Matthew 26:31-46
Full of confidence in himself, Peter has declared himself ready to die with the Lord. He will not get very far on that way, as we shall see.
Then the Lord Jesus, having enjoined on His disciples to watch and pray with Him, proceeds alone in the garden, where He was to give the supreme proof of His devotion to the Father’s will. This will, which had never ceased to be the Son’s delight to accomplish, now involves a twofold, terrible necessity: the forsaking of God, infinitely sad for the heart of His Beloved; and the sin which He had to bear, with death as its wages — the deepest anguish for the perfect Man. So sadness and anguish entered deep into His soul (v. 37). Ah! He realises all that this terrible way of the cross means, with Satan at this very moment still making every effort to turn Him away from it. But He accepts the cup from the hand of His Father: "Thy will be done"!
In His grace, God has allowed us to be present as it were, at this ordeal of the Saviour in Gethsemane, to hear His urgent and heartbreaking prayer. May He keep us from being like His three disciples — those in that most intimate circle — from having hearts drowsy and indifferent to His suffering. Rather may our souls, as we think of it, be filled with gratitude and adoration.