Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’  He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated.  Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’  And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’  Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?  Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’  Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’  Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.  So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.  Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’

"I am deeply grieved, even to death."  Other translations state that Jesus was "sorrowful," "very heavy," "sad," "grieved and distressed," "grieved and agitated," and "sorrowful and troubled."  He knew well what was awaiting him, having foretold the upcoming events to his disciples several times.  He knew the time was quickly drawing near when he would be "mocked and insulted and spat upon, flogged and killed." (Luke 18.32-33)

Jesus is the perfect man and united himself to us in all things, including sorrow, having gone far beyond where any other man will ever go, to the point of sweating blood.  Jesus sanctifies sorrow, sadness and distress.  He teaches us how to respond to these emotions: prayer.  In fact the Word instructs us in this explicitly: "Are any among you suffering? [Literally this means "sad"]  They should pray." (James 5.13)  "Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength." (Luke 22.43)  So our prayer is not always to seek a way out of sorrow but a way through it: through the crucifixion of our will to God's.  Obedience.  "Although he was a Son, he leaned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." (Hebrews 5.8-9)  "It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings." (Hebrews 2.10)

"Stay awake with me."  So that where I am you may be also. (John 14.3)  "Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am." (John 17.24)

"Stay away and pray," for your own passion is about to begin, especially Peter, and I am here showing you how to prepare for it - the crucifixion of your will to the Father's.  I wonder if Christ's interior suffering in the garden did not exceed, perhaps greatly, his exterior suffering during his scourging and crucifixion.  The inner death of the will and its subordination to the Father's will is the difficult and narrow way which Christ's predestined ones take by force.