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.”

The night before Christ was to hang on the cross, he went to Gethsemane to pray. We know very little about the prayer except these words.

Quite literally, the weight of the world was on His shoulders as he fell to the ground.

Before the world began, He knew that He would come to this point in time. Arriving on Earth to dwell among the people was one thing, but to suffer violence at the hands of those people, and ironically, for those people was something entirely different.

It’s clear He was in sheer agony. Drops of blood fell to the ground. The temptation to NOT go through with it must have been overwhelming. At any moment He could have snapped His fingers and called down legions of angels to rescue Him, and they would have gladly done so.

But He didn’t.

Jesus Christ only did the will of the Father.

He had his best friends nearby, snoring away. He was alone.

Very alone. The pinnacle of that aloneness would come the next day as He was dying, but He had to face this battle alone.

The peace He needed to have for what would come the next few hours was won in that aloneness. Yes, He is the Prince of Peace, but being “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” was extremely stressful.

Consider these words as you go into this Resurrection weekend.