“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.'” (Matthew 26:36-39)
It’s in the garden called Gethsemane that we gain more insight into the sacrificial love lived out in Jesus. In the Scripture above we see the intensity of the struggle He was experiencing on His way to the cross. Sacrifice is honorable and necessary in love but it is no walk in the park. There is no doubt that Jesus went willingly to the cross for you. He was not trapped or forced to go. We have been reminded that this was the very reason that He came. He could have stopped it at any time but He didn’t. So why the sorrow in the garden? When I think about Jesus coming to die on the cross I see Him resolved to walk into it with the confidence of the “winner” that He is. There is something uncomfortable about this scene as we are exposed to a, seemingly, conflicted Savior. He knows that this is what He has to do. He already had to put Peter in his place when the well meaning disciple tried to keep Jesus from following through with this plan. And now…He doubts?
These verses are not given to show us a Jesus who is wondering what to do, they are showing us a Jesus battling with the mental anguish that comes when you know what must be done. You see, even though He knew why He came and what would be required, it still was not easy. Jesus said that He was sorrowful to the “point of death”. His heart was breaking for our condition and what needed to be done to bring us back. He was sick to the soul as He thought of the torture that lied ahead, that “cup” that He must drink. He did not walk to the cross with some kind of hero complex where He enjoyed the suffering. The writer of Hebrews says that He “endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). What did He endure? Humiliation. Beatings. Flogging. Crucifixion. But, as we see here, the internal suffering and anguish began in the garden.
Sometimes it is hard to do the right thing and it’s even harder when the right thing involves sacrifice. You may have found some joy from the sacrifice that you are observing during this season. A victory here and there. A special insight that has come as a direct result of this willing act. Be reminded today that there was nothing enjoyable about the cross for Jesus. He knew it needed to be done and…He did it but…it was not easy.