“And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Your will’” (Mt. 26:39).
As the cross drew near, Jesus prepared Himself through prayer for it. He went to a garden called Gethsemane… He had gone to this place often. Perhaps at times He spent the night under its olive trees. He left eight of the apostles near the entrance to it; and He took Peter, James, and John with Him as He went farther into the garden. He told these three of the heaviness of His heart, saying, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me” (Mt. 26:38). Then, having gone a little distance from them, He fell on His face and prayed. His prayer was the most significant prayer of submission that the world has ever known.
He prayed—with divine focus. Nothing… could have interfered with His praying. He and God were thinking together about the way of the cross. Even the angels, in all their heavenly power, could not participate in it. It was just God and His Son. The word “focus” concerning this setting is meant to convey “extreme concentration.” The host of heaven was perhaps watching on as the Father and the Son considered what was going to take place. Jesus’ prayer defies description.
He prayed—with divine faith. At times, even faith, the faith of Jesus, will ask questions. They are not questions of doubt; they are questions of obedience. Jesus could have been asking, “Will My body be strong enough to support the weight of carrying the guilt of the world?” Luke said that after this first prayer an angel came and strengthened Him. “Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him” (Lk. 22:43). As Jesus looked into the dark cauldron of suffering that awaited Him, He said, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Perhaps His words are more of an announcement than a human question. Jesus posed this question so that the world could see the immense weight of bearing every sin of every sinner. His physical body was going to be tested as no other human body had ever been tested.
He prayed—with divine resolve. With His prayer Jesus announced His resolve. He was going to fulfill forever the eternal purpose of God. Resting on this one phrase “yet not as I will but as You will” was the totality of the salvation that God would offer man. It would involve Jesus bearing all the sin as if it were His own: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus, no doubt, suffered the pain of the cross all through His adult years. Now He was face to face with it, and all of its different dimensions fell upon Him. No human mind could fathom it. The world with all of its wisdom could not digest it. The time had come that God would publicly display Jesus as the propitiation through His blood so that everyone who would live on earth could be forgiven through true faith (Rom. 3:25, 26).
~ Eddie Cloer
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