Bible Study: Sacred Heart – March 12, 2025
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Bible Study: Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

Please read Matthew 26:36-46

 

 

Preliminary Bible Study Questions

1. Jesus gave us a perfect model of prayer. Why is prayer necessary?

2. What is godly sorrow and fear?

3. What is hell?

 

 

Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane

 

Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane gave us a profound model of sorrow, fear, and prayer. This was a traumatic moment for our Savior. Christ was praying in preparation for His most severe trial—the suffering and death He would endure for our salvation.

 

Jesus Was Fearful

 

After the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives. On the way, He shared many teachings with them (John 14-16) and prayed His High Priestly prayer (John 17:1-26). When they arrived at the garden, it was close to midnight. Jesus took Peter, James, and John aside to pray, and the disciples noticed that Jesus was deeply troubled.

 

Jesus’ time had come (John 2:4). His betrayer was approaching, Roman guards were following, and His trial and crucifixion were imminent. He knew all of this in advance—nothing would take Him by surprise. Yet, the weight of what He was about to endure filled Him with deep sorrow.

 

This was not a lifelong sorrow that Jesus had carried from birth. He was not a sad person. Instead, this was a godly sorrow, a dread of the suffering He was about to endure.

 

 

What Is Sorrow?

 

Sorrow is distress, grief, and sadness due to affliction, loss, or misfortune. Jesus, the Son of God, was crushed with grief to the point of death. In Luke 22:44, His distress was so intense that He experienced hematidrosis—a condition where blood capillaries burst from extreme stress, causing blood to mix with sweat and pour from the skin.

 

Even in this agony, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed:

 

“My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”(Matthew 26:39)

 

While Jesus wrestled with the coming suffering, His disciples struggled to stay awake. They were physically exhausted, had consumed wine, and were overwhelmed with sorrow. Though they desired to support Jesus, their flesh was weak. Jesus, in His humanity, understood their struggle and refrained from rebuking them harshly.
 

 

 

Jesus’ Cup of Wrath

 

Jesus prayed:

 

“My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)

 

What was “this cup” Jesus spoke of?

 

In the Old Testament, the cup symbolized God’s wrath upon sin (Jeremiah 25:15-16; Isaiah 51:17). Jesus was about to drink the full measure of God’s wrath for the sins of all who would believe in Him.

• Jesus would bear the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21).

• He would suffer the punishment we deserved (Hebrews 9:28).

• The Lamb of God would take on the fury of a holy and just God.

 

This was the weight of what Jesus feared—not the physical pain, but the spiritual agony of bearing sin and separation from the Father.
 

 

 

What Is Hell?

 

Jesus was about to experience separation from the Father—a moment so agonizing that He cried out on the cross:

 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

 

Hell is a place of total separation from God—a land of darkness, hopelessness, and suffering (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 25:12). Jesus, the perfect and sinless Son, dreaded even a temporary separation from the Father.

 

If Jesus—a temporary visitor—feared this separation, how much more terrifying must eternal separation from God befor those who reject Him?
 

 

 

Grasp This!

• Jesus wasn’t afraid of human rejection or physical suffering.

• He feared the spiritual punishment of bearing the sins of the world.

• Our greatest fear should not be suffering in this life, but eternal separation from God.

 

This is why salvation through Jesus Christ is so urgent. To reject Christ is to embrace eternal hopelessness.
 

 

 

Prayer & Reflection

 

Jesus prayed for strength in the garden, and the Father sent ministering angels to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43). If Jesus needed prayer in His darkest hour, how much more do we?

• How do you respond when facing trials? Do you seek God in prayer?

• Have you accepted Christ as your Savior, knowing He bore the punishment for your sins?

 

 

Bible Study Questions

1. Jesus, though fully God and fully human, depended on prayer. Why do we often neglect prayer in our own lives?

2. Why do people fear earthly suffering but often ignore the reality of eternal suffering?

3. Is fear of hell alone enough to turn to God? Why or why not?
 

 

 

Inspirational Bible Verses

 

“Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’”

Luke 1:34-35

 

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

1 John 4:10

 

 

Faith Quotes

 

Sorrow Quotes:

“Jesus drank a cup of wrath without mercy so that we might drink a cup of mercy without wrath.” — J. Oswald Sanders

 

“Thy will be done.” No greater words than these

Can pass from human lips, than these which rent

Their way through agony and blood and sweat,

And broke the silence of Gethsemane,

To save the world from sin. — Studdart Kennedy

 

Jesus’ Sacrifice Quotes:

“Death and the curse were in our cup,

O Christ, ’twas full for Thee;

But Thou hast drunk the last dark drop,

’Tis empty now for me.” — Anne Ross Cousin

 

 

Prayer of Thanksgiving

 

O dear God,

 

Have mercy upon our souls. Thank You for the vision of Jesus praying in the Garden, showing us the weight of sin and the horror of separation from You. Thank You that He drank the cup of wrath, so that we may drink the cup of mercy. Open our hearts to Your truth and help us lead others to salvation. May we never take for granted the price Jesus paid for us.

 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

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