36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Christ is represented as shrinking from the cup He was to drink. Yet elsewhere He says 'The cup which My Father has given me, shall I not drink it?' (John 18:11). This apparent contradiction is to be explained by the fact that on the one hand His delight was to do the Father's will - this is what is envisaged in the Old Testament picture of the burnt offering which was a sweet savour to God - and on the other hand He shrank from separation from God - and this is what is foreshadowed in the Old Testament sin offering, the non-sweet savour offering - in which He bore the sins of men. But why should He ask, 'If it be possible ...?' Surely He knew that it could not pass from Him, if atonement was to be made? This is the same question as is raised by the cry from the cross, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' Did He not voluntarily accept the cross, knowing it would mean separation from God? Ah, yes, but this belongs to the essence of 'being made sin'. To do so was to cut Himself off from God, and this is to cut oneself off from light; and His consciousness of what was happening was clouded. That is the real heart of the agony. To have been able to go through it and still know that all was well would not have plumbed the depths of the mystery of iniquity. He must forego even that knowledge; and it was this that made it a real hell for Him. It was there, where the Son of God lost the last consciousness of the Father's love and presence - there that atonement was made and pardon bought and won for men. And Gethsemane was the beginning of that terrible experience.