133. The Prayer Struggle in Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36–46 
(Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46; John 18:1,2)

Jesus came with his disciples to a farm at the foot of the Mount of Olives, a country estate that had a garden called Gethsemane, which means “oil-press.” Willingly and deliberately, he went to the place where Judas and the evil band could and should meet him. Judas knew this place well because Jesus often stayed there with his disciples. Jesus left his disciples at the entrance to the garden so that they could sit down until he went and prayed there, at the place he pointed to. He took only his three most trusted disciples, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, John and James, with him deeper into the garden. They had been witnesses to his transfiguration and were now to witness his deepest humiliation. And now he began to mourn with great trepidation before the eyes of the three disciples. He also told them what was moving in his soul: “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death; stay here and watch with me!” The horror of death had overtaken him, and in this great sadness he did not want to be alone. The anguish of his soul grew ever greater and tore him away, drove him violently away from his disciples, a stone’s throw away, so that he fell with his face to the ground and prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” He asks his Father, if it is possible, to spare him from the bitter cup that was already before his eye—the torture of the cross, death on the cross. He is a true, natural human being. Human nature resists and struggles against death. For death is unnatural. It destroys the life that God created and tears apart the bond of body and soul that God has created. Jesus considers it possible that the Father will grant him this request. He says to his Father: “All things are possible for you.” The counsel of God that he should attain salvation for the world through suffering and death had become obscured to his human consciousness in this anxious hour. What deep humiliation! Yet not the slightest murmur or contradiction mixed in with his requests and supplications. He calls God Abba, dear Father, and submits his will, his human will, completely to the will of his heavenly Father. “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” “Not my will, but your will be done!” He offers God the sacrifice of his will. When he suffered, he learned and practiced obedience, and became obedient to the point of death (Heb 5:8; Php 2:8). But an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him, reminding him of the eternal counsel of God and the glorious outcome of his suffering. The Son of God humbled himself so low that he accepted strengthening and encouragement from an angel, a creature of God. He thereby received new strength for a new battle. And it came to pass that he wrestled with death and prayed more fervently. His drops of sweat fell to the ground like thick, heavy clots of blood. It was the inner anguish and passion of his soul that forced bloody sweat from him. After a short pause, he began to pray and sigh again: “My Father, is it not possible for this cup to pass from me, unless I drink it, Thy will be done!” And then he spoke the same words for the third time. But his prayer became more and more calm and composed. At last it seemed almost impossible to him that the cup could pass from him without being drunk. And so God’s will would be done in him and through him. Yes, in the days of his flesh, and especially in Gethsemane, Christ offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and was heard because he honored God (Heb 5:7). God saved him from this difficult hour, from anguish and the fear of death. It was impossible for the Son of God to be defeated in this battle.

But how did it happen that Jesus, the Holy One of God, trembled, shook, and feared so much before his approaching death? Death is only so bitter and terrible for sinners. Death is the wages of sin. But this Jesus was the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world. The whole weight of our sins and misdeeds lay upon him and pressed him to the ground. He was to die the death of sinners. And so he felt and tasted the sting of death like no other sinful, mortal human being. The struggle of Jesus on the Mount of Olives was a second temptation by Satan. The one who had the power of death, the Devil, had come upon him again after having departed from him for a while (Lk 4:13). He had filled Jesus’ soul with the terror of death and hell and wanted to make death unbearable for him. He wanted, if possible, to frighten him away from the torture of the cross, and finally to shake his obedience to his Father in heaven and thereby thwart the redemption of the human race. Thank God, he did not succeed in doing this. And so the Lord’s prayer-struggle in Gethsemane is nothing but consolation for poor sinners. In hours of severe temptation and especially when we are dying, when our every breath—in and out—is difficult, when we are overcome by the fear of death, when the sweat of death appears on our foreheads, when the sins of our life accuse our soul, when the enemy threatens our life, we look in faith to Jesus, who in Gethsemane wrestled with death in our place for our good and defeated death, who there resisted to the point of bloodshed and gave God complete obedience. In the power of his anguish and torment of soul, his struggle and victory, we calm our hearts and overcome the fear and horror of death.

That night Jesus spoke and dealt with his heavenly Father three times. In between, he always sought out his three disciples. They had fallen asleep from sadness. Great sadness often weighs heavily on the mind and paralyzes the soul’s strength. The Lord awakens the disciples from their sleep, asks Simon Peter in particular if he could watch with him for an hour, and calls to them. And this call is for all of the Lord’s disciples, for all Christians: “Watch and pray that you do not fall into temptation!” It is precisely in hours of great tribulation that we must watch and pray, ask God for strength and surrender to his will so that we do not fall into temptation, so that our faith does not fail. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The spirit, the new man born of God, is willing to do good, to obey, and also ready to suffer with Christ. The flesh, the inherited nature, is too weak and incapable of doing this. Only through fervent prayer and supplication does the spirit gain the upper hand and keep the flesh in check. When Jesus returned to his disciples from the third prayer, he said to them: “Will you sleep and rest now? It is enough.” Now he no longer needs them to watch with him. The hour of fear and sadness is over. He is now firmly rooted in God. With confident courage he prepares to meet his betrayer and calls on his disciples to go with him. The second hour has now come when the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of sinners.