The Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane
I have heard this question raised more than once: “How can I pray like Jesus?” It is a great question and one which I wish more asked of themselves. We must endeavor to model and emulate our Savior in every possible way - even extending to His prayer life. While time (nor space) does not allow me to speak to every notation of prayer in our Savior’s life, let us look at one of the most commonly known prayers of Jesus - His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Let me set the stage. Jesus knew His time on earth was shortly to be over. We (I!) often forget Jesus’ humanity, more so than His divinity. If you didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God, you probably wouldn’t be attending our church or even reading this blog. So let’s focus on His humanity. Jesus was happy. Jesus was sad. Jesus was mad. On and on we could go describing His emotions. It is all wrapped up in a not-so-correct mathematical equation - Jesus is 100% God, and 100% man. Nevermore is this dichotomy more clearly seen than during His Passion.
Each gospel writer gives his take on the time in the Garden. All are correct. All are trustworthy. Because the gospel writers were not robots, each recording is slightly different. Some add details, some overlook other facts. Taken together, they form a cohesive unit giving us the fullest account of this prayer in the Garden. While acknowledging the other depictions of this event (Matthew 26:36-42, Mark 14:32-42, John 18:1), we will focus on Luke’s account.
Jesus, needing privacy, asked the Disciples to stay behind but gave them one word of advice, “Pray that you might not enter into temptation.” This was it. They had one job. However, sleep overcame them, and they failed miserably! Notice what Jesus did not say: “Pray for Me! Pray for My rescue! Pray for a myriad of angels to come and annihilate my pursuers.” He focused on their needs. Jesus knew of their weakness and their proclivity for focusing on themselves at the expense of Gospel matters.
Jesus left the disciples to pray. He didn’t go far - only a “stone’s throw” away. The beginning of Jesus’ prayer gives a sense of the relationship between God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son. Absent is any direct mention of the Holy Spirit, but by direct inference, we faithfully believe the He was there, too! Jesus knew something that we forget - everything happens by the will of God. It was “just” the Father and the Son and no one to distract them; they were spending time alone with each other.
In verse 42, Jesus prays, “If it is in Your will,” to model for us how we must pray. Though Jesus knew God’s will (in His divinity), He uttered His own will (in His humanity). Jesus was not doubting God’s plan; furthermore, He was submitting to it. We must also know, in our own lives, everything happens according to the plan of God. Then He resigns to God’s will and will follow it. At this very time, He needed strength. God, the Father, sent an angel to strengthen His Son in His very time of need. God has His angels ready at a moment’s notice to strengthen us, too!
Jesus prayed a simple prayer, “Take this cup away from Me.” Earlier in the night, Jesus was in the Upper Room instituting the Lord’s Supper. Luke 22:20 reads, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” Now, we see, Jesus turning the tables (figuratively this time!), and describing how the “cup of wrath” would become the “cup of life!”
Here, we see Jesus praying even “more earnestly.” Jesus was “in agony.” He prayed and sweat like drops of blood dripped out (possibly a rare blood condition doctors today call “Hemotohidrosis" where the capillary blood vessels rupture that feed the ducts of sweat glands). Jesus modeled for us the passion we must have as we approach the throne of God in prayer.
Jesus concludes, “not My will, but Yours be done.” Jesus’ humanity did not want to die. He was just like us; yet Jesus’ divinity demanded death as a payment for humankind’s sins. So there in the Garden, Jesus, once again, modeled complete surrender for us. This is the gospel in a nutshell - all modeled through one prayer from a garden. One prayer which brought focus and determination to Jesus and a reminder to us of the seriousness of our spiritual life.
A simple prayer. A heart cry that breathes life into us as we reap the benefits of this solemn prayer