After the Last Supper, Jesus took His disciples (minus Judas, of course) to a place they were all familiar with, a place they had been many times (John 18:2) - the garden of Gethsemane.
In John Stott’s book The Cross of Christ, he says,
"Here something takes place that, despite the sober way the Evangelists describe it, simply cries out for an explanation and begins to disclose the enormous costliness of the cross to Jesus." (75)
Jesus leaves most of His disciples in the garden with the instruction to "keep watch and pray." He takes Peter, James, and John a little further into the garden where He tells them “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Mark 14:34). He prays “Abba Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Jesus prays 3 times in regards to this cup he had to drink (Matthew 26:39-44). Luke tells us that he was under such psychological and emotional trauma, he sweated blood (Luke 22:44).
Stott makes the argument in his book that Jesus was under such agony and trauma not because of the physical pain he was about to endure (the beatings, scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails in his hands and feet, the torture of hanging on the cross) - as awful as that was. The cup that caused Jesus to say he was "sorrowful to the point of death" and to sweat blood in the garden was the wrath of the Father toward the sins of believers being poured out on Him. He would become our sin, and the Father would pour out divine punishment on Jesus for our sin.
“From this contact with human sin [Jesus'] sinless soul recoiled. From the experience of alienation from his Father which the judgment on sin would involve, he hung back in horror.” (Stott, 79)
In the midst of all the preparations for this Easter weekend, let’s not forget the agony of Gethsemane, and more importantly our redemption that was paid for on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ.
