Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

copyright Millie Plastaras 3/21/2008

Then Jesus came with them to a placed called
Gethsemane, and said to the disciples: "Sit here while I go
and pray over there." And He took with Him Peter and two
sons of Zebedee and He began to be sorrowful and deeply
distressed. Then He said to them. "My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me."
He went a little farther and fell upon 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."

Then He came to His disciples and found them sleeping, and
said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The Spirit
indeed is willing but the flesh is weak."

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."

And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes
were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed
the third time, saying the same words. 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 the sinners.
Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand."
Matthew 26:36-46

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Jesus came to the garden of Gethsemane, feeling a
urgent need to pray. An overwhelming sense of
sorrow, even the sorrow unto death overwhelmed
His spirit. The sorrow unto death, was not physical
death, but by the association of His death with sin. His
Holy Nature shrunk back from this experience. Yet
He knew, this was His purpose, His calling. It was
why He came to earth, to be a sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus was obedient unto death.

He said, Father, not my will, but thine be done.

The burden upon Him was heavy and stressful,
and He was aware of what He must face ahead.
His holy nature recognized the sins of the world
that were about to be cast upon Him, and His
Holy nature shrank from the very thought of the sin.
Yet He forged ahead, and persevered in prayer.
He bowed down before God and prayed fervently,
his anguish so great that:

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat
was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44

This is a medical phenomenon known as
hematohidrosis. According to physicians
it happens when people are under great stress,
and the blood vessels rupture, and the blood goes
to the sweat glands, causing one to sweat blood.
How great his agony must have been. And this for us!

Even so, during one of his greatest hours of need, and
heavy burdens, his disciples were unable to even
interceed with Him, allowing their sleep to overwhelm them.

I am struck by the thought that after years of discipling,
His disciples failed Him so often. They often could not
perform the miracles needed, because their faith lacked,
they fell asleep on the night He so desperately needed
them to pray with Him, and even as He was in
jail, being beaten and spit upon, His disciples denied
they knew Him. This reminds me so much of how
much we fail our heavenly Father.

Yet, I am also struck by the fact, that He knew this.
And that is why He came. He knew our frame, that
we are but dust. That we could never keep the law
fully, and we were in need of redemption. The poverty
of our souls was upon Him.

This week, it came to mind what sins Jesus had to bear.
Every vile,filthy illness ever known to man was put upon
His body at the same time. Every filthy, ugly, hidden sin
known to man was laid upon Him at the same moment.
All the filthy child molesters of this world, the rapists,
the torturers, the evil of this world became a covering
that was laid upon Him. He had to bear it all at one time.
If you went into a hospital tonight, just one hospital,
and saw the suffering, and those close to death,
the horrid disease people go through, multiply that
by hundreds, and by generations, and by hundreds
of years, and all this became His burden.

Imagine the crimes that you have heard of this
century, all that was laid upon Him. Imagine just
the sins that you have committed, whether in public
or in private. All these are known to Him. All of
this sin, darkness and generations of it, from thousands
of sinners was laid upon Him at once.

We cannot bear three burdens at the same time,
How could He then bear all the burdens, sorrow,
evil and sins of the world.

Because He loved us.

Yet He willingly went forth with this journey.
Even when everyone He loved betrayed Him,
and left Him alone. He went ahead, with a sense
of purpose, and a great sense of sorrow. His duty
was to die for us, and nothing could stop that. Jesus
faced a journey ahead none of us could comprehend,
and He would face hell, death and the grave.
Something we cannot conceive of in our minds,
and He did it for one reason.

For us. For you and me. WE needed the
salvation. WE needed a Savior.

Jesus was the blood atonement for our salvation.
What a precious sacrifice for us, when
we were so unworthy of this gift.

"No one ever loved me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as he.
No one ever took the sin and darkness from me.
Oh How much He cared for me.

Oh Father God, bring us to the cross, make us
mindful of our place in you. Remind our hearts of that
night that you suffered and bled and died for our filthy
sins. Bring us back to our first love. Come to us and forgive
us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Be Lord and Savior of our lives. Remind us our life is not
about us, it is about our journey to you. We were created
to praise you, and to live for you. Remind us of the cross.
Let it never fade from our vision. Let us be all you desire
each day. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations
of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord,
My strength and my redeemer.

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the spirit control?
You can only be blessed, and have peace
and sweet rest.
If you give Him your body and soul.

He gave His all, that I might be born fresh
and new at that cross. Remind me Oh Lord of
that cross, let it never fade. Because of your
death, your blood sacrifice, my sins can be
washed white as snow. How humbled I am by
the very thought of it.

The cross, the birthplace of salvation.
Oh How much He cared for us.

Only one life, will soon be past
Only what is done for Christ will last.