What did it cost Jesus to be our Savior? We know the story of the crucifixion – the beatings, the crown of thorns, the nails, the spear. We know that after suffering such physical anguish, He died and His body was laid in a tomb. We know He went through the separation of body and spirit that death always involves.

But what about His Spirit? In order for Him to suffer the complete punishment that our sins deserve, He had to be separated from the Father, cut off from the perfect fellowship enjoyed within the Holy Trinity from all eternity.

In other words, it wasn’t just His body that suffered – as verse 34 says, His soul was sorrowful, even to death. And He wanted His disciples to witness this suffering, to get a glimpse of what His sacrifice on the cross would really cost Him. He wanted them to know just how great a punishment all our sins deserve and thus the depth of His love for them – a love that would choose to endure even separation from God so that they might be drawn closer to Him.

And the sad truth is that they weren’t interested. They weren’t filled with awe as the Son of God wrestled with eternal questions of life and death on behalf of the entire human race. They weren’t even filled with pity and sorrow as their friend poured out His soul in prayer for things they couldn’t understand. No, they all just went to sleep, thus tending to their own fleshly needs, leaving Jesus to weep and pray alone. They just didn’t care all that much about His suffering.

Well, what about us? Even though we know how much our sin cost Jesus, do we take a casual approach to it? Do we presume upon His grace, assuming that He’ll keep on forgiving us no matter what we do? Even though we know how much Jesus loves us, do we prefer to focus on the things of this world, tending to our physical needs even while we ignore our greater need for prayer, for fellowship with God?

Jesus told His disciples to watch, to focus their attention on Him, and to pray, to seek God’s will for their lives. For it is only if we get to the point where we can truly pray the prayer of Gethsemane, only when we truly desire what God wants for us more than what we want for ourselves, it is only then that we will ever be able to stand firm against temptation. For it is only when we truly turn our eyes to Jesus, watching and praying with Him, that the things of the world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Mark 14:32-42 (ESV)

32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.
34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.
41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”