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The Life of ChristSection 100 / 113
Section 100 · The Last Supper (Wednesday)

Gethsemane

He takes three of them a little further in and asks them to stay awake, and then goes on alone and asks his Father, three times, whether there is another way. There is not. Each time he comes back the three are asleep.

Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–463 of 4 accountsReading: CCE

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ProvenanceJSTJoseph Smith TranslationCCECovenant Christian EditionDeleted text shown struck, attributed
Study: reading text with parallel accounts; changes available.

Note. The Joseph Smith Translation makes one large reassignment here and it changes the whole scene: the amazement, the heaviness, and the line about the willing spirit and the weak flesh all move from Jesus to the disciples, who are also, the revision says, privately wondering whether he is the Messiah.

? How to read this edition

The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.

JST
Green: Joseph Smith Translation. Where the Covenant Christian Edition departs in substance from the King James text and the change is in the JST (confirmed against the parallel-column edition). Modernized English (“has” for “hath,” “you” for “thou”) is not marked.
CCE
Burgundy: Covenant Christian Edition. Where the CCE’s reading departs from the King James but the change is not in the Joseph Smith Translation manuscript (e.g. “this day I have begotten you” at the baptism). Some are Joseph’s own readings from his sermons; the section’s Joseph Smith commentary then gives the sermon.
MatthewKJVMatthew 26:36–46CCEMatthew 12:8–10NT 1NT 2

36Then comes Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and said unto the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there. 37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38Then said he unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Wait here and watch with me.

39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. 40And he came unto the disciples and found them asleep, and he said unto Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour? 41Watch, and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, your will be done. 43And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45Then he came to his disciples and said unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46And after they had slept, he said unto them, Arise, and let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that does betray me.

MarkKJVMark 14:32–42CCEMark 7:10–13NT 2

32And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, which was a garden. And the disciples began to be utterly amazed, and to be very heavy, and to complain in their hearts, wondering if this was the Messiah. And Jesus knowing their hearts, he: and he saith said to his disciples, Sit here while I shall pray. 33And he takes with him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; and rebuked them, 34and says unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Wait here and watch.

35And he went forward a little and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto you; take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. 37And he comes and finds them sleeping, and says unto Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. And they said unto him, The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

39And again he went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40And when he returned, he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; neither knew they what to answer him. 41And he comes to them the third time and he says unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest. It is enough; the hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42And after they had finished their sleep, he said, Rise up, let us go. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.

LukeKJVLuke 22:39–46CCELuke 13:9NT 2

39And he came out and went as he was accustomed to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that you enter not into temptation. 41And he had withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down and prayed, 42saying, Father, if you are willing to, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. 43And there appeared an Angel unto him from Heaven, strengthening him. 44And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45And when he rose up from prayer and had come to his disciples, he found them sleeping (for they were filled with sorrow) 46and said unto them, Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

No recorded JST change in this account.
Cross-references · other works
D&C 19:16–19 (CCE JS History 17:5) · which suffering caused myself, even God, to tremble because of pain↗Mosiah 3:7 (CCE 1:14) · blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish↗Isaiah 63:3 (CCE 24:2) · I have trodden the winepress alone↗Hebrews 5:7–8 (CCE 1:12) · he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears↗Alma 7:11–12 (CCE 5:3) · he will take upon him their infirmities, that he may know how to succor his people↗Genesis 3:17–19 (CCE 2:18) · cursed is the ground for thy sake; in the sweat of thy face↗
Joseph Smith on the garden

To Bleed at Every Pore

RevelationD&C 19:13–20

Which Suffering Caused Myself, Even God, to Tremble

D&C 19:13–20 (CCE JS History 17:5) · March 1830 · scriptures.info ↗

Luke alone says that his sweat was “as it were great drops of blood” (v44). In March 1830, in a commandment given through Joseph Smith to Martin Harris, the Lord described that suffering in his own voice: it made him tremble because of pain and bleed at every pore, and he would have wished not to drink the bitter cup.

Wherefore, I command you to repent and keep the commandments which you have received by the hand of my servant Joseph Smith Jr. in my name; and it is by my almighty power that you have received them. Therefore, I command you to repent, repent lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore — how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. 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. Wherefore, I command you again to repent lest I humble you by my almighty power, and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my spirit.

Setting Up No Stake

Joseph Smith is not expounding Gethsemane here. Preaching on Hebrews 7 and the fulness of the priesthood in August 1843, he argued that men set limits on what they will receive from God, and he gave the Savior as the one who never did: at the Jordan, on the mount, and in the garden, where he asked that the cup pass and then submitted. It is shown for that last sentence, where he quotes the prayer in the garden.

Discourse, 27 August 1843, the grove near the Temple, Nauvoo · James Burgess Notebook (Words of Joseph Smith, 27 August 1843). The other reporters of the day, Willard Richards and Franklin D. Richards, do not record this passage. · Joseph Smith Papers ↗

Men will set up stakes and say thus far will we go and no farther, did Abraham when called upon to offer his Son, did the saviour, no, view him fulfiling all rightousness, again on the banks of jordon, also on the Mount transfigured before Peter and John there receiving the fulness of priesthood or the law of God, setting up no stake but coming right up to the mark in all things here him after he returned from the Mount, did ever language of such magnitude fall from the lips of any man, hearken him. All power is given is given unto me both in heaven and the earth. Offering’s sacrifice’s and carnal commandments, was added in consequence of transgression and they that did them should live by them. View the son of God at saying it behoveth me to fulfil all rightousness also in the garden saying if it be possible let this cup pass from me. nevertheless thy will be done.

Margaret Barker · the self-emptying

He Emptied Himself: The Day of Atonement Behind the Cup

Paul’s hymn says the One in the form of a servant “emptied himself.” Barker argues the phrase is not a metaphor for humility but the name of a rite: on the Day of Atonement the high priest, who was the LORD, poured out the blood that stood for his own life. Read that way, the cup asked about in this garden is the one the high priest was always going to have to pour.

The Lord Is OneBYU Studies Quarterly 56, no. 1 (2017) ↗
The divine unity was not broken while the Lord was incarnate. He would return to the holy of holies, as did the high priest, with the self-sacrifice of the Day of Atonement. The One who emptied himself while in the form of the Servant (Philip. 2:7 [Phil. 1:7]) refers to the high priestly ritual of self-emptying on the Day of Atonement, when “the Servant of the Lord” poured out the blood that represented his own life — the life of the Lord — to cleanse and consecrate the temple/creation (Lev. 16:19 [Lev. 6:4]; Isa. 53:10 [Isa. 19:2-3]). Hebrews explained that the death of Christ was the final act of atonement, in which there was no substitution of a goat to represent the Lord/high priest (Heb. 9:11–14 [Heb. 1:26]). … The Anointed One who emptied himself in atonement did not lose anything of his divinity at his incarnation. This was the high priest who was the Lord of Hosts.

This entry is from the BYU Studies printing of “The Lord Is One,” which runs longer than the lecture text on Barker’s own site; this passage is only in the printed version. Barker is expounding Philippians and Hebrews, not this garden: the juxtaposition is the editor’s.