The King finds comfort with His Father.

Matthew 26:36–46 HCSB

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow —to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with Me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. After leaving them, He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the time is near. The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up; let’s go! See, My betrayer is near.”

Four truths stand out in these 10 verses.

The disciples continued to fail to understand the danger that awaited them that night. Matthew 26:36-38

Jesus was alone in His anxiety and grief, since the disciples kept falling asleep on Him. Matthew 26:39-41

Jesus was fully human, longing for the emotional support from His friends. Matthew 26:42-44

Jesus remained loyal to His Father’s will, in spite of his knowledge that he was about to endure the agony of crucifixion. Matthew 26:45-46

Jesus’ death was like no other death. It wasn’t a martyr, it was self-sacrifice.

Matthew 26:36–46 HCSB

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow —to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with Me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. After leaving them, He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the time is near. The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up; let’s go! See, My betrayer is near.”

Matthew 26:36-46

Luke 1:35 HCSB

The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

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1)The disciples failed to understand what was going on.

Matthew 26

Matthew 26:36–38 HCSB

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow —to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with Me.”

We see in these verses that Jesus took 3 of the men that he was closet to out of the 12.

Jesus takes Peter, John and James.

Matthew the writer uses the words sorrowful and troubled to show Jesus’s extreme emotional distress that Jesus was experiencing.

Jesus explains

Jesus was on the verge of dying from a broken heart, so extreme was his emotional distress.

Can you see that Jesus who is fully God put His own emotional well-being in the hands of His creation/friends.

Colossians 2:9 HCSB

For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,

Matthew 26:36–38 HCSB

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow —to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with Me.”

Matthew 26:

See also Its divine purity

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Its divine purity

Hebrews 7:26 HCSB

For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

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(2) Jesus was alone when He needed help the most.

Matthew 26:39–41 HCSB

Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with Me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

In verse 39 it says that Jesus separated Himself from the 3 and fell with his face to the ground and he prayed to his Father.

He prayed “if it is possible”, knowing that his request could not be granted if he were to remain obedient.

Jesus’s model here should be a comfort to us. We need to pour our hearts honestly to God, even if we know our deepest “want” is not what He will grant.

God desires us to be able to come to Him feeling the safety of total honesty. He is competent to handle the cries of our souls.

Jesus’s request to spared suffering and death was the desperate cry of the Son’s Heart to his Father. Now the prayer was accepted but not granted.

A Son’s loving request and a Father’s loving wisdom; this should be a model of our own prayerful exchanges with the Father.

The cup refers not only to Christ’s suffering and death but even more uniquely to the Father’s wrath upon sin.

At this moment Jesus’s grief was rooted in the fact that he was about to become the object of his Father’s wrath- an experience that many people on earth will encounter in eternity, but which no one but the Son of God could possibly anticipate ahead of time.

Can you imagine at this time in His prayer to His Father/our Father that Jesus had done nothing to deserve the wrath that we deserve.

You see at the end of this verse he says “yet not as I will, But as you will”

In verse 40-41 we see that the three disciples where sleeping, Jesus rebukes Peter on behalf of the others.

The disciples showed that they were unaware of the spiritual danger and that there guard was down.

You have to understand that Jesus was more concerned about there spiritual well being rather than there physical will being. They were on the verge of entering into the temptation to deny and abandon Him, and they needed God’s help to stand fast.

Matthew 26:39–41 HCSB

Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with Me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Acts 4:30 HCSB

while You stretch out Your hand for healing, signs, and wonders to be performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

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(3)Jesus longed for the support of his disciples.

Matthew 26:42–44 HCSB

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. After leaving them, He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

Matthew 26:4

Then Jesus left them to pray again to his Father. This time the words Matthew recorded demonstrate less distress and even greater resolve to obey. The wording of “May your will be done” is a more complete thought than the fragmented wording of the prater in verse 39

After some time Jesus returns to His disciples asleep again, because there eyes were heavy.

Matthew acknowledged their human limitations, even as Jesus seemed to do by hi decision not rebuke them the second time.

Still with a heavy heart, the Son sought the companionship of the father a third time, not having found it in his disciples.

This shows us that even though we may have some of the closet of friends, there is no comfort like that, that comes from the Father. There are time that our friends/Pastor/Deacon/Elder will fail you, but you can always trust in the Father for comfort.

He is set apart as God’s servant

(4)Jesus is completely loyal even though He knows whats coming next.

Matthew 26:45–46 HCSB

Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the time is near. The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up; let’s go! See, My betrayer is near.”

Jesus is saying here alright the time for sleep and prayer is over.

He woke them and rebuked them a second time.

Jesus was not satisfied with his disciples faithfulness.

When He says look, that may have drawn the disciples attention to the sound of the approaching crowd, or even the light of the torches.

We can see in these last two verses that it was time to go. Things where moving a lot faster then they could imagine.

Thanks to Jesus’ time of watchful prayer, the Messiah was ready for what lay ahead.

Most people would have taken this opportunity to escape, but His purpose did not lie in escape. Jesus went boldly to meet his enemies.

Acts 4:27 HCSB

“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed,

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His life is consecrated to the will and purpose of God

Matthew 26:39 HCSB

Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”

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He is appointed as the judge of sinners

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He makes God’

Hebrews 13:12 HCSB

Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that He might sanctify the people by His own blood.

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Declarations of the holiness of Jesus Christ

By David:

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by demons; by the angel Gabriel

By Peter:

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by Jesus Christ himself

Results of recognising the holiness of Jesus Christ

Awareness of sin and unworthiness

Luke 5:8 HCSB

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

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Fear

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Adoration and worship

Revelation 5:8–14 HCSB

When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slaughtered, and You redeemed people for God by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice: The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing! I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.