New Testament: Matt 26.39

To read the Bible in a year, read Matthew 26.20–54 on February 11, In the year of our Lord Christ 2022

By Don Ruhl 

When Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray him, and that such would lead to his humiliation before the Jewish leaders and then brutal treatment from the Romans, Jesus prayed to the Father: 

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

– Matthew 26.39 

Jesus would do whatever the Father wanted him to do, but he also did not want to be separated from the Father, as he would be on the cross, nor did he want to experience all the other suffering. 

Nevertheless, he did it willingly for our sakes. 

Have you thought before about how the Father reacted to hearing his Son pray such words? He knew what he was asking his Son to do. He knew of the physical pain of the crucifixion, the emotional pain of the rejection of everyone, and the spiritual pain that Jesus would experience when the Father would forsake his Son. 

Hearing that prayer from his Son must have tugged on his heart in ways that go beyond my ability to describe or picture it. 

Questions: 

• How do you think the Father reacted to that prayer? 
• Why do both the Father and the Son love us? 

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