Matthew 26:36-46
The Garden of Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed,“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
The night of Jesus' arrest He was in the Garden of Gethsemane...Jesus ask His Disciples for help...Jesus said to His Disciples “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”...He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled...Then He said to them, “My Soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death...Stay here and keep watch with Me.”...Going a little farther, Jesus fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me...Yet not as I will, but as You will.”...When He returned to His disciples He found them sleeping...“Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour?”, He asked Peter...“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation...The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”...
Jesus wanted some company and someone to talk about His feeling sorrowful and troubled the night of His arrest, yet His Disciples were ready to sleep and could not stay awake...Talking is good for the troubled mind and troubled soul, yet His Disciples could not stay awake the night of His arrest...No doubt they did not understand the magnitude of the evening or the events that were soon to be played out...This would be the eve of one of the most important nights in man's history...And Jesus' Disciples could not stay awake...This was the last night they would be with Jesus...
Now Jesus could have chastised them for not staying awake...He could have made some disparaging remarks to them as He needed their company and help...But that is not what He did...He left them with no guilt or discomfort to worry about later...Earlier that night and even as Judas approached He could have said many things that would have been nagging at them for the rest of their lives...But what He said was this, “Are you still sleeping and resting?...Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners...Rise!...Let us go!...Here comes My betrayer!”...
The Disciples missed a night to help Jesus...And it was His last night...But Jesus knows man, and He knew how His Disciples felt that night...He knows that in our hardest times we need prayer, and that is what He did, and that is what He ask His Disciples to do..The Disciples show that night that they are just like us and did not help Jesus in the best of ways...They were sleepy and they slept...
Instead of making them feel very guilty and belittling them for falling asleep on His last evening with them, He says without any negativity towards them, "Rise!...Let us go!...Here comes My betrayer!"...