1. JESUS IS TEMPTED

Verses

He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
— Matthew 26:38 (NLT)

Matthew 26:36–46

Questions

What scenarios in your life have led you to desperate prayer?
When is your most honest prayer?
When was a time you called others to pray with you?

Meditation

In this station the cup of death is placed beside the serpent of temptation. The image reflects the moment when Jesus found Himself in a garden, praying desperately about what lay ahead — the road to the cross.

The garden of Gethsemane is not the first time Jesus faced temptation. Earlier in His ministry, in the wilderness, the devil urged Him to seize power and avoid suffering. Now, on the night before His crucifixion, the temptation returns in a different form. Jesus Himself says that He could ask the Father for “more than twelve legions of angels” to rescue Him (Matthew 26:53). Escape was possible.

Yet the mission of Christ was never to avoid suffering. It was to redeem through it.

Scripture reminds believers that Jesus understands this struggle:

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.”
— Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)

In the garden the Son of God looks clearly at what lies ahead — betrayal, humiliation, torture, and death — and still chooses obedience. He prays with complete honesty about the suffering before Him, yet entrusts Himself fully to the will of the Father.

“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”
— John 6:38 (NLT)

Jesus partook in the difficulty of saying yes to what was happening.

His suffering was not only instructive; it was also redemptive. By walking the path of the cross, Christ accomplished the work of salvation for the world. Yet His obedience also becomes the example for those who follow Him.

As Hebrews teaches:

“...let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
— Hebrews 12:1–2 (NLT)

To follow Christ is to walk the same road of trust and surrender that Jesus did. The garden reminds believers that faithfulness sometimes requires choosing obedience even when the cost is clear.

The Church reflects on this moment in prayer:

“Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace.”
— Book of Common Prayer, p. 99