By bearing the sins of humanity, God the Son was forsaken by God the Father as He hung on the cross. The despair He felt at that moment is unfathomable; the debt we owe Him for His sacrifice can never be repaid. All we can do is accept His gift of salvation with a grateful heart.
This prayer reveals the magnitude of the suffering Christ endured on the cross. The foreknowledge of what awaited Him – the cruelty of Roman torture, the agony of crucifixion, the abandonment of the Father as He bore our sins – was enough to draw beads of blood from His brow. Yet, despite His anguish, He returns to the disciples and encourages them to pray and prepare for what lay ahead. In this magnificent scene we witness that Jesus is not only our eternal Redeemer, He is also our ever patient Teacher and our ever abiding Shepherd.