But in this sinful world, as long as it stands, suffering and the very death of man are inevitable! So it was for Jesus Christ as a Man, although the Son of God. "And if we now ask 'Why is that?', shouldn't we first ask ourselves what would happen if...

If God had delivered Jesus from this mortal danger situation; if He had sent "more than twelve legions of angels" (Matthew 26:53) to help Him, or at least commanded Him to leave the Mount of Olives and take refuge in the Judean wilderness until the waves of hostility in Jerusalem had subsided, if this had happened, would not the whole preaching of Jesus Christ have been questionable? And then what would Jesus' words to us mean: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel's sake will save it" (Mark 8:34-35)? – Then we could have objected to such words: "I preached to others, but I myself did not follow!"

3. Jesus says to Peter: "Simon! Are you sleeping? Could you not be awake for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation." These words clarify what has already been said before: "Take heed, watch, pray, for you do not know when that time will come. ... Watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will come: in the evening, or at midnight, or at the crowing of cocks, or in the morning; lest he come suddenly, and find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all, Watch" (13:33-37). Now we understand what exactly the call to "watch is" – in that prayer in which a person strives to make the will of God the Father the basis of his life: "not what I want, but what You want." The temptation that Jesus Christ warns about is not just some moral or physical test that we constantly experience, but the temptation to fall away from faith in the good will of God and to affirm our own will, that is, to fall away from faith in general.

Perhaps it is also worth dwelling on the aphoristic statement "the spirit is cheerful, but the flesh is weak." By "flesh" is meant man as "flesh," a man subject to infirmities and temptations. This is clear to everyone. But what is meant by "spirit," which is "cheerful," or in other translations, "active, always ready for action"? – This is the Spirit Who is sent to us in prayer, the Spirit of God, Who helps us overcome temptations. The Psalmist David prayed for this Spirit:

"Cast me not away from Thy presence;

And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of Thy salvation,

And by the Spirit of the Lord strengthen me" (Psalm 50:13-14).

The passage ends with the approach of the traitor Judas. Continuation of the story further.

c) The kiss of Judas and the arrest.

14.43-52 — "And straightway, as He was still speaking, there came Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a multitude of people with swords and stakes, from the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders. And he who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, "Whom I kiss is the One, take Him and lead Him carefully." And when he came, straightway he came to him, and said, Rabbi! Rabbi! and kissed Him. And they laid their hands on Him and took Him. And one of those standing there drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, "As if you had come out against a thief with swords and stakes to take me." Every day I was with you in the temple and taught, and you did not take Me. But may the Scriptures be fulfilled. Then, leaving Him, everyone fled. A certain young man, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he, leaving the veil, fled naked from them."

Judas' deal with the enemies of Jesus took place. The three parties of the Sanhedrin (chief priests, scribes, and elders), who constituted the highest political and religious authority of Israel, sent a large detachment to seize Jesus with the help of Judas Iscariot. Judging by the number of people in the company and their equipment (swords and stakes), strong resistance was expected from Jesus' disciples. But there was no strong resistance. Mark reports only one incident, that of one of the disciples who "drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear." The Evangelist John (18.10) writes that it was Peter, which corresponds to his fiery temperament.