The struggle of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Prayer for the Cup Prayer of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

) grief. It is interesting to pay attention to the name “Garden of Gethsemane”. Gethsemane is an olive press or press for squeezing olives. What is happening illustrates what it means to be under pressure. To obtain aromatic oil, it must be squeezed out. The same thing happened with Christ: in order to receive oil to heal our soul, Christ had to go through the path of pressure and bleeding. In order for us not to suffer the same fate, but to receive salvation through His sacrifice, He had to undergo the horror of God's wrath for the sins of the multitude.

The temptation of Christ took place in the garden. It is symbolic, since the temptation of Adam also took place in the garden (), where man fell into sin through temptation:

So it is written: the first man Adam became a living soul; and the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. But not the spiritual first, but the spiritual, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second person is the Lord from heaven.

Through the “second Adam” mankind is liberated from the curse of sin:

First Man (Adam) brought sin into the world - the Last (Christ) redeemed peace from sin;

The first Adam departed from God the Father in the garden— Jesus Christ comes to God in the garden;

Adam was naked and shameless, but then dressed— Christ was dressed, became naked and suffered shame;

Adam sinned because of a tree— God-man carried on a wooden cross our sins.

Having arrived at the place, he said to them: Pray so as not to fall into temptation.

Christ took three of his closest disciples into the garden with Him and, leaving, began to “grieve and yearn” (). The heart of Christ was oppressed, tormented, experiencing sadness and deep sorrow. It is clear that this was not an easy sorrow, but a “deadly sorrow” that tore His soul apart.

Christ understood: death is inevitable. Judas has already sold Him and is leading the soldiers. Soon He will be tortured and then crucified. Christ is in struggle, but He does not hate God, does not run from God, does not argue with God, is not angry with Him. On the contrary, He strives for God!

Many people in difficult circumstances allow themselves to sin, justifying themselves with suffering that gives carte blanche to sin: “God owes me a little sin!” Gluttony, alcohol, cigarettes, pornography, drugs, gossip, anger, insult and irritation are the most common sins of the self-righteous.

Christ's Prayer

And He Himself went away from them a stone's throw, and, kneeling down, prayed...

Our essence is revealed in prayer. One a famous person said, “I can tell with a great degree of certainty who is a Christian and who is not just by hearing the person pray.” When Christ grieved, the thirst of His heart was to flee to the Heavenly Father.

When we grieve, where do we look for comfort for our hearts? Who are our prayer partners? When was the last time we knelt in prayer?

Christ himself gives His life, no one takes it. He does not rebel, does not doubt the Father’s love, does not curse God for suffering. He shows reverence and respect for His Father by kneeling before Him.

...saying: Father! Oh, that You would deign to carry this cup past Me! However, not My will, but Yours be done.

Christ lifts the curtain of His prayer room for us and shows us how He goes through a period of struggles and temptations. This is the only prayer in which Christ prays for Himself. God, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants to show us what was hidden (including from the sleeping disciples, who that night did not care about their spiritual state or the spiritual struggles of their Teacher). This passage shows how to face temptation: “Watch! Watch and be attentive to the lesson that Christ wants to teach you!”

The Lord wanted to teach His best and closest disciples to face temptations by relying on God and not on themselves. The self-confident disciples had to learn humility and understanding of their poverty of spirit before God could use them to build His kingdom. Christ wanted the disciples to realize their weakness and get rid of the false sense of invincibility and self-confidence.

To overcome temptations and face them realistically, we need to understand the nature of our human heart and know what God says about it:

Christ demonstrates that He, being the Son of God, needed the support of His Heavenly Father;

The fallen nature of man does not want to recognize its weaknesses, but the immaculate and perfect Christ knew His human weaknesses, and brought struggles “before the face of His Father”;

Recognizing His weaknesses and need of the strength of the Heavenly Father, He did what His most beloved disciples did not see the need for;

Christ demonstrates in His life submission to His Heavenly Father;

Treating God as a Father—with this understanding we must come to Him!

At the beginning of his ministry, Satan tempted Christ three times in the desert. If we compare the chronology of the Gospels, we can see how He resisted struggles three times () and called out to His Heavenly Father in prayer.

Both temptations (in the desert and in the Garden of Gethsemane) were secret: our greatest struggle is spent alone with ourselves in our hearts and thoughts. Thoughts constantly attack us, wanting to break our will and influence our priorities, arguments, arguments, values ​​and, ultimately, our actions.

The struggle in our hearts and minds happens all the time: when we are alone at the computer, riding an escalator, or walking down the street. The struggle takes place even at a church meeting; a huge inner world is boiling inside a person with its temptations, doubts, seductions, drowsiness and indifference.

What caused this state of Christ? Why did His soul languish and long for solitude with God? We find the answer to this question in the prayer itself: “Father! Oh, that You would deign to carry this cup past Me!” Christ begs the Lord to carry this cup past Him. According to Jewish custom, the king served the cup to his guests. The image of the cup is the fate (experiences) sent down to people by God. This is a cup from the Lord that brings either a blessing or a curse into a person’s life:

Thou hast prepared a table before me in the sight of my enemies; anointed my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

...for the cup is in the hand of the Lord, the wine is boiling in it, full of mixture, and He pours from it. Even its yeast will be squeezed out and drunk by all the wicked lands.

Arise, arise, arise, O Jerusalem, you who drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath, who drank the cup of drunkenness to the dregs, and drained it.

For thus says the Lord: behold, those who were not destined to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and will you remain unpunished? No, you will not go unpunished, but you will certainly drink [the cup].

To drink the cup means to drink completely without reserve, no matter what the cost. The cup that Christ drank is the cup of suffering, humiliation, God's wrath, curse and death.

The Lord offered the same cup to His disciples to drink, and from history we know that each of them drank it to the dregs (), only not on the scale and meaning in which it was prepared for Christ. All the apostles died for the Gospel with suffering, and John died in exile.

But the cup that Jesus had to drink to the dregs was not just a cup of suffering, humiliation, spitting, betrayal, insults, ridicule and a body torn to shreds - these are only a small part of what Christ had to endure. And He realized this “and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” This is the cup of God's wrath, guilt and curse that Jesus Christ had to drink to the dregs for our sins, being punished by God Himself. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament were not able to forgive human sins; they only showed to an even greater extent our guilt and sinfulness, the horror of our sin.

Death, the blood of a little lamb, cannot solve the problem of liberation from the curse for sins. The blood of a lamb is not capable of reviving spiritually from a fallen state. Animal sacrifice is not able to deliver from the evil heart, which is corrupted by original sin. Victims are not able to free us from death and eternal destruction. Scripture says that “the wages of sin is death” (). And each of us should be destroyed for our sins and burn in hell right now for all eternity! This is the only way justice can be restored.

Either we must die for our sins justly, or an atoning sacrifice is needed in our place. Someone must die and pay in full for our sins, since each of us has offended a Holy God with our words and actions. A perfect sacrifice is needed—a perfect, spotless Lamb. And it was Christ who had to become this Lamb in order to reconcile “the world to Himself” and quench God’s burning wrath and His Holy wrath over us.

Obedience to Christ

This key statement that Christ made signifies the surrender of all His rights in favor of submission to God's will. Jesus, as the “last Adam” () did not succumb to temptation, but wanted to fulfill the will of God, unlike the first Adam. God's will for Christ was more important than His own desires. This is the path for those who resist temptation, grumbling, pain, the loss of a loved one, a fatal illness, cancer, or the news of the death of a son or daughter. Thy will be done, not mine! Who God is to us determines how we experience temptation.

We see the example of Christ demonstrating this same principle throughout His life. He was tempted in the desert and said that “man will not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (). We see how Christ chose obedience to God's Word over meeting his physical needs.

Difficulties always present opportunities to demonstrate our faithfulness, obedience to God, and truly express our worship to Him. This is exactly what Christ did, despite incredibly strong struggles and temptations.

Just as in the temptation in the desert God strengthened Him, so in the struggles in the Garden of Gethsemane God sent Him help, and a heavenly angel strengthened (Greek: “gave strength, supported”) Him. This example is a promise for us that the Lord will definitely come to the rescue and support us during struggles and temptations, when we cry out to Him in every possible way, begging Him for help and strength for us to withstand the struggle. God remains faithful and the Spirit is willing even when our flesh is weak.

From the history of Christianity we see God who gave the first Christians the strength not to renounce Christ, but to continue to be faithful to His Lord, confessing only Him as the only God. People who experienced the most severe suffering in the history of mankind for the name of Christ repeatedly testified that at this very time, when they continued to trust in God and remained faithful to Him, God gave supernatural peace, tranquility, strength to forgive the offender, and opportunities to show love to those who offend and humiliate them.

God gave people strength to praise Him even when their bodies were burned at the stake (Jan Hus). Like Stephen, who glorified God and prayed for his offenders, asking God to delay judgment for the angry crowd (). Like Job, when he lost all his fortune, property and all his children overnight, but did not renounce God (). Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegos in the fiery furnace (), who did not worship the king as a god. God gave John Bunyan the strength to persevere for his faith during 12 years in prison, when his family was poor and his daughter was blind. While under "pressure" he wrote his most outstanding work, "The Pilgrim's Progress", the most readable book after the Bible. God gave strength to Martin Luther when he lost his child. Being under "pressure", he carries out the great Reformation in a period of ultimatums, slander and criticism. The Lord cared for and helped John Calvin to be productive for the kingdom of God, despite his terrible health problems, the death of his wife and child. An outstanding work by the classic of Reformed theology, “Instruction in the Christian Faith.” The Lord comforted John Owen, who had lost 12 children. Being under "pressure", he became an outstanding English Puritan, who wrote a large number of serious, deep, theological, God-centered works.

This list of people who continued to be dependent on God is not complete. It was under the pressure of life's difficulties that they were most used for God's glory.

The Struggle and Diligence of Christ

And, being in struggle, he prayed more diligently, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

This is the most powerful and intense place in Holy Scripture, where we have the opportunity to see the intensity of Jesus' grief. Wherever Christ suffered or wept in the New Testament, there was sorrow not for the people themselves, but for the catastrophic power of destruction subsequently sin (for example, the lament for Jerusalem and for Lazarus). The tension was such that the capillaries under Christ’s skin burst and blood came out through the pores along with sweat.

“My soul grieves unto death” ( ; ) is the maximum level of experience that can lead to His death.

We see that the struggle does not go away with the appearance of the Angel, but God helps to go through these struggles that torment the soul and seem capable of tearing it to pieces.

Translated from Greek, the word “struggle” means: “battle, competition, confusion, torment, mental struggle, intense suffering, agony.” This is what Jesus went through. We go through similar things at different stages of our lives. Christ knows the power of our suffering, due to the fact that His struggles were much greater than ours. Due to the fact that Christ knows our “agony,” He is able to sympathize with us and not just sympathize, but He shows us the way where to run - into the arms of our Heavenly Father with our fervent prayers. When Christ is in the struggle, He does not declare His rights, does not speak of His status and position. In order not to suffer, He prays even more diligently.

The Apostle Paul once interprets this event in the Garden of Gethsemane in his Epistle to the Hebrews:

He, in the days of His flesh, with a strong cry and with tears offered prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save Him from death; and was heard for [His] reverence; Although He is the Son, He learned obedience through suffering, and, having been perfected, became the author of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.

One preacher, in reflecting on this episode, made an interesting conclusion. He noted that “the uniqueness or peculiarity of the suffering of Christ, which differs from our suffering with you, in the overwhelming majority of suffering, is that in most cases our suffering is our fault, we suffer because we feel sorry for ourselves, we are offended , we are irritated, we are afraid.” The suffering of Christ and His further suffering on the cross were unjust. Christ had no sin; He was without guilt or blemish, like the Anglo. Jesus was the least worthy of all to be punished. This did not concern Him, but out of love He took what rightfully belonged to us.

Why was Christ still in the struggle, and His prayer was even more fervent? He had a clear understanding of how great the penalty for sin was. If Christ trembled at the punishment for the sins of others, then how seriously do people in the world need to take their misdeeds, unbelief and atrocities seriously. He had to endure the fullness of God's furious wrath: “the cup of terror and desolation” () and “the cup of wrath” (;).

Christ had to endure all the combined pain that all people on this earth have ever experienced. I think that's why His heart broke when He was on the cross. (We find confirmation of this in the fact that when the soldier pierced Jesus' side, blood and water flowed out.) Christ's reaction is evidence of how terrible God's wrath is, the sweat and blood that flowed from His forehead is confirmation of the horror of God's judgment! The Apostle Paul also testified to this:

Much more therefore now, having been justified by His Blood, we will be saved from wrath by Him.

Christ's prayer clearly shows us how great the penalty for sin is. If the Son of God trembled at God's punishment, how much more should man tremble, since he deserved that punishment for his sins. It is important for us to understand: for God there are no small or great sins. Any sin is a crime, rebellion, betrayal, insult, idolatry, against the Holy God of heaven and earth. We sin because we do not want to obey God, but we ourselves want to be gods. Therefore, we act willfully and vote for ourselves! Any sin, even the smallest one, as it seems to us, is disobedience to God’s commandments and violation of God’s law. The consequence of this for everyone who sins: “the wages of sin is death” (), and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you are going to be a real Christian, stop going the way of Judas today. If you have not submitted to God, you are God's enemies, you are not neutral towards Him. Christ says: “He who is not with me is against me” (). Whoever becomes a friend to worldly values ​​becomes an enemy of God (). Sin is betrayal of God (). This is why the wrath is so great for our sins!

Christ's Instruction

Rising from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sadness and said to them: Why are you sleeping? Stand up and pray that you will not fall into temptation.

We see that the disciples were not ready to stay awake, listen to Christ and be at one with Him. Heavy eyes and severe fatigue indicate insufficient internal strength.

Despite Christ's second call, the disciples show surprising weakness. Just a few hours ago they promised to fight for Christ, were ready to fight with the sword against the Roman occupiers, but did not realize how weak human flesh is in itself, and Christ knew about it. A good lesson from Jesus: “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” so “watch and pray” ().

Some people indulge in overeating when they are going through grief, others exercise to relieve stress, and others go straight to a hot bath. But there are also those who, like the disciples, go to bed to escape reality. There is nothing wrong with these things themselves, but if we try to save ourselves in this way, it becomes idolatry. We place our hope not in God, but in material things, trusting in them and suppressing inner sadness.

From this verse we see that the disciples slept because of sadness (Greek: “torment, sorrow”), while Christ, experiencing grief, ran to the Father and prayed even more diligently. An amazing contrast and lesson for us: God wants us to go through sorrows and difficult life circumstances.

Summarizing our reflections on this passage, we can come to the following conclusions:

1. Behold on Christ and imitate It depends on God when you go through struggles and temptations in your life. To avoid temptation, make a decision to obey God's will no matter what. Let submission to God's will be more important than our own desires.

2. Behold on Christ and be comforted example of the God-fearing “Man of Sorrows.” Christ is able to sympathize with us and understand us thanks to His human nature.

3. Behold on Christ and be horrified the severity of God's wrath for your sins.

4. Behold on Christ and thank God, that He carried the “cup of sorrow” past us and poured it out in full on the cross of Calvary.

5. Behold on Christ and increase in love for your Lord and Savior, who loved us to death and death on the cross.

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During Holy Week they are venerated daily last days life of the Savior. Every day they remember a different event. Thus, on Maundy Thursday, prayer is held in the Garden of Gethsemane by Jesus Christ, which is depicted in the “Prayer for the Cup” icon. The miraculous image shows how the human side can completely submit to God's side and accept its destiny. Icon painters are very fond of this plot.

Meaning of the icon

According to biblical legend, when the Last Supper ended, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane. This garden was very beautiful and had a wonderful view of Jerusalem. The Lord loved to spend time there and Judas knew about it. Therefore, he brought the guards there to arrest Christ.

The Son of God knew about his future fate, so he decided to pray for the salvation of his soul and his offenders. In prayer He said, “Let this Cup pass from me.” His prayer was so earnest that bloody drops of sweat rolled down his face.

This behavior of Christ is characterized as a feeling of deep loneliness and awareness of His main purpose. The icon “Prayer for the Cup” very clearly conveys the state of mind of the Savior, His suffering and humility.

During prayer, two essences fight within him: human and divine. The first fears death and desires a different development of events, the second completely accepts the will of the Lord and takes upon itself the burden of human sinfulness. Having such torment within himself, Christ prayed three times:

• the first time he asked to be saved from the cup of suffering;
• the second time he expressed his readiness to fully follow the will of the Lord;
• the third time he expressed submission and humility.

Orthodox Christians do this too, praying in front of the icon in the most difficult situations, in order to feel the support and help of the Lord. After all, the Lord certainly helps those who turn to Him with all their spiritual faith.

What do they pray for in the “Prayer of the Chalice” icon?

Many believers, having a home iconostasis, are interested in how the “Prayer for the Cup” icon helps. Prayer in front of this image can overcome various despairs that are sometimes present in the life of any person.

In addition, they pray in front of the icon when it is difficult to make the right decision and choose the right path. When a person has a difficult period in life, he always has hope in the Lord, who will help him take the right step and not regret what he has done. It is in such cases that they resort to the image of the “Prayer of the Cup.”

May the Lord protect you!

You will also be interested in watching a video about Christ’s Prayer for the Cup:

That evening, Christ and his disciples came to the Garden of Gethsemane, located not far from Jerusalem. Walking between the trees of the garden, the disciples noticed that the face of Jesus Christ had changed greatly. Terrible sorrow and deep melancholy appeared in His eyes. They had never seen Him like this before. Then Jesus said to them: My soul is sorrowful unto death. Then He asked the disciples to wait for Him, and He Himself walked a little forward and, falling to the ground, began mournfully crying out to God the Father.

Christ knew that the time of His death for the sins of the people was approaching. The worst thing for Him was not that He would die, and not even that this death would be terribly painful, when His hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross and then He was hanged so that He would gradually die, bleeding out. Something else was much more terrible for Him. He had to take upon himself the sins of all mankind.

What this meant, and how terrible it was for Him - we will probably never be able to fully understand. Jesus Christ, holy and sinless, had to take upon Himself torment for all the guilt, for all the evil ever done by people.

The mental torment that awaited Him was incomparably worse than the physical suffering to which the people subjected Him during. And in this Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ had to make a final decision: to go for it, or to abandon this suffering.

Prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Gospel records the words of Jesus as He prayed:

“My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from Me; however, not as I want, but as You want.”

If there was any other way to save humanity, Jesus would not have taken the sins of people upon Himself. This “cup” was too heavy even for Him. But there was no other way to save people, and He understood this. Therefore, after some time spent in difficult internal struggle, Christ again prays like this:

“My Father! if this cup cannot pass from Me, lest I drink it, Thy will be done.”

With these words He made the final decision. In this Garden of Gethsemane the fate of all mankind was decided. Christ accepted what now awaited Him. If He had not done this, then all people would have been condemned to hell for their sins. But Christ loved people so much that he decided to experience this condemnation Himself in order to give us the opportunity to avoid it.

The blood of Jesus Christ flowed from His face in the form of bloody sweat.

The Gospel says that during this prayer and making the final decision, Jesus experienced such a strong state of agony and internal struggle that His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. This rare phenomenon of “bloody sweat” is medically known as hemathidrosis, when due to strong emotional stress, blood leaks out of the blood capillaries through the sweat ducts.

But now the decision has been made, and Jesus, having calmed down, returns to the disciples and says:

“The hour has come, and the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of sinners; Arise, let us go: behold, he who betrayed Me has drawn near.”

Bibliography:

• Matthew 26:38-39
• Matthew 26:42
• Gospel of Luke 22:44

He walked away from them, fell to the ground and prayed; and they heard Him begin to pray that, if possible, this hour would pass from Him; and said: Ava! Father! everything is possible for You; pass this cup past Me (). Oh, that You would deign to carry this cup past Me! However, not my will, but yours be done ().

The Apostles did not hear the continuation of this prayer, because from fatigue sleep began to overcome them, and they fell asleep.

Jesus spoke to the Apostles many times about His future suffering and death; He considered them inevitable, saw His glory in them, and even expressed a desire for all this to happen as soon as possible. He likened His dying suffering to that cup filled with poison, which in those days was sometimes offered to those condemned to death; He called His death on the cross baptism. Can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?? - He asked the sons of Zebedee (). I must be baptized with baptism; and how I languish until this is accomplished!- He said on another occasion to all the Apostles ().

What does this horror mean that seized Jesus at the approach of the hour of His suffering? What do His sorrow and mortal melancholy mean? Did He really waver in His decision to die? No, He did not hesitate, because, subordinating His will to the will of the Father, He immediately says: “However, let it be not as I want, but as You!”

And if He unconditionally submits to the will of the Father and knows this will, then why does He ask that the cup of suffering pass from Him? Why does he shudder from the horror of his death throes? Wouldn't it have been better for Him to go to death, as His followers later went, without fear and even with joy?

But who can claim that Jesus was horrified, grieved and anguished from the fear of the torment that awaited Him? After all, that is, at the end of the Gethsemane prayer, the end of which we do not know, He silently, without groans or shudders, endured all the insults, torture and the most painful execution? And that His divine nature did not in the least weaken these torments, we know from His dying cry: My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?(). Consequently, it was not the fear of the impending torment that brought Jesus into such a state of mind that He began to pray for this cup to be taken away from Him.

Assumption of his temptation by the devil

We must not forget that Jesus as a Man was subject to temptation. Before the beginning of His ministry, when it was necessary to fulfill the will of the Sender, He was subjected to the temptation of the devil, who offered Him to achieve the goal in a different way, not the one determined by the will of the Father, but the shortest, full of greatness and brilliance and alien to all suffering and failures. Jesus did not succumb to these temptations then and went towards His goal along the path that now led Him to a terrible denouement, to painful death. It is clear that in this position of Jesus, the devil again had to come forward with his temptations. The evangelists say nothing about the temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane; they are silent, but not because there was no temptation, but only because they did not know about it and could not know. They could only learn about the first temptation in the desert from Jesus Christ Himself, since there were no witnesses to the temptation. Now they could not learn anything about the temptation from the Lord Himself, because after that He was taken into custody and no longer saw His Apostles alone. This is why the Evangelists say nothing about whether the devil appeared with his temptations in the Garden of Gethsemane or whether he did not appear. Nobody knows this; and if we talk about this, then only assuming that the devil would have ceased to be the devil if he had not tried to renew his temptations at such a sorrowful moment for Christ. What exactly were the temptations of the spirit of evil now, we do not know, but we can, with some probability, make reasonable assumptions. If we believe that the devil instilled in Jesus the idea of ​​​​asking the Father so that His cup of suffering would pass, then this means recognizing that Jesus, having addressed such a prayer to the Father, succumbed to temptation, and if He succumbed to the power of the devil even for one moment, then He would no longer could be considered his conqueror. Moreover, the devil would have rebelled against himself if he had advised Jesus to turn to the Father for an explanation of His position; not to direct towards God, but to turn away from Him - this is the task of the spirit of evil.

Consequently, the temptations of the devil had to be directed in a different direction. He had to remind Jesus Christ of the offers that he made to Him in the desert, tempting him with the kingdoms of this world; he could point out to Him the ingratitude of the people He had blessed and the impending death on the cross; he could again repeat the temptation that had already been rejected by Christ. He could have addressed Jesus with something like this: “Do you remember how three and a half years ago I invited You to appear to the Jewish people in the splendor of earthly greatness and subjugate the whole world to Your power? Do you remember how I assured You that it was precisely such a militant Messiah that the Jews were waiting for? Do you remember how I turned You away from the path that You wanted to go towards Your goal - how I predicted to You that this would be the path of suffering and shameful death? You didn't believe me then; You thought that I wished you harm. And what? Where did the path you chose lead you to? - To complete failure: the people, who were at first captivated by Your miracles and did not miss the opportunity to derive tangible benefit from them, turned away from You as soon as they found out, as soon as they were convinced that You were not the messiah they were waiting for; The leaders of the people sentenced You to death as a false Messiah, and have already sent a detachment of soldiers to take You to carry out the sentence. You consoled Yourself with the fact that at least twelve of Your chosen Apostles were faithful to You to the end; but is it? One of them sold You for thirty pieces of silver, and the rest (look!) are carelessly sleeping at such a terrible moment of Your life; and even those (who knows?) won’t abandon You, won’t they run away as soon as You are taken into custody? And what awaits you next? Abandoned by everyone, they will lead you to execution. And there will be no one to intercede for You. And they will crucify You, and You will die in terrible torment!.. But think, do You deserve such a fate, King of Israel?.. After all, the people did not recognize You as their messiah and turned away from You only because You did not accept the royal power offered to You; accept it, and the people will again meet You, the King of Israel, with delight, and will follow You obediently, wherever You lead them. Show yourself to the people in all the greatness of the Messiah they passionately awaited!.. Let's leave! Let's get out of here! Follow me, and I guarantee You that we will conquer the world, of course, not with Your meekness and selfless love, which the world cannot understand or accommodate, but with strength, the weapon of this world, proven, invincible strength!.. Make up your mind! Hurry! Get away!.. The traitor is approaching!”

Victory of Jesus over the Tempter

If only there was a temptation, then, of course, Jesus rejected it as calmly and majestically as the temptations in the desert. There He said: Lord God...worship and serve Him alone(). He undoubtedly showed the same submission to the will of God here.

The devil left. But the picture he depicted of the path already traveled and still ahead appeared before Jesus in all its terrible reality. Yes, here it is - that cup of moral torment that now presented itself to the gaze of the Divine Sufferer! There was something to shudder, something to fall into mortal melancholy. It was not the fear of the physical pain of the impending torment that overwhelmed Jesus; no, it was not this fear that now tormented His soul, it was not the upcoming torment and torture of the body that filled the cup of suffering that stood before Him. And what do these sufferings of the body mean in comparison with the mental anguish that Christ now experienced, looking back at the path He had traversed?

Jesus' Sorrow for the Sins of the World

By the time of His coming to earth, the pagan world had lost faith in its self-made gods, in the person of its best representatives it looked for the Unknown God and did not find it - in its godlessness it lost the meaning of life and, surrendering exclusively to sensual pleasures, its personal I made him his idol, he alone worshiped and he alone he served; and everything was sacrificed to this idol, for the momentary satisfaction of an insatiable thirst for pleasure: property, freedom, honor, even people’s lives; evil dominated everywhere, subjugating everything to its power. The Jewish world was no better: “proud of his knowledge of the True God, who gave him the law, he ceased to understand God, he distorted the meaning of His law; the same selfishness, the same thirst for personal pleasures, even if associated with the suffering of others, the same kingdom of evil and darkness, only covered with the guise of Pharisaic hypocrisy. And so, into this world, mired in vices, into this kingdom of darkness, a ray of divine truth, brought to earth by Christ, penetrated. And just as people sitting for a long time in a dark room cannot stand the light of a lamp suddenly brought in and strive to put it out as quickly as possible, so the Jewish (and pagan) world embitteredly rebelled against the Preacher of self-sacrificing love and repaying good for evil. Having come face to face with these hostile forces, Christ chose rather to be a victim of the sins of the whole world, to personally withstand all the hellish malice of His enemies, but not to use force against force. He knew that in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, it was necessary to transform the heart of man, which had been corrupted for centuries, and that this could not be achieved by force. He knew that it was better to throw at least one mustard seed onto favorable soil than to scatter all the seeds on a vast rocky field. He, the personification of divine Love, loved this corrupt world; He went to all publicans, sinners and lost people, calling them to repentance, warming them with all-forgiving love and healing them from all bodily ailments; He publicly raised the dead and performed such miracles as only God can do; He personally did not strive for any earthly glory, and placed all of His consolation only in awakening love in the hearts of people. And what was it like to a loving heart To see Him how the people, who wanted to proclaim Him King, immediately turned away from Him as soon as they learned that His Kingdom was not of this world. What was it like for Him to see all the outrageous ingratitude of those whom He had blessed, the hellish malice of the leaders of the people, the betrayal of one of his closest disciples? What could be more painful than the mental state of that person whose selfless love is responded to with hatred, services repaid with contempt, and good deeds avenged with devilish frenzy? This was the position Christ was in when he began to feel sad upon entering the Garden of Gethsemane. This melancholy was intensified by the consciousness that those Apostles who, alone from the entire enthusiastic crowd of His former disciples, were not afraid to openly take His side, that they, without special support from above, cannot be considered His reliable followers; one of them sold Him, the rest will flee at the first danger, and the most steadfast of them in faith, Peter, will immediately deny Him three times. And He will remain alone, misunderstood, rejected by the world; and this world, in its embitterment against divine truth, will subject Him to painful execution...

All these thoughts took possession of the soul of the Divine Sufferer and brought Him to such heartfelt anguish that none of us can understand. Naturally, this inexpressible melancholy was joined by the horror of the upcoming painful, undeserved death. He is ready to drink to the dregs the cup of mental torment caused by the sins of the whole world; but is His death necessary under such circumstances? If needed, He will accept it without complaint; But what if, apart from this, God can finish the work of saving people that he has begun? Abba Father! everything is possible for You; carry this cup past Me,- He exclaimed (). There was no answer...

Christ prayed for a whole hour; but we know neither the continuation nor the end of His prayer, since the witnesses called to be present at it fell asleep at the beginning.

Having finished the prayer, Jesus goes to the disciples in order to console Himself with their presence, but finds them sleeping. It was sad to see how Peter himself, who an hour before had promised to lay down his soul for the Teacher, could not resist ordinary weakness. Simon! And are you sleeping? - said the Lord, - couldn't you stay awake for one hour?(). And when James and John woke up, who shortly before had boasted that they could drink the cup of suffering that was before their Teacher, and be baptized with the baptism with which He would be baptized, when they now awakened from the sleep that had overcome them, Christ looked at them with sadness and said: Watch and pray that you do not fall to you into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak(). They faced a great test: when Jesus was taken into custody, the question would arise: would they also be taken as His disciples? Will they not, as His accomplices, be subjected to the same fate as Him? Their weak flesh will come into its own and begin to influence their hitherto vigorous spirit and subjugate it to itself. And if they were faced with such a struggle, then they should not sleep now, but stay awake and pray so that the waking spirit would overcome the weak flesh.

Not finding support and consolation in His disciples, Christ departed from them, again bowed His knees and again began to pray; but now He no longer asks, so that His cup of suffering passes, and obediently surrenders to the will of the Father. My Father! if this cup cannot pass from Me... Thy will be done ().

There was no answer to this prayer either. Exhausted under the burden of mortal melancholy, Jesus again goes to the Apostles, thinking to console himself in conversation with them, but again finds them sleeping. This time they fell asleep so deeply that they did not wake up soon; their eyes seemed heavy with sleep; They didn’t even immediately understand where they were, and didn’t know what to answer to Jesus who woke them up. And, leaving them, Jesus He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same word. And while he was in agony, he prayed more diligently, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.().

And He ended this third prayer with words of decisive submission: Thy will be done.

Jesus prayed three times, in the first prayer He turns to the Father with a decisive request to remove the cup of suffering from Him: " All things are possible for You; pass this cup past Me. However, I know what must happen Not That, what I want and what you want" (). Having not received an answer to this prayer, He begins the second with a direct expression of submission to the will of God: if this cup cannot pass from Me, lest I drink it, then Thy will be done(). Having not received an answer to this prayer, He begins to pray a third time, saying the same word, and having finished it, He wakes up the Apostles and says: It’s over, My time has come! Get up, let's go ().

Thus, from the very words of this prayer it is clear how Jesus gradually submitted to the will of the Father and became strengthened in spirit; but, despite this, an angel was sent to Him for His third prayer, who, even by his very appearance, was supposed to encourage Jesus even more and give Him strength to endure the upcoming torment. And this was extremely necessary, since His strength began to decline, evidence of which is the appearance of special sweat on His face, like drops of blood falling to the ground.

During prayer, sweat fell from the Savior’s face from tension, like drops of blood. Whether it was really bloody sweat, or whether the Evangelist only compares it to drops of blood is unknown. Be that as it may, with the appearance of the angel, Jesus became stronger not only in spirit, but also physically, since he was then able to endure this painful night spent without sleep, and all subsequent suffering.

Having finished the prayer in complete confidence that His suffering and death were necessary, and now, and not at another time, Jesus approached Peter, James and John for the third time, and again found them sleeping. He woke them up and said: " Are you still sleeping and resting? Now is not the time to sleep. All it's over, the time has come My! Here, now you will see how The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Get up, let's go; Behold, he who betrays Me has drawn near".

Taking Jesus into custody

The three chosen Apostles woke up, got up and, together with Jesus, went to the exit from the garden where the rest were sleeping. As they approached the exit, they could see an approaching crowd with lanterns and other lamps. Then Judas led a detachment of Roman soldiers, temple guards and servants of the high priests, entrusted to him by the Sanhedrin, armed with swords and stakes.

The high priests, having given a secret instruction to Judas to take Jesus and bring him bound to them and to do all this carefully, could not, of course, announce to the detachment exactly whom they should detain; they had to limit themselves to the order to take the One Whom Judas would point out to them. Such caution on the part of the high priests was required for two reasons: the messengers could accidentally meet those who were awake from the people, tell them who they were following, and thus attract a crowd that could free their detained Prophet; In addition, there was already a case when the temple guards and the servants of the high priests, sent to take Jesus, did not dare to detain Him (). That is why the detachment was ordered to take the One Whom Judas pointed out. And Judas, strictly keeping the secret of the assignment given to him, limited himself to only one instruction: The one I kiss is the one, Whom we follow; take Him and lead him carefully.

From the subsequent behavior of Judas and the question Jesus asked Him, we can conclude that he intended, having separated from the detachment, to approach Jesus with the usual greeting, kiss Him, then go to the Apostles and thereby hide his betrayal. But he failed. When he hurriedly approached Jesus and said in confusion: Rabbi! Rabbi! - Jesus asked him meekly: friend, why did you come?? (). Not knowing what to say, Judas said in confusion: Rejoice, Rabbi! and kissed him ().

To show Judas that he could not hide his betrayal, Jesus said: Judas! Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?

Meanwhile, the guard approached Jesus, and He, wanting to show that He was voluntarily giving himself to them, asked: who are you looking for?

Although the detachment did not know who it was sent for, it contained the elders of the people (members of the Sanhedrin), who came, perhaps, to observe Judas, how he would carry out a secret assignment, would he deceive? These elders, when asked by Jesus - who are you looking for? - answered: Jesus of Nazareth(). It is difficult to assume that the elders who arrived with the detachment did not recognize Jesus; one might rather think that they pretended not to recognize Him, curious to see what He would do under such circumstances. Standing with them was Judas, His betrayer, who, as a result of the discovery of his betrayal, was unable to join the Apostles.

"It's me“whom are you looking for,” Jesus said loudly to the elders and to the whole company that came after Him.

The guards were instructed to proceed with caution; They were told that the One for whom they were sent would have to be taken by cunning, deception, since He had followers who could intercede for Him and hide Him. And what was the surprise of the guards when Jesus said to them: “ It's me, Whom you are ordered to take; take Me!”

The unexpectedness of such an answer, the strength of spirit demonstrated by Jesus at the same time, produced an extraordinary effect on the guards: . This powerful force caused the profit-hungry merchants to silently submit to Jesus and cleanse the temple without resistance. The same power of spirit subdued the embittered Pharisees who grabbed stones to kill Jesus: their hands dropped and the stones fell on them. And now the crowd, which had come with swords and daggers to take some important criminal, struck by the same force, retreated and fell to the ground in fear.

At this time, the remaining eight Apostles began to gather around Jesus. The guards woke up from the horror that gripped them; some of them came closer to Jesus, while others, apparently, wanted to prevent resistance from His disciples, and for this purpose to capture them all. Then Jesus asked them again: who are you looking for? - and when they answered him as before - Jesus of Nazareth, then said to them: I told you that it is I; So, if you are looking for Me, leave them, let them go.

Citing these words of Jesus, Evangelist John explains on his own behalf that on this very night Jesus, praying for His disciples that the Heavenly Father would preserve them, said: Of those whom You gave Me, I did not destroy any. And these words should have come true, and indeed they did: the guards left the Apostles and came to Jesus.

Then the Apostles, coming closer to Jesus, wanted to intercede for Him; someone asked: God! Shouldn't we strike with a sword?- and Peter, without waiting for an answer, grabbed the sword that was with him from its scabbard, hit one of the guards, named Malchus, who turned out to be a servant of the high priest, with it, and cut off his right ear.

Apparently, the other Apostles wanted to follow Peter’s example, but Jesus stopped their zeal by telling them: leave it alone, that's enough(). And going up to Malchus, he touched his injured ear and immediately healed him. Turning then to the Apostle Peter, he said: sheathe the sword, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword(; ) (that is, everyone who resists the manifestation of evil with brute force, evil, will sooner or later die from the same force).

Further explaining to Peter all the thoughtlessness his action, Jesus said: “Do you really think that you can prevent My Father’s will from being done? Really Maybe I cannot drink the cup that the Father gave Me? (). How weak is your faith! Do you really think that they can take Me against My will? Or do you think that I can’t now or pray to my Father, so that He would send in My defense more than twelve legions of Angels?(). And if all this is incomprehensible to you, then at least look at everything that is happening now as the fulfillment of prophecies about Me.”

Initially, it seemed that in the detachment of warriors, temple guards and servants there were only a few elders knowledgeable about the matter, who answered the question - who are you looking for? Afterwards it turned out that with this crowd came the high priests and leaders of the temple, who, obviously, could not resist not satisfying their gloating by the presence of the arrest of the hated Prophet.

The Gospel often speaks of high priests. Actually, only one priest could be the high priest (the first of the priests); but they called high priests not only those in this position, but also all retired high priests; there were many retirees at that time, since after the annexation of Judea to the Roman Empire, the approval and replacement of high priests depended on the Roman rulers, who often replaced them, appointing those they liked, and generally did not like the same person remaining in this position for a long time . In addition, the first in the priestly order was also called the high priest. Thus, in addition to one real high priest, who was Caiaphas at that time, there were many more so-called high priests. It was these high priests and leaders of the temple who intervened in the crowd of guards sent after Jesus. Seeing them, Jesus said: As if you came out against a thief with swords and staves to take Me? Every day I was with you in the temple, and you did not raise your hands against Me, but now is your time and the power of darkness ().

After this, the guards, who had fully recovered, approached Jesus, by order of the chief priests and elders, and tied Him up. Then the Apostles, fearing that the same fate would befall them, immediately left their Teacher and fled. And the prediction came true: I will smite the Shepherd, and His sheep will be scattered (; ).

When the detachment led by the chief priests and the captain led Jesus to Jerusalem, the soldiers noticed that a young man, wrapped in a veil, was following them; Finding such tracking suspicious, they grabbed him by the blanket, but he rushed, the blanket remained in their hands, and he ran away, and it turned out that he had put the blanket on his completely naked body. Obviously, this young man lived right there, in the village of Gethsemane, woke up from the noise made by the detachment, and hurried, without getting dressed, but only covering himself with a blanket, to leave the house and find out who was making so much noise at midnight.

Only Evangelist Mark mentions this young man, but does not call him by name. An ancient legend says that this young man was Mark himself.

Where the nine Apostles fled is unknown, but two, Peter and John, even if they left Jesus, still did not dare to go far from Him. The desire to know what would become of Him drew them to Him. And so they left their short-term shelter and began to watch the retreating detachment from afar; then they followed him, although at some distance, and so they reached Jerusalem.

But the main force in the detachment that came to the Garden of Gethsemane were Roman soldiers with a commander, taken by the high priests from among those guarding order at the temple. These warriors were pagans. And the pagans of that time, having lost faith in their self-made gods, were extremely superstitious. Judas did not tell the soldiers who they were following. But when Jesus asked - who are you looking for? - the elders answered: Jesus of Nazareth,– the soldiers had to remember everything they had heard about Him; they should have remembered His solemn entry into Jerusalem. They may have heard from members of the Sanhedrin that Jesus of Nazareth calls Himself the Son of God. And if Pilate was afraid when the high priests began to accuse Jesus of He made Himself the Son of God(), then the Roman soldiers brought by Judas to the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing what the high priests and Pharisees accused Jesus of, not only could, but should have been afraid when they learned that they had come to arrest the famous Wonderworker, who called Himself the Son of God. The thought that the unknown God, whose Son Jesus calls Himself, would avenge the Son, could not help but make the superstitious pagans tremble. And they, in fear, stepped back and fell to the ground.

But when they then saw that Jesus not only did not call His Father to vengeance, but that He Himself voluntarily surrendered to their power and even forbade His disciples to defend Him, then their fear dissipated, their embarrassment passed, and they began to carry out the orders of the high priests.

Avva is a Syriac word equivalent to father, and consumed for wuxi of the appeal: Father! Father! Everything is possible for You!

Sorrow over the deep fall of people - this was the cup that the Savior drank at this bitter hour of His earthly life. And He prayed that God would take it away from His lips, that is, ease His depressed mood: and then an angel appeared and strengthened Him. The Apostle Paul speaks about this prayer: “He cried out with great cry and many tears to Him who was able to deliver Him from death, and was heard for his reverence.”

Among the crowd that came to take Jesus, there were, among other things, ministers from the high priests. Are these not the same ministers whom the chief priests once sent to take Jesus? They did not take Him then and, returning to those who sent them, said: Never has a man spoken like This Man(). If these were the same ministers, and they followed Judas not knowing whom they were to take, then there is no doubt that, having seen Jesus and heard His meek answer, they not only could, but should have come into the greatest confusion; involuntary fear of Jesus, whose word even the demons obeyed, must have shaken them so much that they stepped back and fell to the ground( – Bishop Michael (Luzin)

Betrayal of Judas

On the fourth day after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus Christ said to His disciples: “You know that in two days there will be Easter, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

On this day, in our opinion it was Wednesday, - the high priests, scribes and elders of the people gathered at the high priest Caiaphas and consulted among themselves how they could destroy Jesus Christ. At this council, they decided to take Jesus Christ by cunning and kill Him, but not on a holiday (then a lot of people gather), so as not to cause disturbance among the people.

One of the twelve apostles of Christ, Judas Iscariot, was very greedy for money; and the teaching of Christ did not correct his soul. He came to the high priests and said: “What will you give me if I betray Him to you?”

They were delighted and offered him thirty pieces of silver.

From that time on, Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus Christ not in front of the people.

26 , 1-5 and 14-16; from Mark, ch. 14 , 1-2 and 10-11; from Luke, ch. 22 , 1-6.

last supper

On the fifth day after the Lord entered Jerusalem, which means, in our opinion, on Thursday (and on Friday evening the Passover lamb was to be buried), the disciples asked Jesus Christ: “Where do you tell us to prepare the Passover for You?”

Jesus Christ said to them: “Go to the city of Jerusalem; there you will meet a man carrying a jug of water; follow him into the house and tell the owner: The Teacher says: Where is the upper room (room) in which I would celebrate the Passover with My disciples? He will show you have a large, furnished upper room; there you will prepare the Passover."

Having said this, the Savior sent two of His disciples, Peter and John. They went, and everything was fulfilled as the Savior said; and prepared Easter.

In the evening of that day, Jesus Christ, knowing that He would be betrayed that night, came with His twelve apostles to the prepared upper room. When everyone reclined at the table, Jesus Christ said: “I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering, because, I tell you, I will no longer eat it until it is accomplished in the Kingdom of God.” Then he stood up, took off his outer clothing, girded himself with a towel, poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel with which he girded.

Washing the feet

Having washed the feet of the disciples, Jesus Christ put on His clothes and, lying down again, said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you? Behold, you call Me Teacher and Lord, and you call me correctly. So, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet you, then you should do the same. I have given you an example, so that you should do the same as I did to you."

By this example, the Lord showed not only His love for His disciples, but also taught them humility, that is, not to consider it a humiliation for themselves to serve anyone, even a person inferior to themselves.

After eating the Old Testament Jewish Passover, Jesus Christ established the sacrament of Holy Communion at this supper. That is why it is called the “Last Supper.”

Jesus Christ took the bread, blessed it, broke it into pieces and, giving it to the disciples, said: " Take, eat; This is My Body, broken for you for the remission of sins", (i.e. for you he is given over to suffering and death, for the forgiveness of sins). Then he took a cup of grape wine, blessed it, thanking God the Father for all His mercies to the human race, and, giving it to the disciples, said: “Drink from it, all of you, this is My Blood of the New Testament, shed for you for the remission of sins.”

These words mean that, under the guise of bread and wine, the Savior taught His disciples that very Body and that very Blood, which the next day after that He gave over to suffering and death for our sins. How bread and wine became the Body and Blood of the Lord is a mystery incomprehensible even to angels, which is why it is called sacrament.

Having given communion to the apostles, the Lord gave the commandment to always perform this sacrament, He said: " do this in remembrance of Me". This sacrament is being performed with us now and will be performed until the end of the century during the divine service called Liturgy or become poor.

During the Last Supper, the Savior announced to the apostles that one of them would betray Him. They were very saddened by this and in bewilderment, looking at each other, in fear, began to ask one after another: “Am I not, Lord?” Judas also asked: “Isn’t it me, Rabbi?” The Savior quietly said to him: “you”; but no one heard it. John reclined next to the Savior. Peter signaled to him to ask who the Lord was talking about. John, falling to the Savior’s chest, quietly said: “Lord, who is this?” Jesus Christ answered just as quietly: “the one to whom I dip a piece of bread and give it.” And, dipping a piece of bread in solilo (in a dish with salt), He gave it to Judas Iscariot, saying: “Whatever you are doing, do it quickly.” But no one understood why the Savior told him this. And since Judas had a box of money, the disciples thought that Jesus Christ was sending him to buy something for the holiday or to give alms to the poor. Judas, having accepted the piece, immediately left. It was already night.

Jesus Christ, continuing to talk with His disciples, said: “Children, I will not be with you long now. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love among each other. And there is no greater love than this, that someone lay down his life (give his life) for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you."

During this conversation, Jesus Christ predicted to the disciples that they would all be offended because of Him that night - they would all run away, leaving Him alone.

The Apostle Peter said: “Even if everyone is offended because of You, I will never be offended.”

Then the Savior said to him: “Truly I tell you, this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times and say that you do not know Me.”

But Peter began to assure even more, saying: “Even though I had to die with You, I will not deny You.”

All the other apostles said the same thing. But still the Savior’s words saddened them.

Comforting them, the Lord said: “Let not your heart be troubled (i.e., do not grieve), believe in God (the Father) and believe in Me (the Son of God).

The Savior promised His disciples to send from His Father another Comforter and Teacher, instead of Himself - Holy Spirit. He said, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you ( this means that the Holy Spirit will abide with all true believers in Jesus Christ - in the Church of Christ). A little while longer and the world will no longer see Me; but you will see Me; because I live (i.e. I am life; and death is not can defeat Me), and you will live. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have said to you.” "The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, which comes from the Father, He will testify of Me; and you also will testify, because you were with Me from the beginning" (John. 15 , 26-27).

Jesus Christ also predicted to His disciples that they would have to endure a lot of evil and troubles from people because they believe in Him. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer (be strong),” said the Savior; “I have conquered the world” (i.e., I have conquered evil in the world).

Jesus Christ ended His conversation with a prayer for His disciples and for all who will believe in Him, so that the Heavenly Father will preserve them all in firm faith, in love and in unanimity ( in unity) among themselves.

When the Lord finished the supper, while still talking, He stood up with His eleven disciples and, singing psalms, went beyond the Kidron stream, to the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane.

NOTE: See in the Gospel: Matthew, ch. 26 , 17-35; from Mark, ch. 14 , 12-31; from Luke, ch. 22 , 7-39; from John, ch. 13 ; Ch. 14 ; Ch. 15 ; Ch. 16 ; Ch. 17 ; Ch. 18 , 1.

Jesus Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and taking Him into custody

Entering the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ said to His disciples: “Sit here while I pray!”

Prayer for the Cup

He himself, taking Peter, James and John with him, entered the depths of the garden; and began to grieve and yearn. Then he says to them: “My soul is grieved to death; stay here and watch with Me.” And, moving away from them a little, He knelt down, fell to the ground, prayed and said: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass (pass by) Me (that is, the upcoming suffering); however, let it not be as I want, but like you."

Having prayed like this, Jesus Christ returns to the three disciples and sees that they are sleeping. He says to them: “Could you not watch with Me for one hour? Watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation.” And he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

Then he returns to the disciples again, and again finds them sleeping; their eyes grew heavy, and they did not know what to answer Him.

Jesus Christ left them and prayed for the third time with the same words. An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. His anguish and mental anguish were so great and his prayer so fervent that drops of bloody sweat fell from His face to the ground.

Having finished the prayer, the Savior stood up, approached the sleeping disciples and said: “Are you still sleeping? It is over. The hour has come; and the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us go; behold, he who betrays Me has come near.”

At this time, Judas, the traitor, came into the garden with a crowd of people who walked with lanterns, stakes and swords; these were soldiers and ministers sent by the high priests and Pharisees to capture Jesus Christ. Judas agreed with them: “Whoever I kiss, take him.”

Approaching Jesus Christ, Judas said: “Rejoice, Rabbi (Teacher)!” And kissed Him.

Jesus Christ said to him: “Friend! Why have you come? Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” These words of the Savior were the last call to repentance for Judas.

Then Jesus Christ, knowing everything that would happen to Him, approached the crowd and said: “Who are you looking for?”

From the crowd they answered: “Jesus the Nazarene.”

The Savior tells them: “It is I.”

At these words, the warriors and servants stepped back in fear and fell to the ground. When they recovered from their fear and stood up, in confusion they tried to seize the disciples of Christ.

The Savior said again: “Who are you looking for?”

They said, "Jesus the Nazarene."

“I told you it was I,” answered the Savior. “So if you are looking for Me, leave them (the disciples), let them go.”

The soldiers and servants approached and surrounded Jesus Christ. The apostles wanted to protect their Teacher. Peter, having a sword with him, drew it and struck with it a servant of the high priest named Malchus, and cut off his right ear.

But Jesus Christ said to Peter: “Put the sword in its sheath; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword (i.e., whoever lifts the sword against another will himself perish by the sword). Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, "So that He would send many angels to protect Me? Should I not drink the cup (of suffering) that the Father gave Me (for the salvation of people)?"

Kiss of Judas

Having said this, Jesus Christ, touching Malchus’ ear, healed him, and voluntarily gave Himself into the hands of His enemies.

In the crowd of servants there were also Jewish leaders. Jesus Christ, addressing them, said: “It was as if you came out against a thief with swords and stakes to take Me; I was in the temple every day, sat there with you and taught, and you did not take Me then. But now is your time and power darkness."

The soldiers, having bound the Savior, led Him to the high priests. Then the apostles, leaving the Savior, fled in fear. Only two of them, John and Peter, followed Him from afar.

NOTE: See Gospel; from Matthew, ch. 26 , 36-56; from Mark, ch. 14 , 32-52; from Luke, ch. 22 , 40-53; from John, ch. 18 , 1-12.

The Trial of Jesus Christ by the High Priests

First, the soldiers brought the bound Jesus Christ to the old high priest Anna, who by that time was no longer serving in the temple and was living in retirement.

This high priest questioned Jesus Christ about His teaching and His disciples in order to find some guilt in Him.

The Savior answered him: “I spoke openly to the world: I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where Jews always gather, and I said nothing in secret. Why are you asking Me? Ask those who heard what I told them; now they know what I mean.” said".

One servant of the high priest, standing close, hit the Savior on the cheek and said: “Is this how you answer the high priest?”

The Lord, turning to him, said to this: “If I said something bad, show me what is bad; and if it’s good, then why are you beating Me?”

After the interrogation, the high priest Annas sent the bound Jesus Christ through the courtyard to his son-in-law, the high priest Caiaphas.

Caiaphas was serving as high priest that year. He gave advice to the Sanhedrin: to kill Jesus Christ, saying: “You know nothing and will not think that it is better for us that one person should die for the people than that the whole people should perish.”

St. Apostle John, pointing to the importance of holy orders, explains that despite his criminal plan, the high priest Caiaphas involuntarily prophesies about the Savior that He must suffer for the redemption of people. That's why the Apostle John says: " this is him(Caiaphas) did not speak on his own, but being high priest that year, he predicted that Jesus would die for the people". And then he adds: " and not only for the people(i.e. for the Jews, since Caiaphas spoke only about the Jewish people), but so that the scattered children of God(i.e. pagans) put together". (John. 11 , 49-52).

Many members of the Sanhedrin gathered at the High Priest Caiaphas that night (the Sanhedrin, as the supreme court, according to the law, had to meet in the temple and certainly during the day). The elders and scribes of the Jews also came. All of them had already agreed in advance to condemn Jesus Christ to death. But for this they needed to find some kind of guilt worthy of death. And since no guilt could be found in Him, they looked for false witnesses who would tell lies against Jesus Christ. Many such false witnesses came. But they could not say anything for which they could condemn Jesus Christ. At the end, two came forward with the following false testimony: “We heard Him say: I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will erect another, not made with hands.” But even such testimony was not sufficient to put Him to death. Jesus Christ did not respond to all these false testimonies.

The high priest Caiaphas stood up and asked Him: “Why don’t you answer anything when they testify against you?

Jesus Christ was silent.

Caiaphas asked Him again: “I adjure You by the living God, tell us, Are You the Christ, the Son of God?”

Jesus Christ answered this question and said: “Yes, I am, and even I say to you: from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Then Caiaphas tore his clothes (as a sign of indignation and horror) and said: “What more witnesses do we need? Behold, now you have heard His blasphemy (i.e., that He, being a man, calls Himself the Son of God)? What do you think? "

Mockery of the Savior in the courtyard of the high priest

After this, Jesus Christ was taken into custody until dawn. Some began to spit in His face. The people who held Him mocked Him and beat Him. Others, covering His face, struck Him on the cheeks and asked mockingly: “Prophesy to us, Christ, who struck You?” The Lord endured all these insults meekly in silence.

NOTE: See in the Gospel: Matthew, ch. 26 , 57-68; Ch. 27 , 1; from Mark, ch. 14 , 53-65; Ch. 15 , 1; from Luke, ch. 22 , 54, 63-71; from John, ch. 18 , 12-14, 19-24.

Denial of the Apostle Peter

When Jesus Christ was taken to trial before the high priests, the Apostle John, as someone familiar to the high priest, entered the courtyard, and Peter remained outside the gate. Then John, having told the servant-maid, brought Peter into the courtyard.

The maid, seeing Peter, said to him: “Are you not one of the disciples of this Man (Jesus Christ)?”

Peter answered: “No.”

The night was cold. The servants lit a fire in the yard and warmed themselves. Peter also warmed himself by the fire with them.

Soon another maid, seeing Peter warming himself, said to the servants: “And this one was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

But Peter again denied, saying that he did not know this Man.

After some time, the servants standing in the courtyard again began to say to Peter: “As if you were also with Him, for your speech also convicts you: you are a Galilean.” Immediately a relative of the same Malchus whose ear Peter cut off came up and said: “Didn’t I see you with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane?”

Peter began to swear and swear: “I don’t know this Man about whom you speak.”

At this time the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words of the Savior: “before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” At that moment the Lord, who was among the guards in the courtyard, turned towards Peter and looked at him. The gaze of the Lord penetrated the heart of Peter; shame and repentance took possession of him and, leaving the yard, he wept bitterly about his grave sin.

From that moment on, Peter never forgot his fall. Saint Clement, a disciple of Peter, says that throughout the rest of his life, Peter, at the midnight crow of the rooster, knelt down and, shedding tears, repented of his renunciation, although the Lord Himself, soon after His resurrection, forgave him. An ancient legend has been preserved that the eyes of the Apostle Peter were red from frequent and bitter crying.

NOTE: See in the Gospel: Matthew, ch. 26 , 69-75; from Mark, ch. 14 , 66-72; from Luke, ch. 22 , 55-62; from John, ch. 18 , 15-18, 25-27.

Death of Judas

It's Friday morning. Immediately the high priests with the elders and scribes and the entire Sanhedrin held a meeting. They brought the Lord Jesus Christ and again condemned Him to death because He called Himself Christ, the Son of God.

When Judas the traitor learned that Jesus Christ was condemned to death, he realized the horror of his act. He, perhaps, did not expect such a sentence, or believed that Christ would not allow this, or would miraculously get rid of his enemies. Judas realized what his love of money had brought him to. A painful remorse took possession of his soul. He went to the high priests and elders and returned the thirty pieces of silver to them, saying: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (i.e., betraying an innocent Man to death).

They told him; “what does it matter to us; see for yourself” (that is, be responsible for your own affairs).

But Judas did not want to humbly repent in prayer and tears before the merciful God. The cold of despair and despondency enveloped his soul. He threw the silver pieces in the temple in front of the priests and left. Then he went and hanged himself (i.e., hanged himself).

The high priests, taking the silver coins, said: “It is not permissible to put this money in the church treasury, because this is the price of blood.”

Judas throws the pieces of silver

After consulting with each other, they used this money to buy land from one potter for the burial of wanderers. From then until this day, that land (cemetery) is called, in Hebrew, Akeldama, which means: land of blood.

Thus the prediction of the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, who said: “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One who was valued, Whom the children of Israel valued, and gave them for the potter’s land.”

NOTE: See in the Gospel: Matthew, ch. 27 , 3-10.

Jesus Christ on trial before Pilate

The high priests and Jewish leaders, having condemned Jesus Christ to death, themselves could not carry out their sentence without the approval of the head of the country - the Roman ruler (hegemon or praetor) in Judea. At this time the Roman governor in Judea was Pontius Pilate.

On the occasion of the Easter holiday, Pilate was in Jerusalem and lived not far from the temple, in praetoria, that is, in the house of the chief judge, the praetor. An open area (stone platform) was built in front of the praetorium, which was called lyphostroton, and in Hebrew gawwafa.

Early in the morning, that same Friday, the high priests and Jewish leaders brought the bound Jesus Christ to trial before Pilate, so that he would confirm the death sentence over Jesus. But they themselves did not enter the praetorium, so as not to be defiled before Easter by entering the house of a pagan.

Pilate went out to them at the lyphostroton and, seeing the members of the Sanhedrin, asked them: “What do you accuse this Man of?”

They answered: “If He had not been a villain, we would not have betrayed Him to you.”

Pilate said to them: “Take him and judge him according to your law.”

They told him: “We are not allowed to put anyone to death.” And they began to accuse the Savior, saying: “He corrupts the people, forbids giving tribute to Caesar, and calls Himself Christ the King.”

Pilate asked Jesus Christ: “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus Christ answered: “You say” (which means: “Yes, I am the King”).

When the high priests and elders accused the Savior, He did not answer.

Pilate said to Him: “You don’t answer anything? You see how many accusations there are against You.”

But the Savior did not answer anything to this either, so Pilate marveled.

After this, Pilate entered the praetorium and, calling Jesus, asked Him again: “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus Christ said to him: “Are you saying this on your own, or have others told you about Me?” (i.e., do you think so yourself or not?)

"Am I a Jew?" - Pilate answered, “Your people and the chief priests handed You over to me; what did You do?”

Jesus Christ said: “My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then My servants (subjects) would fight for Me, so that I would not be betrayed to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

"So You are the King?" - asked Pilate.

Jesus Christ answered: “You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth; everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.”

From these words, Pilate saw that standing before him was a preacher of truth, a teacher of the people, and not a rebel against the power of the Romans.

Pilate said to Him: “What is truth?” And, without waiting for an answer, he went out to the Jews at the lyphostroton and announced: “I do not find any guilt in this Man.”

The chief priests and elders insisted, saying that He was disturbing the people by teaching throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee.

Pilate, hearing about Galilee, asked: “Is He a Galilean?”

And having learned that Jesus Christ was from Galilee, he ordered to take Him to trial before the Galilean king Herod, who, on the occasion of Easter, was also in Jerusalem. Pilate was glad to get rid of this unpleasant trial.

27 , 2, 11-14; from Mark, ch. 15 , 1-5; from Luke, ch. 15 , 1-7; from John, ch. 18 , 28-38.

Jesus Christ at the trial of King Herod

King Herod Antipas of Galilee, who executed John the Baptist, heard a lot about Jesus Christ and had long wanted to see Him. When Jesus Christ was brought to him, he was very happy, hoping to see some miracle from Him. Herod asked Him many questions, but the Lord did not answer him. The chief priests and scribes stood and vigorously accused Him.

Then Herod, together with his soldiers, having mocked and mocked Him, dressed the Savior in light clothes, as a sign of His innocence, and sent him back to Pilate.

From that day on, Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, but before they were at enmity with each other.

NOTE: See the Gospel of Luke, ch. 23 , 8 12.

The final trial of Jesus Christ by Pilate

When the Lord Jesus Christ was again brought to Pilate, many people, rulers and elders, had already gathered at the praetorium.

Pilate, having called the high priests, rulers and people, said to them: “You brought this Man to me as one who corrupts the people; and so I examined him in your presence, and did not find Him guilty of anything of which you accuse Him. I sent Him to Herod, and Herod also found nothing in Him worthy of death. So, it’s better, I’ll punish Him and let Him go."

It was the custom of the Jews to release one prisoner, chosen by the people, for the Passover holiday. Pilate, taking this opportunity, said to the people: “You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you for Easter; do you want me to release you the King of the Jews?” Pilate was sure that the people would ask Jesus, because he knew that the leaders betrayed Jesus Christ out of envy and malice.

While Pilate was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent him to say: “Do not do anything to that righteous man, because now in a dream I have suffered a lot for Him.”

Meanwhile, the high priests and elders taught the people to ask for the release of Barabbas. Barabbas was a robber who was put in prison with his accomplices for causing outrage and murder in the city. Then the people, taught by the elders, began to shout: “Release Barabbas to us!”

Flagellation of Jesus Christ

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, went out and, raising his voice, said: “Whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?”

Everyone shouted: “Not Him, but Barabbas!”

Then Pilate asked them: “What do you want me to do with Jesus, who is called Christ?”

They shouted: “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate again said to them: “What evil did He do? I did not find anything worthy of death in Him. So, having punished Him, I will let him go.”

But they shouted even more loudly: “Crucify Him! May He be crucified!”

Then Pilate, thinking of arousing compassion for Christ among the people, ordered the soldiers to beat Him. The soldiers took Jesus Christ into the courtyard and, having undressed Him, beat Him severely. Then they put it on Him purple(a short red robe without sleeves, fastened on the right shoulder) and, having woven a crown of thorns, they placed it on His head, and gave Him a cane in His right hand, instead of a royal scepter. And they began to mock Him. They knelt down, bowed to Him and said: “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Him and, taking a reed, beat Him on His head and face.

After this, Pilate went out to the Jews and said: “Here, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you know that I do not find any guilt in Him.”

Then Jesus Christ came out wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe.

Pilate brings the Savior to the Jews
and says “Here is a man!”

Pilate said to them: “Here is a man!” With these words, Pilate seemed to want to say: “look how He is tormented and mocked,” thinking that the Jews would take pity on Him. But these were not the enemies of Christ.

When the high priests and ministers saw Jesus Christ, they shouted: “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

"Crucify, crucify Him!"

Pilate says to them: “Take Him and crucify Him, but I find no guilt in Him.”

The Jews answered him: “We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

Hearing such words, Pilate became even more frightened. He entered the praetorium with Jesus Christ and asked Him: “Where are you from?”

But the Savior did not give him an answer.

Pilate says to Him: “Do you not answer me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?”

Then Jesus Christ answered him: “You would not have had any power over Me if it had not been given to you from above; therefore, the greater sin is on the one who betrayed Me to you.”

After this answer, Pilate became even more willing to free Jesus Christ.

But the Jews shouted: “If you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself a king is an enemy of Caesar.”

Pilate, having heard such words, decided it was better to put an innocent Man to death than to expose himself to the royal disfavor.

Then Pilate brought Jesus Christ out, sat down on the seat of judgment, which was on the lyphostroton, and said to the Jews: “Behold your King!”

But they shouted: “Take him, take him and crucify him!”

Pilate says to them: “Shall I crucify your king?”

The high priests answered: “We have no king except Caesar.”

Pilate, seeing that nothing was helping, and the confusion was increasing, took water, washed his hands in front of the people and said: “I am not guilty of shedding the blood of this Righteous One; see you” (i.e., let this guilt fall on you).

Pilate washes his hands

Answering him, all the Jewish people said in one voice: “His blood be on us and on our children.” So the Jews themselves accepted responsibility for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on themselves and even on their descendants.

Then Pilate released the robber Barabbas to them, and handed Jesus Christ over to them to be crucified.

Liberation of the Robber Barrabas

NOTE: See in Gospel: Matt., ch. 27 , 15-26; from Mark, ch. 15 , 6-15; from Luke, ch. 23 , 13-25; from John, ch. 18 , 39-40; Ch. 19 , 1-16