Jesus on the Mount of Olives

On the Thursday night Jesus went to the Mount of Olives in the garden known as Gethsemane to pray. Luke wrote: 

“Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There He told them, "Pray that you will not give in to temptation." He walked away, about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, "Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine." Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. At last He stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. "Why are you sleeping?" He asked them. "Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation” (Luke 22:39-46 NLT).

Of the four Gospel writers, only Luke says, "Jesus… went as usual to the Mount of Olives" (Luke 22:39). Luke must have researched this point and found this was not an isolated occasion. Jesus went there frequently at night and perhaps often prayed all night. Only Luke tells us that an angel came down from heaven to strengthen Him and that His sweat became like great drops of blood. Matthew and Mark focus on the apathy of the disciples. They tell us Jesus came back to them three times and found them sleeping. Luke reminds us that while the disciples might have failed Him, God was there reassuring Him in the presence of the angel.

The request of Jesus reveals His humanity. He knew that within 24-hours He would be killed and the way that He was to die would be horrific and so He prayed: “Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me”. Was Jesus trying to get out of His mission? I guess Jesus was showing his true feelings to God. He was only thirty-three; and no one wants to die at thirty-three. He knew what crucifixion was like; He had seen it. He was in an agony; the Greek word is used of someone fighting a battle with sheer fear. He could have turned back. He could have refused the cross. The salvation of the world hung in the balance as the Son of God literally sweated it out in Gethsemane; and He won. Jesus reaffirmed his commitment to do what God wanted. He prayed “Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine”. After He finished praying fervently Jesus got and found His disciples not praying as He request but asleep.

Very late on Thursday night and early Friday morning was only to get more intense. Luke tells us that Judas arrived with a crowd of people. Judas kissed Jesus as a sign to the Jewish leaders that He was the One. A scuffle broke out between the disciples and the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders. Jesus then said: “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest Me? Why didn't you arrest Me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns” (Luke 22:52-53 NLT) and Luke wrote: “So they arrested Him and led Him to the high priest's home” (Luke 22:54 NLT). And there began a series of trials that were not only illegal but both the Jewish and Roman authorities struggled to accuse him with any truth.   

Thursday was one tough day and night for Jesus. He was betrayed from one of His own, denied by one of His closest friends, felt unsupported by the rest of his companions, prayed with absolute agony and then arrested. And the worst was yet to come.

Jesus was very low and felt alone. In the midst of this hard day we are told that “an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him” (Luke 22:43 NLT). And when we have one of those hard, hard days remember that God will come and strengthen you.

In your prayers now, reflect on what Jesus went through. Give thanks that He did this for you. And pray that God will give you the strength to face the good and hard days.