What happened in the Garden of Gethsemene?

Most of the following post is a rehashing of the chapter 'Staring into the Cup' in C.J. Mahaney's 'Living the Cross Centred Life'. It's a chapter that has really stuck with me, even for the couple of months since I read it.

...Gethsemane. It's a point in history that simply makes us stop and stare. Jesus who had previously been so confident and assured in his ministry and relationship with God, now begins to be 'greatly distressed and troubled' (Mark 14:33). His soul is sorrowful, even to death, (Mark 14:34) causing him to fall to the ground in desperate prayer.

The question we cannot help but ask is; why? Why does Jesus experience such distress in that moment. He who purposefully headed to Jerusalem, towards all the physical torture he knew the cross would bring him. Why does HE feel such despair?

It is his prayer that answers the question of why -"Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36)

The answer is that his overwhelming sorrow is caused by finally looking into the cup of God's wrath (cf. Isaiah 51:17).

"In the vivid imagery of the Old Testament, this cup is filled with 'fire and sulfur and a scorching wind' like some volcanic firestorm, like all the fury of the Mount St. Helen's eruption concentrated within a coffee mug. No wonder Scripture says that tasting from this cup causes the drinker to 'stagger and be crazed'. No wonder that when Jesus stares into this detestable vessel he stumbles to the ground."

And yet.

And yet, as there is no other way, Jesus is willing to experience this very cup. His desire, like the Father's, is fixed on reconciling God and his people. On restoring all that the fall destroyed. And ultimately on glorifying God.

"Yet not what I will, but what You will."

Wow. How can we not fall down in worship of a God who loves us so much. A God who was willing to experience such a cup, that we should now drink the water that brings eternal life.

I for one was blown away when I really began to think about the implications of what happened at Gethsemane. What my God really experienced on my behalf.

...I want to finish with one last quote from C.J. Mahaney's book -
"This is what bearing our sin means to Him - utter distress of soul as He confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from His Father on the cross, a distress and an abandonment and a rejection we cannot begin to grasp. In this, our Saviour's darkest hour...do you recognise His love for you?"