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Jesus is not dissociated with suffering, He knows it, and He experienced it in order to save sinners.

Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV) 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.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

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.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Throughout the Old Testament we see this word “cup” as – as being more than just a word. It’s the thought that the cup is a person’s lot in life, their destiny or purpose.

Throughout the Old Testament the cup commonly referred to suffering or shameful treatment. It truly lends us to understand that here in this moment before His crucifixion, Jesus’ emotional pleas were not simply about Him dying physically – or the pain He would endure physically - but Him understanding this death would be all of the weight and punishment for all of humanity’s sin, past – present – future.

And in that prayer, it seems as though Jesus believes that the Father could remove this suffering and death. But in the end Jesus chooses the Father’s plan instead. Kind of a side note here, just like I talked about yesterday, if the friends of Job had simply just sat in silence with him, how powerful that truly could have been for him during his suffering.

In the same way, Jesus asks His closest Disciples to simply sit and be awake with Him while He is praying. And you notice they keep falling asleep, instead of praying with him, or sitting and watching. But it reminds me that Jesus was alone. And why did He need to experience this loneliness, so that we don’t have to be alone. We can follow in the way of Jesus, and love and support each other by watching and praying for and with each other.