BibleBlox

68. the garden of gethsemane

/ matthew 26:36-56 /

/ listen as you follow along /

After Jesus and the twelve disciples finished the Last Supper, 🥘 Jesus knew He needed to talk to God, His Father in heaven. Jesus often went to quiet places to pray, 🙏 and He especially loved 🥰 a peaceful 😌 garden 🪴 called Gethsemane. It was filled with olive 🫒 trees 🌴 and was a perfect place to talk to God.

Jesus turned to three 3️⃣ of His very closest friends - Peter, James, and John - and said, "Please come with me to the garden. 🪴 I need to pray, 🙏 and I would like you to stay awake and pray with me." The night 🌚 was dark, and the garden was quiet except for the gentle rustling of leaves 🍃 in the wind.

When they got to the garden, 🪴 Jesus was feeling very sad 😔 - the kind of sad that makes your heart ❤️ feel heavy. He told His friends, "My heart is so sad, please stay here and keep watch while I go pray." 🤲 Then Jesus walked a little further into the garden, about as far as you could throw a ball. 🏈 

Jesus knelt down on the ground under the olive 🫒 trees. Big tears rolled down His cheeks 😭 as He talked to God. "Father," He prayed, "if it's possible, please spare me from what's coming. 🙏 But I want to do what You want, not what I want." He was showing how much He trusted God, even when things were hard. 

After praying 🤲 for a while, Jesus went back to check on His friends. All three of them were fast asleep! 😴 Jesus gently woke them up and said, "Couldn't you stay awake with me for just one hour?" ☕️ 

Jesus went back to pray 🙏 two more times. Each time, He showed how brave He was by telling God that He would do whatever God wanted, even though He was scared 😳 and sad. 😞 And each time He came back, He found His friends sleeping 💤 again! But Jesus wasn't angry with them - He understood that sometimes it's hard to stay awake when you're tired. While Jesus was in the garden, God sent an angel 😇 to give Him strength 💪 and courage.

Then after a little while, He heard 👂🏻 people coming. Lots of soliders were walking toward the garden carrying torches 🔥 and weapons. ⚔️ At the front of the group was Judas, one of Jesus's twelve disciples. Judas 👿 came up to Jesus and gave Him a kiss 😚 on the cheek - this was the signal to show the soldiers which person was Jesus. Even though Judas was being unkind, 😪 Jesus still called him "friend."