Experiencing Gethsemane Part One

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.”  Matthew 26:38 & 39

No picture can portray accurately the suffering Jesus experienced that dark dark night in the garden.  No human mind can comprehend the magnitude of distress He endured.  Not even the angels in heaven, although witnesses of His misery, could not fathom the deep distress of His heart.  He suffered alone.

Alone He cried out to God, His Father, asking Him to take away the cup of suffering from Him.  Alone He fought thoughts of defeat Satan constantly threw at Him.  Alone He prostrated Himself on ground in tears.  Alone His heart filled with fear as He looked forward to the cross.  Alone He struggled.  Alone He fought.  Who was there to help Him?

Surely His disciples!  They were there with Him in the garden!  In fact, Jesus specifically asked Peter, James, and John to pray with Him!  But no.  They were fast asleep!  What the Savior needed most was their prayers and supplications, their sympathy and encouragement.  He spent whole nights in prayer for His disciples, that their faith might not fail in the hour of trial.

Yet they could not stay awake with Him even for one hour!

Jesus allowed his disciples to sleep as He pleaded again and a third time for His father to relieve of Him the suffering!  A horror of great darkness overcame Him. He had lost the presence of His Father.  He feared that in His human nature He could not endure the test. 

The angels could not bear to see their beloved Commander suffering.  Angels longed to bring relief, but it was not meant to be. The angels understood that the Son of God had to drink the cup of woe, or the world will be lost forever. 

"As Jesus pleaded with His Father, He saw the helplessness of humanity. He saw the power of sin. The woes of a doomed world pass in view before Him. 

He made the final decision. He decided to save mankind at any cost to Himself. He had left the courts of Heaven, where all is purity, happiness, and glory, to save the one lost sheep, the one world that has fallen by transgression.   He could not turn from His mission. He became the propitiation of a race that has willed to sin. His prayer breathed only submission: "If this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done."

Having made the decision, He fell dying to the ground from which He had partially risen."1

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Note: This is a 3 part series.
1. The Desire of Ages, P 692 & 693