36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Matthew 26:36-46)
The Lord Jesus and his disciples came to the Garden of Gethsemane, which is at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. There the Lord Jesus prayed earnestly, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” The content of his three prayers was the same. He knew that he would be arrested and crucified, and he asked the Heavenly Father to take away the bitter cup from him if possible, but he did not ask for his own will, but for the will of the Heavenly Father. The parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke says that he prayed earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood dripping to the ground. He also told his close disciples Peter, John, and James to watch and pray so that they would not fall into temptation. He told them that the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Their spirits were willing, and they did not want to abandon the Lord, because they did not watch and pray, and they all fell asleep, when the Lord Jesus was arrested, they all fell and fled from him. Here the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to watch and pray. We should watch and pray every day, because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We should pray often so as not to fall.
May God bless you and your family!
