"Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.' He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.' Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.' Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 'Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?' he asked Peter. 'Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak'" He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.' When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, 'Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners' (Matthew 26:36 - 45).
The prayer that changed history
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus fought the mightiest prayer battle in history and changed the course of the human race. Jesus was "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" as He contemplated what lay before him. In Luke 22:43 and 44 it says, "An angel from Heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
Prayer prepares us … strengthens us
Jesus knew what He had to endure as He had already predicted, "the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed" (Mark 8:31). "They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him" (Luke 18:33). He knew He had all these things in store for Him - accused by false witnesses (predicted in Psalm 35:11), being struck and spat upon (predicted in Isaiah 50:6), betrayed by a friend (predicted in Psalm 41:9), being sneered at (predicted in Psalm 109:25), garments taken and lots being cast for them (predicted in Psalm 22:18), the disciples deserting Him (predicted in Zechariah 13:7), Peter disowning Him (predicted by Jesus in Mathew 26:34), mocked and insulted (predicted in Psalm 22:7 - 8), put to death with thieves (predicted in Isaiah 53:12), betrayed by His own people (Isaiah 53:3), hated without a cause (predicted in Psalm 69:4) and the final horrifying crucifixion (predicted in Psalm 22:16). But in spite of the pain, torture and horror that awaited Him, Jesus left the garden filled with the power that flows from God and prayer, fully prepared for what awaited Him.
Don't over spiritualise the crucifixion
"Just as there were many who were appalled at him - his appearance was so disfigured of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness" … "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 52:14 and Isaiah 53:3 talking of the punishment and treatment the coming Messiah would receive.)
It is not to our credit that we have spiritualised the crucifixion and given it an aura of respectability. The crucifixation was the cruellest torture the Romans used. We visualise the nails being driven through the palms of the hands but it is most likely the nails were hammered through the bones of the wrist. The pain from the nails going through the body would have produced pain beyond comprehension but in the wrist the nails would cut the median nerve and even the slightest movement would produce the equivalent of an electric shock.
"Jesus who knew no sin become sin for us …" (2 Corinthians 5:21)
"He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we were healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5,6).
When Jesus took on himself the sins of the whole world, He was smothered under the revolting sins of the human race. Never has there been another person subject to this total depravity. When Jesus became sin for our sake, God had to leave Him because God can have nothing to do with sin except destroy it. Left without God, Jesus could only cry out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (In Matthew 27:46 as predicted in Psalm 22:1,16). In these moments of total loneliness, Jesus knew absolute desolation.
Victory over death
Jesus knew that He faced all this and much more when He walked into the garden and His whole being was revolted by the prospect. His only option was to speak of horror and agony, asking God for the inner peace and power that would let Him go forward. Through Jesus God was working out His divine plan for the salvation of the world and God made the resurrection of Jesus a resounding victory over death, the devil and the tragedies of life. "Jesus too shared in our humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil --- and free us who all our lives were held in slavery by our fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14,15). "To Jesus who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ... to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Revelation 1:5,6).
Victory is ours … be patient
We too can know the same type of victory when we meet the crisis in our life head on the battlefield of prayer. (We must not be caught out like the disciples who were asleep and not praying in the Garden. The disciples were totally unprepared for what was to happen.) The bible encourages us to pray so we are to "ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (Matthew 7:7,8).
What should our response to the cross be?
The answer to this question is in the beautiful hymn "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" by Isaac Watts. "Love so amazing … so divine … demands my soul, my life, my all." Jesus clearly tells us "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34).
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am deeply grateful to you for taking the punishment for my sins on the cross. Help me to show my gratitude by loving you and others with everything I am and have .
Jesus teaches how to pray and as you pray reflect on the words. Headings in bold have been added. Giving God the glory "Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Wanting to do God's will Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven,
Give us our essentials Give us today our daily bread,
Helping us with forgiveness Forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors,
Delivering us from the evil one And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one"
(Matthew 6:9-13).
You can learn more on what Jesus about fasting and prayer and forgiveness by reading Matthew 6:5-18.
