Luke 22:39-46--Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

Luke 22:39-46
English Standard Version
​
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

---

The Mount of Olives is an important spot biblically, and it apparently was one of Jesus' favorite places to go and pray when He was in or near Jerusalem.  Luke identifies it as a custom of His.  This is probably important as it seems like Judas was going to know exactly where Jesus was going to be when it was time for him to betray Jesus.

Now Jesus' concern was that His disciples pray for themselves while He also prayed for them that they would not enter into temptation during this time.  Even in this last hour, Jesus is more concerned about them than He is about Himself, yet He does pray for Himself asking the Father to remove this cup (the cup of the wrath of God) from Him if there was any other way.  But since there is no other way, He prays, "Not My will, but Your will be done."  He will pray this prayer three times that night before angels are sent to strengthen Him (much like how they were sent to strengthen Him after He had endured the temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry).

I would imagine that Jesus really needed to be strengthened here as He's been going non-stop for at least a week from the way that the text reads.  However, Jesus being strengthened by a heavenly messenger doesn't alleviate the stress and agony He was going through as He began to pray even more earnestly and began to sweat in such a way that Luke, a medical doctor, describes it as if it were like He were sweating great drops of blood.

The disciples that were supposed to watch and pray with Him fell asleep because they were so exhausted.  He woke them to tell them that the time had now come and that they needed to stay awake and be vigilant so that they would not enter into temptation.  Notice again that Jesus' concern for them is not the swords and clubs and torches that the mob is going be coming with, but the fiery darts of the evil one, that is Satan, as he was going to try to have his way with them while Jesus was otherwise occupied.