Matthew 26: 36-46; Mark 14: 32-42; Luke 22:36-46: John 18:1-2. The Savior’s Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane

Phrases and quotes that describe the Saviors Suffering:

—Exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” ( Matthew 26: 38, Mark 14:34)

— “Take away this cup away from me” (Mark 14:36)

— “Being in agony” ( Luke 22:44)

—The Savior suffered more than man can physically suffer. (Mosiah 3:7)

—The Savior will suffer pains and afflictions of every kind that he will take upon him death and the sins of the people that they may be able to repent and become clean. (Alma 7:11-13)

—The Savior suffered so we would have the ability to repent; if we don’t repent then we will have to suffer like the Savior did for our sins.  Suffering that was so awful that the Savior, the Son of God, bled at every pore and caused him to tremble. (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19)

— “Sweet and welcome as would have been the relief of death in any of the earlier stages of His suffering from Gethsemane to the cross, He lived until all things were accomplished as had been appointed.” (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 662.)

— “The suffering of the Son of God was not simply the suffering of personal death; for in assuming the position that He did in making an atonement for the sins of the world He bore the weight, the responsibility, and the burden of the sins of all men, which, to us, is incomprehensible. . . .

— “No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion…“In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world.” (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 613.)

In Gethsemane

The Savior often visited Gethsemane for prayer and to be alone, this was His sacred spot. What  a perfect place for the Savior to atone for the sins of the world then in the place where He usually came to prayer. The term Gethsemane means “oil-press” this is similar to what the savior experienced in there because He bled from every pore and to do that involved an intense amount of pressure, similarly to get oil from olives it takes and intense amount of pressure.

While the Savior prayed in the Garden His disciples were suppose to be waiting and praying for the Savior, instead they fell asleep. The Savior taught His disciples to “watch and pray, that ye enter no into temptation: the spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) With this the Savior is teaching us to pray for strength to overcome weakness. In Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 it tells us to pray always that we may concur Satan; this is how we should overcome temptation.

The Savior was motivated to drink of the bitter cup because it was the will of the Father to have a way for His children to repent and return to live with Him. (Mosiah 15:7, 3 Nephi 11:11, D&C 19:19. The Savior asked for the bitter cup to be removed from Him but he did ask “nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” To submit our will to the Father in the way that the Savior did we would need to leave our worldly self behind and be fully focused on the Savior.

As the Saviors suffering increased so did his prayer. I have noticed that when life gets harder I do pray more fervently then when it was easier. I have noticed that it is unfair for me to pray really hard when life is hard and to sort-of pray when life is easy. If I want the blessing that more earnest pray can bring then I need to pray more fully.

The Savior suffered everything for me; He went into the Garden and took my sins upon Himself to the point He bled from every pore. Throughout this experience there are many lessons that we can take and apply into our own lives. I know that when we are suffering we can pray more earnestly but we need to make sure that we don’t fall into a cycle of only praying when we need something. We should pray when life is normal as well. We also need to repent or we will have to suffer for our sins later and the Savior describes that suffering to be so great the even He, like God, trembled.