The agony in the garden is found in all three synoptic gospels (Matt 26: 36-46, Mark 14: 32-42 and Luke 22: 39-46 as well as John 18: 1-12). The gospels tell us that Jesus, and His disciples, went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus asked his disciples to sit while He took Peter and James and John with Him to go pray. The gospels also tell us that as He prayed, he became quite distressed and told Peter and James and John to wait and watch as He got up to move and go pray by Himself for a while. We are then told that Jesus fell to the ground and asked the Lord to take this cup away from Him, if possible, but also said that God’s will was to be done. After some prayer, He went back to His disciples, Peter and James and John and found them to be asleep.

Jesus seems to be quite disappointed in their falling asleep and asked Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch, and pray that you may not enter in to temptation; the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, Jesus went off to pray by himself. He came back to find the three sleeping again and He said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough. The hour has come; The Son of man is betrayed in to the hands of sinners. Rise and let us be going, see, my betrayer is at hand.” At that time Judas came, and sealed his deal with a kiss.

How difficult it must have been for Jesus to know what would be happening to Him the next day. He knew of the horrors of crucifixion and knew that He would have to endure those horrors. Also, how difficult it must have been for Him to see that His closest disciples could not even stay awake to watch with Him and to offer Him comfort. He also had to experience one of His own twelve, Judas, betray Him with a kiss. It was such a difficult night for Jesus. It was pure agony for Him.

When we hear Jesus’ words to Peter, (The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak), we can’t help to think of the many times in our lives that we experienced the same thing. How often were we weak and committed sin? To know that Jesus endured the agony that He did, for our own sins, weighs hard upon us. Jesus, who was so filled with LOVE, had to endure so much SUFFERING and BETRAYAL because of US. Also, to know that He asked the Father to remove this cup from Him, if possible, but desiring to do God’s will, gives us a great example of our prayer for facing hard times. There is nothing wrong with asking to avoid a difficulty, but also to trust that God’s plan is so much better than ours. The agony that Jesus suffered in Gethsemane was so intense, that the scriptures tell us that He actually sweat out drops of blood. Jesus endured all this pain and suffering and agony for us.

Questions to ponder:

1 – Do I truly understand how much Jesus suffered for all of us?

2 – Am I sincerely sorrowful for my sins?

3 – Do I attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) regularly?

4 – Am I truly sorry for the ways that I personally have made Jesus disappointed in me?

5 – Do I truly pray for God’s will to be done, no matter what?

6 – Do I do everything I can to make the spirit stronger to deal with my weak flesh?

7 – When I do endure suffering and agony, do I unite it to Jesus’s suffering and agony?

8 – Am I thankful to God for sending me the friends who do “watch” with me?

9 – Am I a good friend who spends time with my friends in their hours of need?

10 – Do I do whatever I can to overcome my “weak flesh” and sin no more?