A Synopsis Paper on the Garden of Gethsemane
By: Carter Durfey
Introduction
The study of the Gospels provides valuable insights into the life, teachings, and
experiences of Jesus Christ. One approach to studying the Gospels is through a synopsis, which
allows us to examine the same event or story as presented in multiple Gospel accounts. This
paper aims to study the story of The Garden of Gethsemane. This will be done by carefully
reading the stories in the four different Gospels at the same time. By comparing and contrasting
the different versions in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we can gain a deeper
understanding of the authors' perspectives, backgrounds, audiences, and overarching messages.
The Garden of Gethsemane Story
In this story, Christ enters the Garden of Gethsemane and proceeds to suffer for our sins.
The pain and suffering are immense, and Christ asks the Father to take away the cup if it be His
will. Christ demonstrates unwavering faith and obedience to the Father as He bleeds from every
pore. This suffering is an important part of The Atonement of Christ and allows Him to know any
pain or discomfort that we face in this life. This story also shows Christ’s love towards humanity.
Christ loved us so much that He was willing to go through suffering and pain that we cannot
even imagine.
Story of The Garden of Gethsemane in Mark
In the Gospel of Mark, looking at verse 36 in chapter 14, we read the words of Christ as
He prays to The Father. The wording Mark uses at the beginning of Christ’s plea for relief is a
little different from the other Gospels. Mark uses the phrasing “Father, all things are possible
unto thee”. This is unique to Mark’s gospel and shows how Christ understood the power that the
Father has. He knew that God had the ability to take the cup from Him, but it was not God’s will
to do so.
In verse 33, it uses the phrasing that Christ was “sore amazed”. This is unique to Mark’s
gospel as well and shows the human emotion of Christ. This is consistent with the theme of Mark
that emphasizes Christ’s human experience.
There is also a couple of verses at the end, verse 51 and 52, where it describes a young
man following Jesus. This character does not make an appearance in any of the other Gospels.
From a little research, most scholars seem to believe this man is Mark. It is mostly unknown why
Mark would put this character in, and the other gospels not having it is really interesting. Mark
may have added himself in to show that he was also a disciple of Christ, despite not physically
being with Christ ever.
Story of The Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew
In Matthew’s gospel, when Christ is praying to the Father, He uses the words “if it be
possible”. This phrasing is unique to Matthew and shows Christ’s plea for help. He is asking if it
is possible for the cup to be taken from Him.
Another unique verse is verse 56. Here Matthew states “all this was done, that the
scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” One theme we see in Matthew frequently is the
fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This line shows that Matthew is still focusing on that
theme and explains that the Garden of Gethsemane and the Betrayal were necessary for the
fulfillment of scripture.
Another interesting difference in the gospel of Matthew is when He is being taken, Christ
says “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more
than twelve legions of angels?”. This shows that Christ knew what He was capable of, but He
needed to fulfill the scripture. This aligns with Matthew’s theme again that scripture and
prophecy is fulfilled.
Story of The Garden of Gethsemane in Luke
One major difference in Luke is the imagery of what Christ’s suffering was like in the
Garden of Gethsemane. We see in verse 44 that His sweat was like “great drops of blood falling
down to the ground.” In this gospel, we get to see how great the suffering was. Thanks to
modern-day scripture, we know that this suffering was a necessary part of the Atonement of
Jesus Christ. Christ was willing to suffer through it all for us because of the love He has for us.
Another difference is how Christ heals the ear of the servant. This ties into the theme of
Luke that Christ is a universal Savior. Despite the servant of the high priest being there to aid in
capturing Christ, He heals him. Regardless of who we are, Christ is our Savior. He suffered and
died for all of us.
In verse 48, we also see Christ specifically draw attention to Judas’s betrayal. He says,
“Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?”. In Matthew, Christ addresses Judas, but
doesn’t specifically say anything about the betrayal. I think it is really interesting that the
betrayal happened with a kiss. A kiss is normally a display of love. Christ had immense love for
everybody, especially His disciples. Judas betrays Christ and betrays His love.
Story of The Garden of Gethsemane in John
The Gospel of John is quite a bit different than the other Gospels. John writes very little
about Christ actually in the Garden of Gethsemane. He starts by saying that He entered a garden,
and the next verse begins talking about the betrayal. We do not read about the prayer that Jesus
offers, or the disciples sleeping while Christ goes through the suffering. Instead, John focuses on
the betrayal and gives a different story than what we read in the other Gospels. In Mark,
Matthew, and Luke, Judas betrays Christ with a kiss and that is how the high priests know who is
Christ. In John however, Christ talks to the people first saying, “Whom seek ye?”. The guards
answer that they are looking for Jesus of Nazareth. Christ replies that He is who they are looking
for. This difference in the story follows John’s theme of Christ being divine and always in
control. Christ asks the questions and willingly gives Himself up without Judas doing anything
other than bringing the people to the Garden of Gethsemane. John wants to present Christ as the
ultimate being that He is. Putting Christ in control of the whole situation portrays Christ as a
higher being than the rest of the people around Him.
Similarities Across the Four Gospels
Because John’s version of the story is so different, there are not many similarities
between all four gospels. One similarity, however, is that the servant’s ear gets cut off by one of
the disciples. This is an interesting detail to see in every story and at first glance does not have
any religious meaning. I think it shows that Christ’s disciples loved Him and were wanting to
defend Him. We often hear the story of how many of Christ’s disciples returned to fishing once
He was crucified. This story can give us a twisted picture that the disciples did not love Christ or
did not learn anything. Christ’s disciples did love Him, and they were willing to do anything to
protect Him.
One similarity between Mark, Matthew, and Luke is that the high priests and servants
came with swords and staves to take Christ. Christ says that they came as if they were coming
out against a thief. Christ then reminds them of His teaching in the temple with them, and how
they did not seek to take Him then. This is an interesting similarity to show that the people likely
knew that Christ was not a bad person or a threat to society. They were coming after Him
because He was a threat to their power and authority.
Another similarity is that Christ accepts the will of His Father. He prays for the cup to be
taken from Him, but knows that it is not what He wants, but what the Father wills. This shows
Christ’s obedience to the Father and gives us an example of how we should approach struggles
and trials in our lives. We can choose to be obedient and understand that the Lord has a plan for
us, and we can trust that His will is the best for us.
Personal Reflection and Application
Analyzing the different Gospel accounts of The Garden of Gethsemane has deepened my
appreciation for the scriptures. There is so much to learn when we study the Bible. It was really
interesting to me to see all the little differences in the different Gospels. Because I grew up in the
Church, the stories were always blended together in my head, and I never really noticed the
differences when I read them in order. Each Gospel has a few little details that make it unique
and give us a lot to think about why the author would include certain details and omit others.
Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John all have their own themes that they are trying to show and teach,
and when I read each story with the intent of finding those themes, they stick out a lot more than
I initially thought. I really liked to see the similarities shared between the Gospels as well.
Certain things were repeated in all four, or at least three of gospels, and this shows how
important those details are. God has a purpose in everything that He does, and I am confident
that He was guiding these authors to include certain details that He knows are important for our
growth.