This is one of the most intense passages in the gospels. The name Gethsemane means "oil press". Despite knowing their failings, Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him.
Jesus then began to pray. This time illustrates the full humanity of Jesus. He was troubled and sorrowful. Jesus knew exactly what He was about to go through. He knew the physical and psychological suffering that was about to befall Him. Most of all, He knew the rejection and judgement from His Father that He was about to take on our behalf. We see here a model of what fulfilling the Father's will can mean on occasions. There will be times when our whole being cries out against doing what the Father has commanded, but if we turn to Him then we can find the strength and resolve to carry on.
Jesus prayed for the cup to be taken away from Him if there was any alternative whatsoever to the way of the cross, but only if there was another way. If the cross was the way it had to be, then so be it. Jesus did not deny the feelings and emotions that He had, but He put obedience to the Father above these feeling and emotions.
Jesus asked Peter, James and John to pray with Him. We too need to watch and pray. Peter in his first letter counsels his readers to prepare their minds for action. Here the disciples failed. Despite their earlier protestations of commitment to Jesus, they could not even stay awake when it mattered.
Having prayed, having taken His inner conflict to the Father, Jesus was now prepared for the task ahead.
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