When they arrived at the base of the Mount of Olives, it was late at night. Jesus and his closest friends came to a garden called Gethsemane (“Geth-SEM -a-nee. “) Jesus walked a bit ahead of the rest of the group. He looked as if he was upset about something. The disciples had never seen Jesus like this before. He told them, "My heart feels heavy, and I feel very sad. Please stay here and be on the look out while I pray."
Jesus knelt down by a big tree. He knew all the pain and suffering he was about to endure. He prayed to God, "Father, I know that I am about to go through some horrible things; I wish I wouldn't have to, but it doesn't matter what I want, I will do whatever you want. Jesus chose to take the journey to the cross, even though he knew how awful it would be.
Take a moment to kneel and pray that God’s will would be done in your life. Imagine what it would be like to pray this knowing that you would soon be beaten and killed like a criminal.
When Jesus had finished praying, He went back to where the disciples were. The disciples tried to keep their eyes open, but when they started praying, they fell asleep. Two more times Jesus came back to them and was disappointed to find them asleep again. The third time Jesus woke them saying, "Are you sleeping again? Enough! Get up. It is time to go. The one who will betray me is here.”
Just then Judas was coming towards them with a crowd of soldiers and their leaders carrying swords and clubs. Judas walked up to Jesus and gave Him a kiss on the cheek. This was a signal to the chief priests that this was Jesus, and that He was the man they were looking for.
The soldiers arrested Jesus. He did not fight back. One of the disciples tried to stick up for Jesus with his sword. Before the situation got out of hand, Jesus said firmly, "Enough!"
The disciples didn’t know what to do. They were afraid that they might be arrested for being with Jesus, so they disappeared and left Jesus to be arrested alone.
Let’s go see where the soldiers and their commander took Jesus.