In the Garden

Matthew, once a tax collector, now a disciple of Jesus...Matthew, the Apostle of the King...Matthew the writer of the introductory gospel to the New Testament, shares with his readers the passion of our Lord as He prepared Himself for the impending torment which was to come.
In Matthew 26:36-46, we find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples on Thursday night as He talks with the Father about His upcoming suffering and death followed by the resurrection.  In His perfect, yet true humanity, Jesus is overwhelmed by the fact that He must bear something that He has never encountered before...Sin! (Isaiah 53:6)
In order to get us beyond our self imposed condemnation to the perfect eternal life God intended for us from the beginning, Jesus...whom the Father chose as the only acceptable sacrifice (the Lamb of God)...had to bear our sins, our condemnation on His shoulders.  In the Garden, He came face-to-face with the reality of Sin.  Was it the impending suffering and excruciating painful death on a cross or the weight of my sin and yours that caused Him to cry out, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!" (Matthew 26:39b)
Luke, as a medical doctor, describes in painful detail the condition of the Lord as He pleads His case with the Father.  Luke wrote, "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44)  I cannot imagine such agony...I choose not to picture it for in that scene my sin becomes so overwhelming beyond comprehension.  Yet, in His mournful cry, Jesus said, "...not My will but Yours be done!"
Luke tells us that an angel came into the Garden and ministered to Jesus.  The King...humbled by the weight of the sin of the world needed comfort from the Father, and this He received through the ministry of an angel.  Then, after getting up, He called to the disciples..."Get up! The hour is at hand!  The Son of Man is betrayed!  We must go!"  And so He went...arrested at the hands of sinners.
Some 50 days later, Peter would stand up and proclaim to the Jews gathered on the day of Pentecost, "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God...YOU CRUCIFIED AND KILLED!" (Acts 2:23)  But this is not just to those Jews gathered at that time...He was crucified and killed by my sin and yours! 
Praise God that there is forgiveness and redemption in the heart of God.  If it were not so, we would be guilty of that unjust death and condemned to eternal punishment and separation from God.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore, there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!" (Romans 8:1)
From the Garden to the Cross...from the Cross to the Grave...from the Grave to right hand of God, Jesus has accomplished all that He came to do.  Now glorified, He waits and we anticipate that glorious gathering of all who call upon His name.  Now, with the saints long since passed, I look forward to that Trumpet call when we will see Him face-to-face.