Matthew 26:36-46

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

This evening’s Bible passage is Matthew 26:36-46:

³⁶ 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.” ³⁷ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹ 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.” ⁴⁰ And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? ⁴¹ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴² Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. ⁴⁵ 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. ⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

On this, the night of Jesus’s arrest, there is so much we might ponder. Enough to fill a lifetime. Today, I want to focus on just one detail: Jesus prays, but the disciples do not.

Jesus is “greatly distressed and troubled” (Mk. 14: 33). Luke tells us that Jesus was in such an agony of prayer that “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Lk 22:44). Even so, he doesn’t ask his disciples to pray for him. The most he asks for, in the way of support, is that Peter, James, and John (“the two sons of Zebedee”) “watch with” him (Matt. 26:38), while he prays at some distance by himself.

When he later finds his disciples sleeping, his concern is not for himself. He urges them to pray not for him but for themselves: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (40). While the remark is addressed first to Peter, the “you” is plural. Not only Peter, but all the disciples need the strength that comes from prayer if they are to face the trials of the next hours and days.

Jesus prays. He finds the strength to endure the suffering that will save you, me, the disciples, and all for whom he died. The disciples sleep. They flee after Jesus’s arrest, Peter denies Christ three times, and only John seems to have been present, along with four brave women, at the crucifixion (Jn 19:25-27).

Prayer makes a difference. It’s not that prayer always gets us what we want. Jesus wasn’t spared the cup of God’s justified condemnation of sin. He drank it to the dregs for us. The members of his body (you and I and all for whom he died) were spared the cup. So, yes, Jesus’s prayer was answered, but not in a way that brought him immediate personal relief. Sometimes God graciously give us exactly what we’ve requested; at other times, he strengthens us to face the alternative.

At its most basic, prayer is about the relationship between us and God. Jesus addresses God as “My Father,” a term that, for him, expresses his full confidence in God’s love, even at his darkest moment. (In Mk 14:36, he uses the even more of endearing term, “Abba, Father.”) Prayer allows us to affirm (and even, at times, to feel experientially) the truth that God is the love that underlies all things and the light that shines in our darkness.

Any attempt to explain prayer in mechanical terms (“Pray right and get great results”) will fail. What we learn over a lifetime of prayer is that prayer strengthens us and often—perhaps to our surprise—humbles by giving us just the gift we asked for. From the stark contrast between Jesus and the disciples in Gethsemane, we also learn that prayer strengthens us to be faithful in times of trial.

Prayer isn’t easy; the tired disciples preferred to sleep. In our culture, all too often we prefer to be busy or entertained. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (41). May God use the current time of trial to strengthen our commitment to prayer and thereby to strengthen our faith.

Your brother in Christ,

Max