The Agony On The Mount of Olives (22:39-46).
Jesus now went forward with His disciples to ‘the place' (Luke does not mention the Garden of Gethsemane) on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Perhaps Luke intended his readers to gather the implication that it was the place of the olivepress where olives were crushed, as Jesus would now be crushed. Or perhaps his thought was that it was the place from which He had declared coming judgment on Jerusalem (Mark 13:3), and therefore the place where God's judgment on the sins of the world would first begin to be exacted on Him. Or Luke's mind might well have gone back to the promise that one day the Lord Himself would act from the Mount of Olives, ‘and His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives' (Zechariah 14:4), just as He was about to act now, so that the word of the Lord might go forth. That event too was linked with the judgment on Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:1-2). The Mount of Olives was alive with history.
And there, he tells us, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus pleaded to be spared from a different cup than that which He had given to His disciples in the Upper Room. This time it was the cup of suffering containing the full mixture of the antipathy of God (the wrath of God) against sin. And there He would disdain the use of earthly swords (Luke 22:49-51; Matthew 26:52), and even of heavenly ones (Matthew 26:53). For it is made absolutely clear that His only desire was to do His Father's will. If His Father required it He would go forward alone to meet His destiny, even though the whole of His righteous being did draw back in horror at the very thought of what lay before Him.
Analysis.
a He came out, and went, as His custom was, to the mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed Him. And when He was at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:39-40).
b And He was parted from them about a stone's throw, and He kneeled down and prayed (Luke 22:41).
c Saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me, nevertheless not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
d And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him (Luke 22:43).
c And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling down on the ground (Luke 22:44).
b And when He rose up from His prayer, He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow (Luke 22:45).
a And said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, that you enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:46).
Note that in ‘a' He warns them to pray and not enter into temptation and in the parallel He does the same. In ‘b' He kneels down to pray, and in the parallel He rises from praying. In ‘c' He prays in clear urgency to His Father because of the cost that lies ahead, and in the parallel the full measure of that earnestness and cost is revealed. And centrally, and importantly, in ‘d' He is strengthened by an angel from Heaven. Satan is not the only spirit involved in this cosmic struggle.
(If Luke 22:43-44 are omitted (see below) then ‘c' becomes the central thought, which with its emphasis on doing the will of God may be seen as equally appropriate).