Vs. 36-38 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called
Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while
I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to
be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
The Lord Jesus Christ having led the
disciples across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives now arrives at the
garden of Gethsemane, (John 18:1). Now upon arriving there Jesus tells the
disciples to sit there and wait for Him while He goes into the garden to pray
(vs. 36). Now as Jesus goes He takes Peter, James, and John into the garden with
Himself (vs. 36-37; Mark 13:32-42). For they are the men He has repeatedly
chosen to be His closest confidents and friends, because they are the ones to
whom He will entrust all His disciples nurture and care to (John 21:15-17).
Therefore, these three men follow Jesus into the garden at His request, with
the backdrop of the beautiful olive grooves and trees surrounding them all
there.
Vs.
36-38 (cont.) Having
done so and drawn alone there with them into the garden the Lord Jesus Christ
now becomes exceedingly sorrowful and distressed (vs. 37). It is then in that
deeply troubled state that Jesus opens up to them like He has never done before,
and says to them, “My soul is
exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” vs. 38 Peter, James, and John then are silent at
this point because they are utterly ignorant of what is transpiring in Jesus’
heart and mind as He is preparing Himself for what He knows is coming. Therefore,
though they likely at some level perceive the inner turmoil and deep struggle
that He now is facing, they themselves cannot fathom all that the Lord Jesus
Christ is preparing Himself to go through, to not only suffer and die on the
Cross for us, but also to experience what He has never experienced before,
separation from God His Father when He bears all our sins on the Cross at
Calvary, the weight of which no man can measure, nor comprehend. And Yet Jesus’
request of them is only that they stay with Him and watch, watch not for those
coming to arrest Him, but to watch Jesus Himself that He not falter and turn
away from His destiny with the Cross.
Vs.
39
39 He went a little farther 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.”
Jesus then being deeply distressed now
moves a little father away from the disciples so that He might make His
supplication to His Father alone, and having done so He falls on His face and prays,
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this
cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Now the cup that Jesus is referring too is
the cup of suffering, of Jesus Christ’s shed blood unto death on the Cross which
is what God required for the redemption and salvation of all of believing humanity,
through which the New Covenant would then be enacted and achieved. Therefore,
Jesus’ from the depths of his soul and in His great despair now cries out to
His Father in prayer wanting another way that salvation may be attained and
achieved. But there is not other way, the Scripture must be fulfilled by Him
and Him alone, for if it is not all of humanity (past, present, and future) will
be eternally dammed, Therefore Jesus fully knowing this surrenders His Will to
His Father’s and says to Him, “…nevertheless, not as I
will but as You will.” Jesus surrender then will be the greatest
act of self-sacrifice for the good of others; of those who are not just friends
and relatives; but who are sworn enemies of Him and His Father that the world
has ever seen and will ever see.
Vs.
40-41
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping,
and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me
one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into
temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Now in returning to the disciples Jesus
does not find them watching as He asked of them. Instead He finds them
sleeping, indicating that His wrestling with His own fears about the Cross was
not done in a mere moment or two as the shortness of the narrative may imply,
but rather this was a prolonged and intense struggle before the Lord initially returned
to them (see Luke 21:41-44). Therefore, the Lord is exceedingly right in being
displeased with them for as He says to them, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?” vs. 40 For it is
His hour, and the hour in which their and our own salvation and destinies rest
upon. Having then rebuked their inattention, Jesus now warns them (and us all) “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit
indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” vs. 41
Vs.
42-46 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying,
“O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me
unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their
eyes were heavy. 44 So He left
them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour
is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is
at hand.”
Therefore, leaving the disciples for a
second time, Jesus again goes away from them and prays to His Father, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away
from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” vs. 42 Jesus’ resolve then is
growing more and more steadfast as He comes to accept that this cup cannot pass
from Him, if He wants the salvation He so desires for them and for us all who
believe in Him. Having then sought the Fathers Will while wrestling against His
own instincts for self-preservation, Jesus once again returns to the disciples
only to find them sleeping again, for as the Scripture says their eyes were
heavy (vs. 43). Therefore, Jesus seeing that they could not wait and watch with
Him again departs from them, and He again seeks His Father and prays this third
time to His Father with the same Words (vs. 44). Having overcome the fleshes
weakness and become confident and resolute in His decision to obey His Father
even unto Crucifixion death, Jesus now returns to them, for His hour has now
come, and so returning to them Jesus now says to them, “Are
you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son
of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is
at hand.” vs. 45-46 Jesus then is going forward in faith to
meet His betrayers, and ultimately the devil who is behind them, not in
weakness like when He was tested in wilderness, but in Victory, Boldness, and
Power for what He is about to achieve, by openly and knowingly facing the
rejection and wrath of this world, culminating in His humiliation and His sufferings
on the Cross for all our sins and transgressions.
Scripture Quotations:
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson
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