Matthew 26 - The Garden of Gethsemane

Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:37-39

Jesus knew that the only way the promised Kingdom of God could come was for the handwriting of ordinances that stood against man (due to sin and transgressions of the Law) had to be put away.  And how could these ordinances be put away? Through blood/death. The wages of sin is the curse and then death - the guilty has to die and shed his/her blood to satisfy the sin penalty under the Law. All of us (before being born again in Christ) have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 

But thankfully, God provided a substitutionary system whereby the sinner could substitute an innocent sacrifice to shed innocent blood in lieu of the sinner's blood; innocent blood is the only blood that God will accept as a substitute for the sinner's death and eternal damnation. The innocent little lambs and other animals sacrificed under the Old Covenant Temple system where merely a shadow of the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, whose blood would be so powerful, so innocent, that it would exceed the penalty and thereby bring the whole sacrificial temple system to an end. That is very good news!

As a man (who knew no sin), Jesus was subject to temptation to lose faith and be disobedient to God's Word, as all of us are tempted. But since He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, He had the power to resist temptation and not give way to sin. However, as He began the terrible substitutionary process of taking on sin as the ultimate sacrifice, His flesh fought Him and wanted to take another route other than the one the heavenly Father had ordained. But Jesus knew there was only one way; He knew He must suffer for the curse, shed His innocent blood, and then die a spiritual and physical death, just as the scriptures had prophesied.

But, there was joy set before Him which enabled Him to endure this terrible ordeal: He saw us, the children of God, born again IN HIM, the trophies of God's grace, waiting for Him on the other side. And so, He endured the horrific pain of physical and spiritual affliction so that we can partake in His glorious resurrected life. 

He took our sin penalty and gave us His reward for obedience. I believe His time in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed three times for strength was the toughest time for Him. He could have walked away, but He didn't. He pressed through and went all the way to the cross, fulfilling God's beautiful plan for us!

Links:
https://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/unheeded-or-misinterpreted-signs-the-destruction-of-jerusalem-70ad/

http://bible.christiansunite.com/jos/warindex.shtml

http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com/

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/haggadah.html