Mark 14:32-51  This scene opens in a garden called Gethsemane... the "oil press".   8 disciples are given a place to sit.. as Jesus goes to pray.  Peter, James and John are invited to go further with Him.. to watch and to pray. 

Jesus is overcome with distress and anguish.. He is troubled.. He is full of heaviness.  He is sorrowful.  He went a little further and "fell to the ground and began to pray."   

He cries out "Abba! Father! All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt."  Three times, we are told, Jesus asks His Father to remove the cup and each time He submits to the Father's will.  He will drink the cup.. the cup that we cannot drink.. 

Jesus finds Peter, James and John asleep.. unable to keep watching.. unable to keep praying.. unable to keep their eyes open.. unable to answer Him. 

"It is enough; the hour has come; behold the Son of Man is being delivered in the hands of sinners." It is too late for anything else to be done. The cobwebs of sleep are still lingering.. until Judas arrives.. "accompanied by a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders."

Judas signals his betrayal with a kiss. 

The soldiers "laid hands on Him and seized Him." 

Peter wakes up enough to take his sword and strike a slave, cutting off his ear. 

Jesus submits to the false arrest, done in darkness... testifying that even this happens "that the Scripture might be fulfilled." 

And, just like that, all the disciples run away. 

Let us feel the heaviness that brought Jesus to fall on His face before the Father.  His sorrow was real. His prayers were honest. But.. I wonder.. was that sorrow for Himself?  Was it because of the suffering He would experience in just a few hours?   The "cup" would not be removed from Him.. and He knew all about that cup. He had known all along that this was His destiny and He would not refuse it. 

Psalm 75:8 speaks of a cup.. "For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; It is well mixed and he pours out of this; surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs;"

Isaiah spoke of a cup.. "Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the Lord's hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.. " (51:17)

Jeremiah spoke of  a cup too: "For thus the Lord, the God of Israel says to me, 'Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. " (25:15) 

Father in heaven,  You sent Your Son to drink the cup.. the cup that was meant for the wicked..  and He drank it for us.  All praise and thanksgiving we give to You and to the Son,  the Savior who died for our sins.. who makes us righteous through His obedience and surrender.  We are amazed at the  glory of Your grace! Thank You Father! amen.