Holy Week is progressing on, and today we shall take a look at an event that occurred on the night before Jesus’ arrest, His corrupt “trial”, and His crucifixion. On that evening Jesus retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray to the Father. This is one of the most sacred moments in Scripture, when the Son of God in Gethsemane prepared to drink the cup of divine wrath for sinners.
As our Scripture passage begins, it is nighttime, and Jesus has taken the eleven disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. Earlier that evening they had celebrated the Passover meal together, where Jesus instituted the rite of the Eucharist. At this time Judas Iscariot departed from them, so there are now only eleven disciples which accompany Him to Gethsemane, a garden which contained olive groves. Within a short time Jesus would be arrested. The cross is immediately before Him, not just the physical suffering, but also the spiritual reality of bearing the sins of all mankind and enduring the Father’s wrath.
Jesus left eight of the disciples together and took His three closest companions, Peter, James, and John, further into the Garden to stay with Him while He prayed (vs. 36-38). Jesus said His soul was “exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” This revealed the depth of His anguish. It was not specifically the fear of physical pain but the horror of becoming sin for us. Jesus’ sorrow did not diminish His deity. Instead, it displayed His real humanity and the cost of redemption.
The Lord proceeded further by Himself a short way and then fell down on His face to pray to the Father (vs. 39). This was a lonely time of prayer for Jesus. It was humble prayer, as He knelt and then fell on His face. It was also filial prayer, as a child calling out to His Father. It was persevering prayer, as He prayed three times. It was lastly a prayer of resignation. Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done. In this prayer the “cup” refers to the cup of divine wrath (Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17). Jesus expressed a real human desire to avoid the horror of sin-bearing, yet He fully submitted to the Father’s will.
After a first period of prayer to God, Jesus returned to the three disciples and found them asleep (vs. 40-41). Jesus had asked His disciples to keep watch with Him, for His soul was crushed with grief. He was in deep agony and pain, yet these faithful few could not stay awake. He gave the three, and us as well, a timeless warning - to watch and pray that we do not enter into temptation. Jesus spoke specifically to Peter, as he had earlier boasted of such strong loyalty, yet he couldn’t even stay awake for one hour. Spiritual failure often comes, not from sudden rebellion, but from neglect, from being prayerless, from complacency, and from overconfidence.
The pattern of prayer and then checking on the three disciples repeated two more times (vs. 42-44). Jesus’ prayers were consistent, that of submission to the Father’s will. His agony was so intense that Luke recorded that His sweat was like drops of blood (Luke 22:44). This repetition of prayer for three times showed the depth of His struggle, but also the earnestness of His obedience, along with the reality of His suffering. Jesus did not resist the Father’s will, He embraced it, even as He felt the full weight of what it meant to be our sin-bearer.
God’s answer to Jesus was no, that it was not possible to redeem mankind without His taking the cup of suffering, by Him bearing the sins of all mankind. To provide for our salvation, God had to send His Son Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus bore the pain and isolation of Gethsemane and the cross for us. How it must have broken the Father’s heart to see His beloved Son in such agony, yet there was no other way to save mankind!
After the third time of prayer, Jesus was now resolute. He rose from His prayer strengthened, and willingly went to meet His betrayer (vs. 45-46). Jesus was steadfast, obedient, and ready. However the disciples were sleepy, unprepared, and fearful. The disciples’ failure is a warning to us. Prayerlessness will lead to temptation. Are we slumbering when we should be watching and praying? Are we willing to set aside time to press on in prayer? The flesh is weak, even if our spirit is willing.
Gethsemane shows the depth of Jesus’ love. He saw the full cost of redemption, and He still chose the cross. Jesus’ submission to God’s will has brought us eternal blessings. When we submit to God’s will, we also bring blessings to His world. Even when His will is costly, it is always right. In closing, we have a call to action - Watch and pray!
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