The Defining Moments of Christ's PassionSample

Agony of the Soul

Have you ever wondered where all your friends were at a time when you really needed their help? Perhaps they pledged they would be faithful, but when you needed those friends most, they were nowhere to be found. Did you feel abandoned in that moment of need?

Jesus Himself was confronted with a very similar situation when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion. After He finished serving Communion to His disciples, the Bible tells us that He went to the Garden of Gethsemane with them. Jesus felt the need to spend time in intercession so He might gain the strength He needed to face what lay before Him. He also requested that Peter, James, and John come along to pray with Him.

Rarely, if ever, did Jesus need His friends’ assistance in prayer. Most of the time, they needed His! But in this intense moment, Jesus felt He needed to have the three disciples who were closest to Him pray with Him in the Garden. Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to pray for just one hour, but instead of faithfully praying when Jesus desperately needed their support, the three disciples kept falling asleep!

The mental and spiritual battles Jesus experienced that night in the Garden of Gethsemane were intense. Luke 22:44 says, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

I want you to especially notice the word “agony” in this verse. It comes from the Greek word agonidzo, a word that refers to a struggle, a fight, great exertion, or effort. It is a word used to convey the ideas of anguish, pain, distress, and conflict.

The Holy Spirit used this word to picture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal. This tells us that Jesus was thrown into a great struggle or an intense fight that night. Knowing the Cross and the grave were before Him, He cried out, “...Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me...” (Luke 22:42). He was in the greatest fight He had ever known up to that moment in His life.

Jesus’ intense level of agony is depicted in the phrase, “…he prayed more earnestly….” The word “earnestly” is the Greek word ektenes which means to be extended orto be stretched out. This word ektenes presents the picture of a person who is pushed to the limit and can’t be stretched much more.

Jesus’ emotional state was so intense that Luke 22:44 says “…his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” This was the worst spiritual combat Jesus had ever endured! And where were His disciples when He needed them? They were sleeping! Jesus needed His closest friends, but they still couldn’t pray for a single hour!

Have you ever felt the need for help but found that in your greatest moment of need, your friends couldn’t be counted on? Were you in a situation that caused you to feel intense agony or pushed you to the limit?

Maybe you’ve never sweated blood, but more than likely, you’ve struggled in your soul at one time or another because of problems with your marriage, your children, your relationships, your ministry, or your finances. If you’ve ever felt like you were constantly living in “a pressure cooker,” you know that continuous pressure is hard to deal with — especially if you have no one to lean on for strength, encouragement, and help!

If you are experiencing one of those times in your life right now, Jesus understands because He faced the same situation in the Garden of Gethsemane. Because of what Jesus Himself experienced, He can understand everything you think and feel!

Set aside a few minutes to pray before you take one more step or make one more decision today. Talk to Jesus about the situations you are facing. He empathizes completely, and He will give you the strength you need to come through every one of life’s “pressure cookers” victoriously!

Think About It:

Jesus experienced the full range of human emotion and emotional strain while He was in human form on Earth. And because Jesus understands stress, He can be trusted to understand and help you no matter what you may be facing. In what areas of your life are you experiencing stress? Invite Jesus into those areas and trust Him to help you — He will!