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31 Then Jesus said to them, “This night you will all have your faith in me shaken. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But later I will be raised, and I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered and said to him, “Even if everyone else has their faith in you shaken, I will not.” 34 Jesus said the him, “Amen I say to you, this night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.” The rest of the disciples spoke likewise.

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go a over there to prayer.” 37 He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he became sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 He said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Stay here and keep vigil with me.” 39 He went a little further on and fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. But let your will be done, not mine.” 40 He came to his disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Were you not even able to stay awake with me for one hour. 41 Watch and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

42 Then he went away for a second time. He prayed, saying, “If it is not possible that this cup should pass by without my drinking from it, let your will be done.” 43 He returned and again found them sleeping, for they were exhausted. 44 He left them and went off to pray for a third time, saying the same as before. 45 He came back to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? See, the hour approaches when the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us go! Look, my betrayer is coming.”

Comments

Jesus tells his disciples that they will have their faith in him shaken and quotes Zech 13.7, alluding to a prophecy involving the death of a leader and subsequent scattering and eventual regathering of his community. When Peter protests that he would die for him, Jesus tells him he will deny him three times before the night is over. They go to Gethsemane, a garden park on the Mount of Olives, and there Jesus withdraws to pray alone. He asks God that his cup pass him by (“cup” being a common metaphor for destiny or suffering, cf. 20.22), but holding fast to the prayer he taught his disciples (6.9-13), he accepts that the most important thing is for God’s will to be done. Three times he returns to find the disciples, who had just told him they were willing to die for him, sleeping despite his request that they keep vigil.