NOTES for Mat 26:30-56
The Son of Man dies not only bodily. His voluntary sufferings include a break with the people closest to Him: with His disciples. Remember, He called those who hear and do His word His brothers, sisters, and mother? And now the hour comes when this family of His leaves Him. Against the background of general confusion and fear, when all "left Him and fled," it is still more painful to read Peter's assurances of faithfulness, the drowsiness of the three closest disciples, and Judas' betrayal. We too, believers and unbelievers, belong to the number of the Lord Jesus' near or distant disciples, to His large family. Some are His brothers according to the flesh, since by becoming man He became kin to each of us; others, having acknowledged Jesus' Father as their own Father, are His according to the spirit. In some incomprehensible way, our own manifestations of unfaithfulness, drowsiness, and betrayal are added to those that took place on that terrible night.