I have a question

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.

Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed. "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will...The spirit is willing but the body is weak...My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done." (Mathew 26:36-44)

One of my atheist friends showed me this verse and said, "Jesus showed Himself weak and He was not willing to crucify Himself..." I had no answer and promised to answer him after I have seeked the answer. Can anyone explain the whole incident?

God bless all

I think that Jesus was a human and is a God too so He suffered pain as a human body would go through. No He was not weak but He surely knew that He had to go through that pain and He was doing it for sinners like us. I also believe that even if we do not have an answer to someone's unbelief, it does not make us to doubt.

God bless all

Sorry I missed your post and I agree with THE ROCK that if we do not have an answer, it does not mean there is no explanation. Heavenly Father has given answers to every question that non-believers put at us. To answer this question, I see the other side of the picture because, we always forget the other side of the picture. To start with:

1. I do not believe that Jesus was weak in the body
   
2. I do not believe that Jesus cried with tears because of the pain He had to go through.
   

Let us see, what Jesus had to go through during the process of crucifixion apart from pain, misery, humiliation and suffering. Jesus had to to be away from the presence of Heavenly Father till the day He returned to Heavenly Father.

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, '[b]I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and to your God.'" (Mathew 20:17)

We talk of love and suffering of Jesus Christ, but we always forget about the pain and suffering the Heavenly Father had to go through during this process. Jesus was totally cut off from the presence of Heavenly Father due to our sins.

Look at the story of Abraham, he was sad and broken when he took Isaac to sacrifice him to God. God Almighty has made us in His image and likeness, so all the emotions we have, they are in the likeness of Heavenly Father's emotions. Jesus Christ wept at the death of Lazarus and in His compassion, He always cured people of their sickness and disease.

Now looking again at the story of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ actually wept for Heavenly Father for He felt the pain and sadness of Heavnely Father and their separation from each other. I hope, I have answered your question. Feel free, if you have any other concerns.

God bless and keep you safe from the failure of faith.

Thank you for a nice and relevant explanation of the question by lovingdove. I also struggled once with the same question but now after reading the answer, I now understand why Jesus wept.

God bless

Thank you for your detailed explanation and it now makes sense.

God be with you

Okay you can tell your atheist friend this. Jesus at that
time was fully human, and fully God, for he could see the road ahead of Him. Jesus
who knew no sin, not only could see his bodily pain, but also see all the filth
that was lay upon Him. Jesus used His God powers to raise the dead, but did not
use them when he suffered on the cross. He had to suffer all what we suffer,
and besides all that, he had to experience all our sins that were lay on Him. Can
you Imagined the pain of someone who never knew sin, to see all the sins of the
whole world put on Him. More than the pain of the beating and death was the
pain of our filth on him. Jesus did not only said may this cup be remove from
me, and that He did not want to drink it because he was weak, but because He
was Holy, and could not stand sin and separation from the Father. Jesus was
never weak, He was the strongest God human, I have ever known! You can copy and
paste all our opinions and give them to your friend and we will pray that the
Holy Spirit will touch him. God be with you and may your friend see the light.
Anastasia Martone

lovingdove wrote:

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.

Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed. "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will...The spirit is willing but the body is weak...My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done." (Mathew 26:36-44)

One of my atheist friends showed me this verse and said, "Jesus showed Himself weak and He was not willing to crucify Himself..." I had no answer and promised to answer him after I have seeked the answer. Can anyone explain the whole incident?

God bless all

Jesus said (if) it is possible, He did not say I'm not willing.