Jesus’ Gethsemane trial was going to be so awful, that He prayed His Father to spare Him of it, saying: ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened Him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22: 41-43) By saying in his prayer, ‘This cup’ Jesus did not mean the Cross, for he knew before He came into the world that He had to face it. He meant what he had to suffer in that Garden, at that moment, in a place He loved so much. We shall never really know what temptations He endured!

Matthew writes concerning it and mentions that: ‘He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said: My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ (Matthew 26: 37-38) I believe that this created fallen angelLucifer, who is Satan, pit himself against his creator, it was this opportune time, (Luke mentions that when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness that: ‘When the devil had finished all his tempting, He left Him until an opportune time.’ (Luke 4: 13) – we cannot find in scripture a time when he tempted Jesus, until Gethsemane, it was this ‘opportune time’ yet in that awful moment, Satan was vanquished for good! I believe that Jesus did not pray to be spared from His death on the cross, but from this last encounter with Satan! 

All the suffering that Jesus endured were prophesied by King David, they were awful, wild, vicious, violent, but Jesus had to go through it, for His victory over the devil was absolutely essential, so that salvation of sinners from Satan’s grasp was definite, thus, after having drunk His cup completely, on the cross he said ‘It is finished- it is done’ these were His last triumphant words spoken in His mortal body, His next words were spoken after His resurrection, when He spoke to His disciples in a glorified body! Satan does not know everything, in fact God hides an awful lot from Him, he is not privy to his will and plan. When Jesus was on earth, the devil could not approach Him at will. The first time he could, was after his forty days of fasting. Why? we do not know. Then he was allowed to tempt Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, much has been said by many concerning Gethsemane! yet, we will really never know what Jesus endured. The wrath that Satan poured on Jesus by his servants that condemned Him to die, shows that he did not know that Christ’s greatest victory was at hand, and that his end was nigh. Satan is mighty but he not almighty, he knows a lot but He is not omniscient. He is after all, a created being. But he was created perfect, pride was his downfall!

At this point I want to mention this most amazing verses: ‘It is not to angels that He (God – the Father) subjected the world to come, about which; we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made Him a little lower than the angels; and crowned Him with glory and honour and put everything under His feet. (Psalm 8: 4-6) In putting everything under Him, God left nothing that is not subject to Him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2: 5-9) We can definitely see, in the spirit of these words, how God was completely and totally part of all that concerned the life and experiences of Jesus Christ His Son from babyhood to manhood, and more so in the last three years of His life. For it is written: ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself! The books that have been written cannot be numbered, yet if one could read them all one would not be any nearer of knowing all the mysterious plan of God !