The Pilgrim Path---The Gospel of Mark 14: 32-42 

They came to a placed named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." And he took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, "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 said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?" Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 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 resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"

My own musings---with Ryle and Spurgeon---others...

---The Lord Jesus is "troubled"--same verb appears in Philippians 2: 26, to denote, "very deep emotional distress"

---Spurgeon, a few causes of His grief: His ill treatment by the world, unfaithfulness of friends, treachery of Judas, murder by the nations. Added to this, His heavenly love...A sense of Loneliness, without help, Hopelessness. Certain death...

---Jesus must drink this awful cup---I always think of the "cup of God's wrath"---that the Prophet Jeremiah was to give to the nations to "drink" from ---in Jeremiah 25...beginning verse 15. It is horrible...Can we begin to fathom the wrath of God against the sin of God's own---that the Lord Jesus "paid" for ---in His on body and soul? No human being can actually understand this...

---Bishop J. C. Ryle: It was a sense of the enormous load of human guilt, which began at that time to press upon Him in a peculiar way. It was a sense of the unutterable weight of our sins and transgressions which were especially laid upon Him. He was being "made a curse for us." He was bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows according to the covenant He came to earth to fulfill...We ought to see in our Lord's agony the exceeding sinfulness of sin. it is a subject on which professing Christians are far below what they should be...

---Oh---the "Burden" of sin the Lord Jesus Christ did bear for us! As Ole Dr. J. B. Williams used to tell us, "This is not the license to sin---but the Liberty to Serve!"

---Oh---The Teacher of Souls---The Lord Jesus Christ, shows us the "Best" place to GO----in the most difficult and trying times of life---you go to the Father in prayer and trust

---Oh---the "Best Thing to Do" in the Most Momentous Decisions of Life: Submit to the revealed will of God---This was clear to the Lord Jesus Christ---so very often, Holy Scripture-- has very definite direction for us...The guidance of Psalm 25 is so tremendous here: King David wants what the Lord "wants"---more than anything else...

---Oh---the "Blessed" ---can be quite "full" of infirmity (Ryle). "Though fresh from the Lord's table, with all its touching solemnities, they slept. Never was there a more striking proof that the best of men are but men...Watching without praying is self-confidence and self-conceit. Praying without watching is enthusiasm and fanaticism. The man who knows his own weakness, and knowing it both watches and prays, is the man that will be held up and not allowed to fall."

'Tis midnight; and on Olive's brow the star is dimmed that lately shone:

'Tis midnight; in the garden now the suff'ring Savior prays alone.

'Tis midnight; from the heavenly plains is borne the song that angels know:

Unheard by mortals are the strains that sweetly soothe the Savior's woe.

William B. Tappan (1822)

Grace & Peace in Jesus Our Lord, Pastor Jason