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<\/a><\/p>\nSee Him there, prayerfully wrestling with the suffering that lay before Him and the eternal realities that depended upon Him. Having called His Disciples to watch and pray, He stumbled forward, \u201cfell on his face and prayed, saying, \u2018My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will\u2019\u201d (Matt. 26:39). He rises. He finds the Disciples sleeping. He calls them again to watchful vigilance. Again He withdrew, crying out, \u201cMy Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done\u201d (v.42). Once again, He rises. Again, He finds the Disciples sleeping. Yet again, He withdrew and \u201cprayed for the third time, saying the same words again\u201d (v.44).<\/p>\n
Clearly Jesus was wrestling with what the will of His Father required of Him. It made Him \u201cvery sorrowful.\u201d So deep was His grief that He thought it might be the death of Him just trying to pray through it all (v.38). Jesus clearly wished for the Disciples to join Him in His<\/em> struggle that would soon become their<\/em> struggle. He wanted them to be prepared.<\/p>\n Almost immediately Judas and the arresting mob arrived in the Garden (vv.46-47). The betrayal by kiss (vv.47-50a). The brief, bloody skirmish (vv.50b-51). The rebuke by Jesus of His Disciples (v.52).<\/p>\n Consider then Jesus\u2019 response both to the Disciples for their impetuous fighting and to the arresting mob in their blind arresting. Jesus reminded the Disciples that He could have called on His Father for a host of angel-warriors and been delivered from this entire affair (v.53). His next breath is telling: \u201cBut how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?\u201d (v.54).<\/p>\n No long later Jesus similarly rebuked the arresting authorities with a question about the timing and circumstances of their actions (v.55). Then He said, \u201cBut all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled\u201d (v.56).<\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 response to both the Disciples and the arresting party was the same \u2013 there was no other way for Him (and them) to fulfill what the Scriptures revealed as the Father\u2019s will. As Jesus struggled with the Father\u2019s will, it was against what He knew the Father had described as His will in the Scriptures<\/em>.<\/p>\n