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Gospel of Matthew

The Agony of the Messiah

Chapter  26:31-46 

Before walking to the Mount of Olives, the Lord Jesus gave a wonderful speech and a prayer, as recorded in John 14 to 17, starting in the room where they celebrated the Passover, continuing possibly in the street (John 14:31). It was no longer necessary to stay at home until morning, as at first (Exodus 12:22). 

Then He warned His disciples that because of Him this night all would "stumble", meaning that they would abandon Him, as in the prophecy that He cited (found in Zechariah 13:7).

Having said just before that one of them would betray Him, this revelation made everyone feel the weakness of their faith in the Messiah. Perhaps to reassure them, He added that after His resurrection, He would go before them into Galilee. Even if they failed, He will not forsake them.

The Lord knew His disciples very well, and knew that His arrest and death would come as a great shock to them, although He already had previously warned them that this was necessary. Self-confident Peter was especially in danger and the Lord had prayed for him (Luke 22: 31-32).

Peter immediately replied that even if all failed, he would never do so. The Lord then prophesied that before the cock crowed at dawn, this night, Peter would have already denied Him three times.

Peter, and the other disciples, protested that they would never deny Him, even if they had to die with Him. They may have been all willing to be loyal to Him, but they had not yet been tested. The Lord Jesus knew the limits beyond which the disciples would succumb, and they would soon know as well.

The Lord went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane (“oil press”), an olive grove on the other side of the brook of Cedron (John 18:1), at the foot of the Mount of Olives, half a mile distant from the walls of Jerusalem.

This place was well known by the disciples of the Lord for they often met there with Him (John 18:2). Removed from the city, they could talk and learn there with the Master without being interrupted.

However, this was a special occasion, and the Lord Jesus was charged with emotion at the  prospect of very soon fulfilling His mission to give His life to redeem sinners.

Leaving eight of the disciples in the usual place, serving as a kind of sentinels, He took three of them to pray further away. They were Peter, James and John, the same that were with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Declaring that He was supremely sorrowful "even to death", He asked them to stay there and watch with Him. It was already late at night, and the morning of the fatal day would come soon. The traitor was already with the priests and on the way, with the body of the temple guard: He knew that.

Going a little further on the Lord Jesus fell on his face to the ground: the humble attitude of the Servant before His Lord, God the Father. In this attitude, He made a short and poignant prayer: "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." According to Mark, He referred to “the hour" (Mark 14:35), which, we understand, would be the time from His surrender to His enemies, about to arrive, until the time when He would give His spirit on the cross over to God, a period of about twelve hours in all.

He declared, "Everything is possible for the Father" (Mark 14:36): would it then be possible to rescue sinful men and women without the Son having to go through such deep humiliation and suffering?  He had come into the world for this, but could not the Father find another solution?

The Lord, however, revealed his submission: “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” His human nature shrank before the infamous crucifixion and the hideousness of insults, humiliation and suffering that preceded it, but His divine nature remained obedient to the dictates of the supreme God the Father.

Luke informs us that, at this point, “an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground " (Luke 22: 43-44). Angels served the Lord Jesus at the end of the three temptations that marked the beginning of His ministry, and an angel came to strengthen him at the end of His ministry before His great sacrifice.

Then the Lord turned to His disciples, who should be watching and praying, and found them sleeping. They were tired after so much activity that day, and it was already late at night. Their bodies were tired.

The Lord showed surprise to find them asleep, and said " Watch and pray, lest you enter not into temptation…“. They still did not understand the seriousness of their situation and, despite having been warned that they would abandon the Master, did not take care to be alert on the approach of the enemy, nor to pray that God would give them strength to face the difficult situation that was to come.

But the Lord also showed understanding when He said, “in fact, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." They were physically tired, which made them sleep and prevented them from watching and praying, which they were ready to do. In a way, it was the experience that He himself was going through: His spirit was ready to do the will of God, but his flesh, his human body, demonstrated its weakness at this time.

The Lord came to pray, but this time it was not so much a request as a declaration of conformity to the will of the Father: "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."

The words "if this cup cannot pass away" indicate a condition already fulfilled, in which it is assumed that this is the reality, and it is the attitude that the Lord took with respect to the implied temptation. The Lord knew what would happen in the next twelve hours was the only possible way to save sinners.

Then again, He went to see the disciples sleeping, returned to pray repeating His statement and, knowing that the enemy was close, went to awake the disciples.

Now the time had come to wake up and act. The sleepy disciples were ill prepared for this; they had lost the opportunity to comfort the Master in His hour of greatest trial and were completely helpless when the enemy arrived with all their strength.

The Lord Jesus, on the contrary, had been strengthened in those moments of reflection and communion in prayer with the Father, the temptation to go back, if there was any, had been unsuccessful, and he was determined to finish the work He came to do in the world .

The traitor was coming, and He would voluntarily surrender Himself into the hands of sinners.

 

R David Jones    

 

 

31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I WILL STRIKE THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK WILL BE SCATTERED.'
32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

33 Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."
34 Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
35 Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And so said all the disciples.
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."

 

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."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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."

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verses 31 to 46