Garden of Gethsemane – Matthew 26:36-56

The Story in a Nutshell

The story continues…

After supper (The Last Supper described in Matthew 26:17-30), Jesus took the disciples and went to an olive grove named Gethsemane.  He told most of the disciples to sit down, then took Peter, James and John and went a short distance away to pray. 

Jesus was now in great sorrow and really hurting.  He told Peter, James and John that his soul was so crushed that he was ready to die. Then he said, “Stay here and watch with me.”

Jesus moved away from the three, fell face down to the ground, and prayed to the Father, “If it is possible, take this suffering away from me.  But if not, I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Then Jesus got up and went back to the disciples, but they were asleep.

Jesus said, “Couldn’t you stay awake one hour and watch with me?  You need to stay alert, pray and not be overcome by temptation so as to deny me. 

Again Jesus move away and prayed, “Father, if this suffering cannot be taken away until I experience it, then your will shall be done.”   Jesus returned to the disciples a second time, and again they were sleeping.  They just couldn’t stay awake.

A third time Jesus moved away and prayed; when he returned the disciples were asleep again. Then Jesus said, “Get up!  It is time for me to be betrayed.”

At that moment Judas, one of the disciples, arrived with a band of thugs carrying swords and clubs.  Using a prearranged signal, Judas went to Jesus and gave him a kiss of greeting.  Then the religious leaders and thugs knew it was Jesus they were to arrest.

Jesus said to the mob, “Do what you need to do.”  So they grabbed him and arrested him.

One of the men with Jesus wanted to rescue him, so he drew his sword and slashed the ear of the high priest’s servant.  Jesus told the man to put away his sword.  Jesus knew that he could ask his Father to protect him and the disciples, but if he did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen next?”

After that, Jesus said to the crowd, “Why do you come after me with clubs and swords?  Am I some kind of dangerous criminal?  Why didn’t you just arrest me when I was teaching in the Temple?  I was there every day.”  Then Jesus answered his own questions.  “All this is happening to fulfill the prophecies recorded in the Scriptures.”

And with that, all the disciples ran away and deserted Jesus.

To be continued…

What did you learn from the story?

If you want to gain a full understanding of the complete story, and for help in answering some of the questions below, you may want to have the following items as additional resources:  a Bible, a dictionary, and a Bible commentary on the Book of Matthew (optional).

1. What were Jesus and the disciples doing before going to the olive grove? 
2. What was the name of the olive grove? 
3. What did Jesus do when he arrived at the olive grove? 
4. What did Jesus tell Peter, James, and John? 
5. What is the soul? 
6. What did Jesus do next?  
7. What did Jesus do when he moved away from Peter, James and John? 
8. When he returned to the disciples, what did he find? 
9. Jesus then asked the disciples a question.  What was it? 
10. What did Jesus mean “watch with me?” 
11. Then Jesus told them something.  What was it and what did he mean?
12. When Jesus moved away from the disciples the second time, what did he say to the Father? 
13. When Jesus came back to the disciples the second time, what did he find? 
14. When Jesus returned after praying the third time, what did he find and what did he say to the disciples?  
15. What did you learn about God, Jesus, and people from the story?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

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