Only a stone’s throw from His disciples, Jesus knelt to the ground to pray. He prayed to the Father that His will would be done. Jesus knew His time had come and that He must die. An angel came to comfort and to strengthen Him. In agony, He prayed more earnestly (Luke 22:39–46). Can you imagine praying so fervently that sweat the size of drops of blood would begin to fall to the ground?
Jesus was torn between His human side and His Divine side. He wanted His Father’s will to be done, but our Lord did not desire to die. Jesus endured great emotional stress in the Garden that night. His men slept when they were instructed to pray. They did not understand His plight. Peter even went as far as to cut off an ear of a servant to the high priest in the defense of his Master (John 18:10–11).
Many a great sermon has been preached about the Garden and its beauty—both physically and spiritually. We can learn a valuable lesson on how to deal with conflict in our lives. In a time of almost despair, Jesus took His soul to the Father for His will to be done. What did God do for Jesus? Immediately, He sent an angel to comfort Him. This encouraged Jesus to continue, for He knew that God was with Him, even in His worst of times.
Often when we pray, we do not take the example of Jesus or the advice of His brother James, (James 1:5–8). We are told to pray in faith, believing that it might be so. The centurion believed, and his servant was healed (Matthew 8:5–13).
That Garden prayer, as some call it, is preserved for all time as a sign to us that Jesus our Savior died as a man so that we might live. He suffered emotionally for His people that they might believe in the Father Who sent Him.
