Luke 22:46

and said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Jesus had the habit of going over to Mount Olivet often, to a certain garden called Gethsemane, the place of the oil-press, and on this fine moonlight night, when only the depths of the Kidron Valley were in shadow, He could very profitably spend a few hours in prayer. His disciples, therefore, saw nothing strange in His action, but followed Him as usual. It is probable that they did not even think it strange when He chose three of their number as His companions for a walk into the farther recesses of the garden, for that also had happened before. But Jesus did all this with full understanding of all that was going to happen. To His closest friends He said, in the interior of the garden, that they should pray in order not to enter into temptation. Satan was even then gathering his forces, marshaling all the forces of darkness to make one last attempt against the work of atonement. The fear of death had fallen upon the Lord, of temporal, spiritual, and eternal death. His terror became greater with every moment. He withdrew, He tore Himself away from His three disciples in the intensity of His soul's suffering, to a distance of about a stone's throw; He threw Himself down upon His knees in an imploring attitude; He begged and pleaded with His heavenly Father: If Thou wilt, take away this cup, let it pass away on one side of Me. That bitter cup which was now held out to Him, the prospect of the cruel tortures on the cross and of the death for the sins of the whole world, that seemed too much for Him at this time. Jesus was a true, natural man, and human nature resists and struggles against death, for death is unnatural; it destroys the life which God has given, it tears apart the band between body and soul. The humiliation of Jesus is so great that He thinks it possible to find another way to work the redemption of the world. The very counsel of God which drove Him down from His throne of glory into this vale of tears was darkened before His eyes in this hour. What a depth of humiliation! And yet, there was not the slightest murmuring against the decree of God. Always the will of God was to be carried out first. He sacrificed His will to that of His heavenly Father. In suffering He learned obedience, and He practiced submission, becoming obedient unto death, Hebrews 5:8; Philippians 2:8. At this climax of His suffering an angel from heaven appeared to Him and offered Him strength, probably by reminding Him of the eternal plan of God and of the final result of His way of suffering. So unutterably deep was the humiliation of the Son of God that He, the great Creator of the universe, accepted assistance and encouragement from one of His own creatures. He was then at the height of His great fear; the words of His prayer poured forth with great vehemence. Of this battle that of the patriarch Jacob at Jabbok had been but a faint type. Finally His sweat became like large drops of blood, which ran down His holy face and fell to the ground. It was the misery and fervor of His soul, glowing in the unbearable heat of this tribulation, that caused this phenomenon. But gradually His strength prevailed, gradually the attacks of death and the devil lost in intensity. And finally He had overcome all His weakness: He was ready to take the cup out of the hand of His heavenly Father and to drain it to the last dregs. He arose from His long battle of prayer; but when He came to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow. Mere flesh and blood had not been able even to witness the scene of such harrowing agony. He awakened them from their sleep, with some degree of sadness over Peter's inability to watch with Him for even one hour. He told them that this was no time to sleep. They should rather arise and pray, lest they enter into temptation. In the hours of great and bitter misfortune above all it is necessary to be ever on the alert, to practice all vigilance, to ask God for strength and submission to His will, in order that no temptation prove too strong or rob us of our faith. The spirit of the Christians may be willing enough, for that is born out of God, but the flesh, the inherited depravity and sinfulness, is too weak and helpless. Only persistent, importunate prayer will receive from the Spirit of God the strength to overcome and obtain the victory.