Maundy Thursday Part 4

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch." And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. - Mark 14.32-41

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him... - Luke 22.39-47

This is the last moment Christ had with His Father before His appointed sacrificial death. His three closest friends went with Him to be with Him in His greatest time of need. Christ's request was simple, sit here and keep watch and pray. That is all He requested his best friends do while he wrestled with his impending sacrifice. This was the most stressful time in His ministry to this point. He wasn't just facing beatings, he wasn't just facing death, he was facing a broken communion with the other two parts of the Trinity, the Father and Spirit, which He had never had to bear for all of eternity to this point. The agony of the impending separation was so great that his sweat was mixed with blood and he sweat blood! He cried out in his agony as a child cries to their father "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me". These words must have been said with unthinkable agony. And even though the bloodied sweat dripped off of His body, even though he had no desire to undergo the broken fellowship with God and had no desire to bear the weight of His bride's sin upon Him and be punished in place of His bride, in spite of all of this he said "Yet not what I will, but what you will"! This total submission to the Father, in spite of His own desires, this was what was required of Him, this is His act of obedience to the father, and He willfully chose to do it, because He loved us. Unfathomable! In this time of need, Peter John and James all proved to be of little support to Him. Imagine what it would be like in your time of greatest need when your best friends couldn't even be there to support you, instead they grew weary and slept. This is the total solitude Christ found himself at. Impending wrath from God on our behalf, broken (eternal!) fellowship with the other two parts of the Trinity, and He found Himself alone. In His solitude, the Father saw Him and knew He needed support and knew the weakness of His disciples, and because He was such a loving Father, He sent an angel from heaven to be With Christ and strengthen Him! What an amazing truth of God, that even when we are alone and are in complete agony because of the task appointed for us, when our Heavenly Father sees us in such need, He supplies us support from heaven, as He supplied it to Christ in His darkest hour! Oh what a loving Father we have! We have a Savior who would take a break in His time praying to His Father to come check on us, and we have a Father who will send us heavenly aid when we enter our darkest, most solitary hours! We must never lose sight of Christ's example here! Even if we do not want to go through the trials and persecutions set before us, even if we would ask with all of our being that they be removed from us, nevertheless that we submit to them because they were appointed by our Father, who knows what is best, and works all things for good for his children, those who love Him and are called according to His purpose! This is the example set by Christ, and we will never know a tiny amount of what Christ endured on our behalf, and so it is gratitude for his suffering for us, that we follow His example, even if it means physical death. They may kill the body, but our Father is stronger than all, and they can never kill the spirit, which the Father protects with the blood of His Son! This is our Christ, and this is how much He suffered on our behalf! Let us obey and submit as He did.