Have you ever had a friend stop wanting to be friends with you? It doesn’t feel very good. The last hours of Jesus’s life must have felt a bit like that. Actually, he must have felt much worse. Can you imagine a close friend handing you over to be killed? Can you imagine your other closest friends leaving you to die alone? It’s hard to imagine, but that’s what Jesus experienced.

After the Passover meal, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the garden of Gethsemane. It was very late—and still dark. Everyone was exhausted. Jesus was super sad because he knew many terrible things were ahead for him. He wanted to be with his closest friends on earth and to spend time praying to his Father in heaven. There, in the garden, Jesus prayed for his sufferings to be taken away: “Abba, Father,” he prayed. “Remove this cup of pain and death from me. That is what I want. But I pray for what you want, not what I want” (see Mark 14:36). Jesus prayed that prayer three times, and three times he returned to find his friends asleep. Snore. Snore. Snore. They couldn’t even stay awake when Jesus needed them the most. How sad for Jesus. Suddenly, in the distance, they saw torches. It looked like a small army was approaching. It was Judas, leading a mob with swords and clubs. “The hour has come,” said Jesus. “The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” (14:41).

Judas greeted Jesus with a kiss. That kiss of betrayal was the sign to the mob that this was the man to arrest. At once Jesus was arrested and brought back to Jerusalem for a trial. A bunch of people lied as they testified against Jesus, and the Jewish leaders declared, “Guilty!” The saddest thing, though, was not that his enemies lied, but that his friend Peter lied. Peter, who was standing outside, was asked three times if he knew Jesus. And three times he said, “I do not know the man!” Just then, a rooster crowed. He denied Jesus, just as Jesus said he would. Peter cried and fled. The morning had come. Jesus would have to journey to the cross alone.