“Let This Chalice Pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39)

As a man, Jesus is like us in all things but sin (Heb. 4:15). And so he experienced the tremendous fear and anguish of his Passion that began in the Garden of Gethsemane (CCC 612-17). This incomparable trial encompassed both the physical suffering of his Passion as well as the spiritual ordeal of bearing the sins of the world. So humanly—and very understandably—Jesus wanted to avoid his Passion, including his crucifixion.

And yet, because he is the eternal Son of God, his human will is in perfect harmony with his divine will, and so he fully embraces the Father’s plan of salvation, including fully experiencing on a human level the great anguish—even abandonment—associated with his Paschal Sacrifice (Matt. 27:46).

Here we see the profound mystery of the Incarnation writ large, of Jesus humanly experiencing all of the horrific suffering associated with his Passion and Death, yet always remaining perfectly united with the Father as the eternal Son of God (Luke 23:46). When we ponder what Christ lovingly endured for us in his Passion and Death, it should give us great encouragement to turn away from sin and conform ourselves more closely with his will (see CCC 618), knowing we will experience in time the peace which the world cannot give (John 14:27).