Matthew 26:36-46 “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.”
The “cup” was apparently the taking of the sins of the world upon Himself. A cup in the Bible is often a symbol of the fury and judgment of God upon sin (Isaiah 51:17,22; Revelation 16:19). When Jesus took upon Himself our sins, He became the object of God’s wrath and He was punished in our place. For Jesus to take sin upon Him was so repugnant to Him that His sufferings in the garden were mysterious beyond our understanding. The redemptive work of Jesus was an absolutely lonely work, since He is the only one in the universe who could accomplish it. His loneliness is illustrated here by the fact that His disciples slept, oblivious to the great battle and the great struggle into which Jesus entered.