A familiar scene is found in Matthew 26:26-46, but something jumped out at me this week as I was considering this chapter. In contrast to Mark and Luke’s accounts of the same scene in the garden of Gethsemane (see Mark 14:32-42 and Luke 22:39-46), Matthew is more detailed in what Jesus specifically prays. Check out verse 39, the first time Jesus goes off to pray about the coming circumstances:
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.
Here, Jesus is specifically asking that the Father not allow what is about to happen. I once heard it said that Jesus’ response, His repulsion of what is about to happen–total and complete forsaking of His Father and His separation from the perfect unity of the Trinity–is the only true and holy response of a perfectly righteous God. Luke’s account gives us the additional and helpful detail that Jesus’ body was under so much stress that He was sweating drops of blood (Luke 22:44). This is an actual medical phenomena called ‘hematohidrosis‘ that happens to the body when it is under extreme stress. In this case, ‘stress’ is an understatement!
At this point in the narrative, Jesus gets up and goes to His disciples. …And finds them sleeping! Can you imagine? Jesus gently chastises them and gives them this instruction:
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.
After this instruction, Jesus leaves the three disciples and goes off to pray again. This time, the text tells us that He prays a slightly different prayer. And this time, there is a sense of Jesus’ resignation. He doesn’t ask for the cup to pass over Him; He is asking for the Father’s will to be done.
My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.
This seems to be the prayer Jesus prays again in verse 44, too. The question is why does Jesus pray this way? Why doesn’t Jesus ask again for the cup to not pass? I think its because Jesus is modelling what He instructed Peter to do in verse 41: He is praying that He doesn’t fall into temptation because His spirit is indeed willing to obey the will of the Father, but He is still human and therefore weak.
As the Perfect God-Man, Jesus’ obedience had to be total. Everything about it was pure, good, and submissive to the will of the Father. That means even His emotions and mental state had to joyfully accept and delight in what God had called Him to. …I think that this is what Jesus was praying for. Hebrews 12:2b tells us that He went to the cross in joy, “despising the shame”. Certainly, the Father answered Jesus’ prayer!
But here’s the amazing thing: Jesus’ obedience as a man is imputed to us! 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God “made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”!
This means two things for us today, people who struggle under the weight and reality of sin permeating every. single. area. of our lives. The first is that Jesus has given us instruction to help us in our time of need: we are called to examine ourselves (“watch”) and ask God to keep us from temptation (“pray”). Praying this reminds our hearts that our only hope through our struggles is Christ’s gracious and kind hand. And if Jesus prayed for help, we definitely should be!
The second is that, in the end, your standing before the Father is not based on your obedience today. Jesus has already made a way for you to stand “blameless” before Him (Revelation 14:5). You can’t undo the work of Christ at the cross; our Saviour is far more powerful than your sin of today! This should give the sin-laden Christian great encouragement to keep walking, even when it feels like you keep facing the same sin over and over! Colossians 1:12 says that you have been qualified, my friend, not because of your righteous acts but because of Jesus Christ’s obedience at the cross. And as He qualifies you, He will sustain you to the end (Philippians 1:6).
May that carry you through whatever you face today!
What you’ll find here is a collection of musings, thoughts, writings, and ramblings about things I’m reading, watching, and thinking about. It’s my goal to inspire, encourage, and instruct my fellow sisters in their walk with Jesus and their understanding of the Word.
- Erika Recommends: Best Books of 2021 - December 15, 2021
- Slow-Going in the Fast Lane - October 14, 2021
- A Taste You Can Feel In Your Cheeks - September 29, 2021
