What must it be like to see your mother as you are walking to your own execution? Mary gave birth to this boy, she brought Him as an infant into the temple, she lifted Him up in her arms when the wise men came to adore Him. She fled with Him to Egypt, she took Him up to Jerusalem when He was 12 years old. She was with Him at the marriage feast. Even when He had left her to preach, she hovered about Him. And now she’s there to give Him comfort at the hour of His death.

The presence of Mary reminds us that while Jesus was fully God, He was also fully man. As He suffered and endured, it was not somehow “less painful” because of His deity. In fact, the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus’ suffering allows Him to help us in our suffering. He knows what it is like when we suffer physically. He also knows what it is like to lose those closest to you.

In the garden, we saw the anguish He felt as He anticipated what was to come. It was not just physical suffering, but the betrayal of one of His friends, and the pain He knew His friends and family would experience because of His death as well.