Day 108: Matthew 26:36–46

Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed (v. 37).

I have studied this scene many times before but never from the point of view of the disciples. Imagine that you are one of the three. Consider what Jesus had represented to them for the past three years. He certainly represented security and strength. Grown men don’t follow for three years with virtually no income unless they are completely taken with the leader. I believe Jesus was their whole lives. In Him their pasts made sense. Their present was totally immersed in Him, and all their hopes for the future rested in His faithfulness to do what He promised. And indeed He would . . . but never in a million years would they have expected how.

“My soul is swallowed up in sorrow—to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with Me” (Matt. 26:38 hcsb).

Wait a second! This was their Rock! Their Strong Tower! “What in the world is wrong with Him? Why is He on the ground like that? Why is He writhing in anguish? Why is His hair drenched in sweat? It’s freezing out here! And why does His sweat look like blood drops falling to the ground? Why does He keep asking for a cup to be taken from Him? What cup? He’s crying ‘Abba!’ What’s He so upset about? Is it because one of us betrayed Him? Why won’t He stop? I hate seeing someone cry like that. I thought nothing could get to Him. Why won’t He stop?”

The disciples may not have realized that Jesus was no less God that moment than He was on the Mount of Transfiguration or when He raised the dead. Their Rock and their Strong Tower was not falling apart. He was falling on His knees. That takes strength. Christ knew what He was going to have to do when He came to earth. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He was as good as dead from the beginning. Jesus lived for one purpose alone: to do the will of His Father. Yet He still felt.

We are not wrong to feel. We are only wrong to disobey. Ask for the cup to be removed, but resolve to do His will. That’s why He drew the three close enough to see. To teach them to pray . . . not sleep . . . in their anguish. This time they slept. But a time would come when each would rise from his own Gethsemane and bear his cross.