See how He is again instructing them not to be self-confident, but contrite in mind, and to be humble, and to refer all to God. And at one time He addresses Himself to Peter, at another to all in common. And to him He says, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for you; and to all in common, Pray that you enter not into temptation; every way plucking up their self-will, and making them earnest-minded. Then, that He might not seem to make His language altogether condemnatory, He says, The spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is weak. For even although thou dost desire to despise death, yet you will not be able, until God stretch forth His hand, for the carnal mind draws down.

He who made atonement for the sins of mankind, submitted himself in a garden of suffering, to the will of God, from which man had revolted in a garden of pleasure. Christ took with him into that part of the garden where he suffered his agony, only those who had witnessed his glory in his transfiguration. Those are best prepared to suffer with Christ, who have by faith beheld his glory. The words used denote the most entire dejection, amazement, anguish, and horror of mind; the state of one surrounded with sorrows, overwhelmed with miseries, and almost swallowed up with terror and dismay. He now began to be sorrowful, and never ceased to be so till he said, It is finished. He prayed that, if possible, the cup might pass from him. But he also showed his perfect readiness to bear the load of his sufferings; he was willing to submit to all for our redemption and salvation. According to this example of Christ, we must drink of the bitterest cup which God puts into our hands; though nature struggle, it must submit. It should be more our care to get troubles sanctified, and our hearts satisfied under them, than to get them taken away. It is well for us that our salvation is in the hand of One who neither slumbers nor sleeps. All are tempted, but we should be much afraid of entering into temptation. To be secured from this, we should watch and pray, and continually look unto the Lord to hold us up that we may be safe. Doubtless our Lord had a clear and full view of the sufferings he was to endure, yet he spoke with the greatest calmness till this time. Christ was a Surety, who undertook to be answerable for our sins. Accordingly he was made sin for us, and suffered for our sins, the Just for the unjust; and Scripture ascribes his heaviest sufferings to the hand of God. He had full knowledge of the infinite evil of sin, and of the immense extent of that guilt for which he was to atone; with awful views of the Divine justice and holiness, and the punishment deserved by the sins of men, such as no tongue can express, or mind conceive. At the same time, Christ suffered being tempted; probably horrible thoughts were suggested by Satan that tended to gloom and every dreadful conclusion: these would be the more hard to bear from his perfect holiness. And did the load of imputed guilt so weigh down the soul of Him of whom it is said, He upholdeth all things by the word of his power? into what misery then must those sink whose sins are left upon their own heads! How will those escape who neglect so great salvation?

The strong in spirit do not succumb to the weakness of the body, but they conquer the body – whether willing or unwilling – and bring it to watch with the spirit and to participate with it in spiritual work.

The most astonishing thing I have ever read about the vigilance of the saints was the practice of Saint Anba Macarius of Alexandria.

He undertook a rigorous exercise, where for 20 days he “did not let his eyelids rest upon each other,” until he said, “I feel that the nerves of my brain were dried up.” All of this was while he remained awake – night and day – in prayer, with a focused mind – without distraction – and with a miraculous control of his body and senses. He preferred prayer over rest.

Here, the Lord demands from them not only to be watchful, but to be watchful and pray, or to be watchful for prayer; and this is what we mean when we say:
"The vigilance of the body in the work of the Spirit"...
or: "The vigilance of the body together with God."

The place where the Lord comes with His disciples is expressly mentioned: Gethsemane. That means ‘olive press’. He designates a place for His disciples to sit down. They may rest. He goes to fight the toughest prayer battle ever.

He takes three disciples further into the garden: Peter, the principal, and the two sons of Zebedee, these are John and James. John and James are not specifically named, but referred to as “the two sons of Zebedee”. In Matthew 20 they are not mentioned by name either, to emphasize their parentage there too [Matt 20:20]. Because of their parentage, they ask for things that do not belong to them. It will soon become apparent that because of their parentage they cannot keep watch with the Lord either.

As He goes further, He sees what awaits Him and that makes Him grieved and distressed. He makes them partakers of His grief, but not of His fear, and appeals to their compassion. He asks them to keep watch with Him at the place where they have now arrived.

Then He also leaves the three disciples behind. The last bit, “a little beyond”, he goes alone. No one can follow this distance. Then He falls on His face. He sees before Him the full horror of what awaits Him on the cross. What happens here is described in Hebrews 5 [Heb 5:7]. The Lord does not drink the cup here, but this is what He sees. On the cross He drank the cup filled with the wrath of God when He was made sin for us and forsaken by God, which He felt in the depths of His soul.

It is impossible that He could desire to come into contact with sin. It was a horror to His soul. It is His perfection that He asks the Father to let that cup pass Him by. Equally perfect is His submission to the will of the Father. If we were to be saved, if God was to be glorified in Him Who had taken our cause upon Himself, the cup could not pass Him by.

After this prayer He stands up and goes to those who He asked to keep watch with Him. They have fallen asleep. His prayer didn’t last that long, did it? However, they have no awareness of the seriousness of what awaits their Lord. They have their own thoughts about everything that is connected to Him. The Lord gently reprimanded Peter for his false self-confidence, and reminded him of his weakness. But Peter is too filled with himself to take advantage of it. He awakens from his sleep, but his self-confidence is not shaken. A sadder experience is needed to cure him.

While the soul of the Lord is so busy with the horror of the sins that He will have to bear, and with the horror of God’s judgment over them, He thinks of the wellbeing of the disciples. He tells them to keep watch and pray with themselves in mind. He no longer asks them to think of Him. He knows that it is not their unwillingness. Their spirit is willing, but they have still oh such little awareness of the weakness of the flesh.

We do nothing other than look at the Lord with admiration here. We see His fear of the cup which He has not yet drunk, but experiencing a foretaste of that which He sees ahead of Him as He presents it to His Father. We see how He then turns in complete peace to His disciples and then returns to the same terrible spiritual battle that frightens His soul.

That He prays again is proof even more of His perfection and the perfect abhorrence He has of sin. He is not looking for a way out, of not having to drink the cup. He follows the will of God. He does not seek the consent of the Father, as if He did not know what His will was. It is not about asking Him if He could be dismissed from His task, but He as Man seeks the complete support of His Father.

Again He rises from prayer and comes to His disciples whom He finds asleep again. They are not able to keep watch with Him. He doesn’t wake them up this time. He leaves them. He is also Divinely perfect in His dependence. Therefore, once again, for the third time, he prays. He is not looking for other words. He seeks to bring the whole weight of what awaits Him to His Father.

After He has fought the battle, there is perfect peace. He goes to His disciples and tells them that they can now continue to sleep, that is, that they no longer have to keep watch. He oversees the future and goes to meet it in perfect peace. He is ready to do the great work. He perfectly knows every facet of everything that awaits Him. The first aspect is imminent. It is no surprise to Him that Judas is coming, whom He tellingly points out as “the one who betrays Me”.