Resource Detail

2025 Study of Matthew’s Gospel

YET NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL

Matthew 26:36-46

Key Verse: 26:39

1. What events have just occurred earlier that evening? Where is Gethsemane, and why might Jesus have gone there with His disciples (36-37)? What is the significance of Jesus describing His soul as “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (38)? What do you learn from Jesus praying when he was emotionally crushed?
2. What does Jesus’ posture—falling with His face to the ground to pray—communicate about His heart and struggle (39a)? What was Jesus’ desire, and how did he still choose to surrender to God’s will (39b)? How does this verse reveal both the humanity and the absolute obedience of Jesus at the same time?
3. What does the disciples’ inability to stay awake reveal about their spiritual condition at that moment (40)? What do you think Jesus means by “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (41)? Why do you think Jesus prays again and what change do you notice between Jesus’ first prayer and his second prayer (42)?
4. Why do you think the disciples keep falling asleep, even though Jesus warned them about temptation (43)? What does Jesus’ acceptance reveal about his mindset and mission (44-45)? What does Jesus mean by “Rise, let us go” (46)?
5. What can we learn about prayer from Jesus when we feel overwhelmed or crushed—emotionally, physically, or spiritually? How should we struggle in prayer to choose God’s will over our own?

2025 Matthew’s Gospel November 30 , 2025

JESUS PRAYS IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

Matthew 26:36-46

Key Verse 26:39

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Last Friday, our dear sister Becky—who had been battling cancer and suffering for so long—was called home to the Lord. She entered the peaceful rest of God’s eternal kingdom. Our hearts are heavy with sorrow. We prayed for her consistently, and now we share in the deep sadness of her passing. We grieve with Missionaries Peter and Mary Song, who lost their beloved daughter, and with Ryan, Iris, and Luke, who lost a loving wife and mother. In moments like this, where can we find real comfort? We can find it in this community of faith, as we love one another and pray for one another. And even more, we can find comfort in the presence of our Father in heaven, his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who gives us strength to stand through our sorrow. Our Lord Jesus understands our grief better than anyone. Jesus is God, but he took on human flesh and experienced the full weight of sorrow. When Lazarus died, Jesus went to the family’s home. When he saw Mary and the others weeping, Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. And Jesus wept, too. He truly feels our pain. But Jesus doesn’t only share our sorrow—he also gives us living hope. He planted resurrection faith in Martha’s heart, saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25-26) Jesus understands our grief because he lived as “a man of suffering.” Isaiah 53:3 describes him as the One who was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. This deep sorrow of Jesus appears most clearly in his prayer at Gethsemane, where he wrestled in prayer to fulfill the Father’s will by taking upon himself the sins of the world and going to the cross.

After sharing the Passover meal—the Last Supper—with his disciples, Jesus took them to a place called Gethsemane to pray. Luke 22:39 tells us, “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives.” The Mount of Olives is a long ridge just east of Jerusalem, and Gethsemane was a garden located on that mountainside. Jesus often went there with his disciples to pray. The word Gethsemane means “olive press.” It refers to a small place where olives were crushed, squeezed, and pressed to produce olive oil. And in that very place, Jesus poured out his whole heart—crushing, squeezing, and pressing himself fully to obey the will of God. Luke 22:44 describes that moment: “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” We can imagine how fiercely Jesus wrestled in prayer to submit to the Father’s will.

Jesus brought Peter, James, and John a little farther with him, and he began to be deeply sorrowful and troubled. Then Jesus opened his heart to them: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (38). Have you ever had a moment when your soul felt overwhelmed with sorrow—so heavy that it felt almost unbearable? Many of us have. Some have come face-to-face with their own death. Others have watched their child or loved one suffer, feeling a pain that cuts deeply. Jesus also felt that kind of anguish. His heart was so burdened that he shared it honestly with his disciples. Some people wonder, “Why does Jesus seem so weak here? Shouldn’t he face death with more strength and boldness?” But we need to understand that Jesus’ death was not like any other human’s death. Jesus, who had no sin, was about to carry the sins of the whole world—sins of the past, present, and future—and bear their weight on the cross. No one has ever carried a burden like that. His death was heavier and more painful than any death in human history. That is why Jesus was so sorrowful and troubled in that moment.

Why did Jesus allow his disciples to see him in such a vulnerable moment? It’s because Jesus is fully God and fully human at the same time. If Jesus had only a divine nature and not a human nature, he would not have taken on a real human body. He would not have experienced physical death. He would not have felt deep, personal suffering. He would not have been overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, and he would not have needed to struggle in prayer to submit to the Father’s will. But Jesus was fully human. He shared our humanity completely. He had a body just like ours. He felt hunger. He felt thirsty. He grew tired. He grew sleepy. He felt sorrow in the face of death. He suffered under the weight of pain. And on the cross, he experienced the agony of feeling forsaken by God the Father. Because Jesus is fully God and fully man, he understands us completely. He can give us real comfort. As the One who is both truly God and truly human, Jesus is the perfect mediator between God and humanity. He sits at the right hand of God and advocates for us in our weakness. This is why, in our suffering, we must come to Jesus—the One who understands every part of our struggle. When we open our hearts honestly to him, the Holy Spirit meets us and brings deep comfort.

Jesus also taught his disciples to pray when they felt weak or overwhelmed. When he faced the agony of the cross, he spent the night in prayer. His example shows us what to do in our own moments of pain and sorrow. If you knew you were going to die a painful death tomorrow, what would you do today? Most of us would look for a way to escape it. If there were any solution, we would try it. Some would try to spend their remaining time as meaningfully as possible—meeting loved ones, saying warm good-byes. Others might fall into despair, lying in bed with no strength to do anything. Still others would try to enjoy the moment—eating good food, doing whatever they can before the end. But Jesus chose a different path. He prayed to obey the Father’s will. If God allowed us to face something as painful as death tomorrow, there would be a deep purpose behind it. Our first question should be: “Lord, what is your will in this?” We should seek it, accept it, and obey it. That is the way of Jesus. And that is the way Jesus’ disciples are called to walk.

Jesus went a little farther, fell with his face to the ground, and prayed. What does this show us about Jesus’ posture in prayer? He knelt down and lowered his face completely to the ground. This posture shows his humility and his desire to submit fully to the Father’s will. Jesus placed everything—his whole life—into God’s hands. Jesus prayed intensely three times. In his first prayer, he said, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” When Jesus called God “My Father,” it revealed his deep, personal relationship of trust with God. And in this prayer, we see two desires in Jesus’ heart. His first desire was, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” The “cup” represents the cup of God’s wrath and justice. God’s wrath comes because of human sin. God is just, so he must judge it. Yet God is also love, and he loves us even in spite of our sin. Jesus, though sinless, had to drink the cup of God’s wrath in our place. It was a cup filled with deep agony—the agony of being forsaken by the Father. In his humanity, Jesus wanted to avoid that cup. So he prayed, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” But Jesus did not end his prayer there. His second and true desire was that the Father’s will would be done on earth. So he prayed, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus prayed earnestly so that he could obey God’s will.

We also carry two desires inside us at the same time—a human desire to do what we want, and a spiritual desire to follow God’s will. And many times, these two desires collide. For example, we want to succeed in this world, make good money, and enjoy life. There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, but that desire doesn’t always line up with God’s will. Sometimes God calls us to let go of comfort and worldly success so we can follow Jesus for the sake of his kingdom. We also have the desire to act out of our emotions. When we’re angry, we want to express it freely—maybe even hurt others with our words or actions. But God commands us to show gentleness, patience, and self-control, and to treat others with his love. And we often just want to live an easy, entertaining life. Yet God calls us to stay spiritually awake and pray. These two desires—our spiritual desire and our human desire—struggle inside us. When they come into conflict, we need to follow Jesus’ example. We turn to prayer so that we can follow God’s will.

When we look at Jesus’ second prayer, we notice something different from the first. In his first prayer, he said, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” But in his second prayer he said, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (42). Do you see how his prayer progressed? In the first prayer he said, “if it is possible,” but in the second prayer, he said, “if it is not possible.” At first, Jesus mentioned the possibility of not drinking the cup of God’s wrath. In the second prayer, however, he prayed accepting that the cup would not be taken away. And when he said, “unless I drink it,” he was acknowledging that drinking that cup was the path he would take. Through prayer, Jesus drew closer and closer to the Father’s will. As he prayed, Jesus was strengthened by the Holy Spirit. He received the power to accept the Father’s plan and the courage to obey it. When he prayed the third time, saying the same words, his heart was fully resolved: he would drink the cup of God’s wrath. We see his clear decision in verses 45–46: “The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Why do we pray? Some people pray mainly to get what they want. They keep asking until God grants their request. And sometimes God does answer those prayers. But the kind of prayer God expects from us is much more mature than that. Through his prayer in Gethsemane, Jesus shows us what kind of prayer truly pleases the Father. True prayer is not about pushing our own will through. True prayer is discovering God’s will, accepting it, and obeying it. Jesus prayed until he gained full confidence to submit to the Father’s will. Then he carried the cross all the way to the end and fulfilled God’s will by dying on the cross. In the same way, we need to pray until our hearts are ready to obey God’s will. When we do this, we will glorify God and will grow spiritually, imitating more and more our Lord Jesus Christ.

Before I met Christ, my dream was to pass the national bar exam and build a successful life. But after encountering Jesus, the purpose of my life changed. Instead of pursuing my own dreams, I made a decision to live for God’s glory and to serve Him. That decision didn’t come easily. I remember praying intensely, again and again, to follow God’s will. Through prayers, God gave me strength, and I eventually decided to become a shepherd. There is nothing wrong with succeeding in this world. There is nothing wrong with achieving our dreams. What matters is that our self-centered desires and plans are laid down, and a new, Christ-centered purpose is built in their place. To follow God’s will, we need to pray, seeking God’s will, and make decisions that align with God’s purpose.

Lastly, I want to talk about Jesus’ disciples. One important reason Jesus showed his vulnerability and asked them to pray was to help them stay spiritually awake. It wasn’t only Jesus who was facing a great battle—the disciples were also in danger of falling into Satan’s temptation. Jesus had already warned Peter that he would deny him three times. Because of that, Jesus urged them, “Stay here and keep watch with me.” But they didn’t have the strength to pray. After Jesus finished his first prayer and returned to them, he found them sleeping. Jesus rebuked them: “Couldn’t you keep watch with me for one hour?” Then he spoke directly to Peter: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus went away to pray a second time, and when he came back, he again found them sleeping. Then Jesus prayed a third time, and when he returned, they were still asleep. Jesus said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?” Jesus rebuked his disciples because they couldn’t pray and stay spiritually awake.

So why couldn’t the disciples pray? Jesus explained it clearly: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” What does that mean? It means we want to obey God’s will. Deep inside, we have a desire to pray and to stay away from temptation. Our spirit wants what is right. But our flesh—our human weakness—is easily tempted. We’re quick to fall, and quick to follow our own will instead of God’s will. We want to pray, but we get tired. Our eyes become heavy, and instead of praying, we fall asleep. That’s our reality. To stay spiritually awake and pray, we need a deep desire to meet God through prayer. Like Jesus, we need to enter into personal, honest conversation with the Father. Through prayer, we experience God’s presence and are filled with His strength. And when that happens, our prayers become deeper. Our hearts begin to long for prayer, and we enjoy real fellowship with Jesus.

What was the result of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane? Jesus made a firm decision to carry the cross. With an unshakable decision, he walked the path of the cross to fulfill God’s mission to save humanity. And then he rose from the dead and became the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Because of Jesus, we have received eternal life. Because of Jesus, we now live a new life. May we follow the example of Jesus, who prayed at Gethsemane—overcoming temptation and walking the path of the cross for the glory of God. Amen.