical Jesus is taken down from the cross early, because the victim being left up there was the whole point to magnify suffering and scare onlookers. Jesus is heard screaming from the cross for Elijah to come rescue him, Elijah being prophesied to return at the end of the age (Malachi 4:5-6). But Elijah doesn’t come because the apocalyptic Jesus is wrong and it is not in fact the end of the age.
2 things counter a prolonged Roman tortuous death for Jesus. One, Jesus dies unusually quickly, surprising Pilate, which seems to be God granting the Gethsemane prayer to alleviate suffering (Mark 14:36). The quick death of Jesus, like the hurried baking of the unleavened bread (an image Paul uses for Jesus) to escape Egypt is a way Jesus, thanks to God, escaped the prolonged brutality of the cross, and so in this way the Gethsemane prayer was answered. Two, apparently inspired by the soldier at the cross converting and God revoking Rome’s claim to prolonged torture with a quick, merciful cross, Joseph of Arimathea of the Jewish high council that corruptly convicted Jesus is inspired in Mark and petitions the Romans for the body. This all would explain why Hebrews thinks the Gethsemane prayer is answered even though Jesus is crucified. Price notes:
Joseph is surely a combination of King Priam, who courageously comes to Achilles’ camp to beg the body of his son Hector (MacDonald, p. 159) and the Patriarch Joseph who asked Pharaoh’s permission to bury the body of Jacob in the cave-tomb Jacob had hewn for himself back beyond the Jordan (Genesis 50:4-5) (Miller, p. 373). Whence Joseph’s epithet “of Arimathea”? Richard C. Carrier has shown that the apparent place name is wholly a pun (no historical “Arimathea” has ever been identified), meaning “Best (ari[stoV]} Disciple (maqh[thV]) Town.” Thus “the Arimathean” is equivalent to “the Beloved Disciple.” He is, accordingly, an ideal, fictive figure.
It was not just enough that he suffered and then was rescued be Elijah, Jesus needed to fully die to reach even the hardest heart, like with the repentance of Judas having his eyes opened to the fate he consigned his teacher to: death.
Next Time: