Matthew 26:45

(Verse 45.) Then he came to his disciples and said to them: Sleep now, and rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26 and 2 Corinthians 13). After he had prayed three times, that every word might stand in the mouth of two or three witnesses, and had obtained by subsequent penance that the fear of the apostles be corrected, he proceeds secure in his passion to his persecutors, and offers himself to be put to death, and says to his disciples:

"And He came and found them asleep." For besides that it was late at night, their eyes also were weighed down by their despondency. And the third time He went and spake the same thing, establishing the fact, that He was become man. For the second and third time is in the Scriptures especially indicative of truth; like as Joseph also said to Pharaoh, "Did the dream appear to thee the second time? For truth was this done, and that thou mightest be assured that this shall surely be." Therefore He too once, and twice, and three times spake the same thing, for the sake of proving the incarnation. And wherefore came He the second time? In order to reprove them, for that they were so drowned in despondency, as not to have any sense even of His presence. He did not however reprove them, but stood apart from them a little, showing their unspeakable weakness, that not even when they had been rebuked, were they able to endure. […]

Or, He prays thrice for the Apostles, and for Peter in particular, who was to deny Him thrice.

Then he cometh to his disciples and saith to them. And first, he grants them sleep; second, he rouses them, at rise, let us go. First, he gives permission; second, he assigns the cause, at behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of …

Then cometh He to His disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand …

Then cometh he to his disciples,.... The three that were nearest to him, "the third time", as Mark says, Mar 14:41, and as it was, and saith unto them, sleep on now, and take your rest.

Sleep on now, and take your rest - Perhaps it might be better to read these words interrogatively, and paraphrase them thus: Do ye sleep on still? Will no warnings avail? Will no danger excite you to watchfulness and prayer? My hour - in which I am to be delivered up, is at hand; therefore now think of your own personal safety. The Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners - Αμαρτωλων, viz. the Gentiles or heathens, who were generally distinguished by this appellation from the Jews.

The verses we have now read describe what is commonly called Christ’s agony at Gethsemane. It is a passage which undoubtedly contains deep and mysterious things. We ought to read it with reverence and wonder, for there is much in it which we cannot fully comprehend. Why do we find our Lord so “sorrowful and very heavy,” as he is here described? What are we to make of his words, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.”

The verses we have now read describe what is commonly called Christ’s agony at Gethsemane. It is a passage which undoubtedly contains deep and mysterious things. We ought to read it with reverence and wonder, for there is much in it which we cannot fully comprehend. Why do we find our Lord so “sorrowful and very heavy,” as he is here described? What are we to make of his words, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.” Why do we see him going apart from his disciples, and falling on his face, and crying to his Father with strong cries, and thrice repeated prayer? Why is the almighty Son of God, who had worked so many miracles, so heavy and disquieted? Why is Jesus, who came into the world to die, so like one ready to faint at the approach of death? Why is all this? There is but one reasonable answer to these questions: the weight that pressed down our Lord’s soul was not the fear of death and its pains. Thousands have endured the most agonizing sufferings of body, and died without a groan, and so, no doubt, might our Lord. But the real weight that bowed down the heart of Jesus was the weight of the sin of the world, which seems to have now pressed down upon him with peculiar force: it was the burden of our guilt imputed to him, which was now laid on him, as on the head of the scapegoat. How great that burden must have been no human heart can conceive! It is known only to God. Well may the Greek Litany speak of the “unknown sufferings of Christ.” The words of Scott on this subject are probably correct: “Christ at this time endured as much misery of the same kind with that of condemned spirits, as could possibly consist with a pure conscience, perfect love of God and man, and an assured confidence of a glorious event.”