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.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
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.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
And 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 again.
Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” Matthew 26:36-46
Each of the Gospels tell the story of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane after their final Passover meal with Him had concluded. A lot had transpired over the last few hours. Jesus had predicted Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. He had promised the new covenant would soon be instituted and that it would be through His body and blood that it would be confirmed. Jesus had settled the debate on who would be the greatest in the coming kingdom and He had lifted the disciples up in prayer to the Father.
Normally, Passover feasts bring feelings of happiness and joy-filled thankfulness after hours of celebrating God’s faithfulness. Yet, their hearts and minds were quite heavy as they entered into the garden. This is a place of comfort for Jesus and the disciples as Luke tells in his gospel. it was their custom to come to talk and pray. Each of the Gospel writers describe the darkness that seemed to envelop Jesus in these moments. Jesus Himself tells his three closest friends, that His soul is grieved unto death.
Never in Jesus’ life and ministry have we ever seen Jesus in this kind of duress. Remember how in the raging storm, He comfortably napped while all the others were frantically trying to save themselves. Through all the encounters and threats of death from the Pharisee, Jesus is never described as fearful or worried. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He spends 40 days in the wilderness fasting and enduring temptations from Satan. At each temptation, no matter how weak He was from fasting, Jesus never flinched and never showed any doubt or inclination to stray from God’s will.
But here, in these moments we are given a brief glimpse at a Jesus we have never seen before. We see Jesus’ human will fighting against His divine will. This struggle was new to Jesus. There had never been conflict between His will and God the Father’s will. Jesus says in John 5:30, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” In John 4:34, he says “ My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.” In the Sermon on the Mount, the model prayer included “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
When sin first entered into the heart of man, it carried with it the punishment of death. Not a physical death but a relational death. Humans lost the intimacy that had once been available in the Garden. Instead of walking in the light with God, they entered into darkness, chaos and isolation. And from that point forward, all people walked in sin. With each sin committed, the darkness grew.
In our human hearts, sin blocks us from communicating with God. As Jesus entered into this garden, all the accumulated sins from the first garden until the end of time began to fall upon His soul. The separation and alienation from God would have been painful for Him. He is losing his direct connection with God. Perhaps, this is why He prays for God to “let this cup pass me”. He is in deep anguish caused by the intense spiritual warfare within His soul. His divine will is set on accomplishing God’s Will but his human will seems to be wavering. Jesus’ mission is to overcome death but in this moment it seems the fear of a painful death is beginning to overwhelm Jesus.
In the first prayer, Jesus says, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” As Jesus returns to pray a second time, there is a slight difference in His wording. This time He says, “if this cannot pass unless I drink it,Your will be done.” It is a very slight difference but it seems as though between the two prayers, He has submitted to the reality that there is no other way for God to accomplish the mission aside from Jesus. He is the chosen Messiah that must drink the cup of God’s wrath for all humanity’s sake. All that He must endure over the next few days is necessary so that the new covenant can begin. A covenant of restoration and rebirth.
Despite the fact that we are sinful and rebellious, God loves us and desires to have direct connection with us. All throughout the Old Testament, God instituted covenants with His people in order to re-establish the relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden. Each covenant progressively moves the story of Scripture toward the ultimate moment when God will provide the means and the method for permanent restoration. In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God alludes to how He foresees humanity’s future state, “…I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.”
In this moment, in this garden, Jesus is tempted to allow his human will to choose which path He will take. But unlike those in the other garden, Jesus denies His will and chooses the better way. He chooses to submit to God’s will and God’s plan.
In Hebrews 5:7-9, we are given a little help to understand the magnitude of these moments Jesus spent in prayer.
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Prayer can often seem hard. It can become stale and perfunctory and merely another “to do” item on our checklist. But here in this example of prayer, we see Jesus Christ who was fully God and fully human, fall to His face in desperation calling out to His Father. He needs God to empower and straighten Him for the battle He is facing.
How much more do we need the Father’s help? We who are simply human and filled with human desire and emotion. We have no hope to withstand the battle of our daily lives without the help of God and the Holy Spirit.
Because Jesus prayed to God for the enabling strength to submit Himself to God’s will, our hearts can be restored to God. As we choose to accept the gift that Jesus accomplished for us, sins’ power is defeated and its darkness no longer impedes our communication with the Father. Just as Jesus cried out “Abba, Father”, we too can have the confidence to do the same.