Leaving eight of the apostles​—perhaps near the garden’s entrance—​he instructs them: “Sit down here while I go over there and pray.” He then takes the other three​—Peter, James, and John—​and proceeds farther into the garden. Jesus becomes grieved and sorely troubled. “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death,” he tells them. “Stay here and keep on the watch with me.”

Not at all! Jesus is not appealing to be spared from death. Even the thought of avoiding a sacrificial death, once suggested by Peter, is repugnant to him. Rather, he is in agony because he fears that the way he will soon die​—as a despicable criminal—​will bring reproach upon his Father’s name. He now senses that in a few hours he is going to be impaled upon a stake as the worst kind of person​—a blasphemer against God! This is what sorely troubles him.