Matthew 26:39

My Notes

What Does Matthew 26:39 Mean?

Matthew 26:39 is the most intimate prayer in human history — God the Son asking God the Father to change the plan. "And he went a little further" — proelthōn mikron — a few more steps beyond where He left the three disciples. The isolation is deliberate. This prayer is too raw for even His closest friends. "And fell on his face" — epesen epi prosōpon autou. Not knelt. Fell. The posture is collapse — the weight of what's coming has driven Him to the ground.

"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" — pater mou, ei dunaton estin, parelthato ap' emou to potērion touto. The cup — potērion — is the cup of God's wrath, the cup of suffering, the cup of becoming sin for humanity (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus asks: if there's another way — ei dunaton, if it's possible, if the equation can be solved without this variable — let the cup pass. The request is genuine. Jesus isn't performing anguish. He's feeling it. The human will recoils from what the divine will requires.

"Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" — plēn ouch hōs egō thelō all' hōs su. The pivot. Nevertheless — plēn, but, however, yet. The three-letter word that separates human preference from divine obedience. Not my will. Yours. Jesus voices the desire to escape and then surrenders it in the same breath. Both are genuine: the wanting to avoid and the choosing to submit. The prayer doesn't suppress the humanity. It channels it toward obedience.

The cup didn't pass. The Father's will required the cross. And Jesus drank it — not because He wanted to, but because He chose the Father's will over His own.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Have you ever prayed 'if it be possible, let this pass from me'? What happened at the 'nevertheless'?
• 2.How does knowing Jesus genuinely wanted the cup to pass change your understanding of His humanity?
• 3.What's the difference between suppressing your will and submitting it? Which one does Jesus model?
• 4.Where is the 'nevertheless' in your life right now — the place where your desire and God's will are pulling in different directions?

Devotional

If it be possible. Let this cup pass.

Jesus — God in human flesh — asked to be excused. Not from a minor inconvenience. From the cup — the concentrated wrath of God poured out on behalf of every sin ever committed by every person who would ever live. The cup was so terrible that the Son of God fell on His face and asked: is there any other way?

The question was genuine. If it be possible. Jesus didn't know the answer — or if He did, He asked anyway, because the human will needed to express what it felt. This is not a test He's performing for our benefit. It's a prayer He needs to pray for His own. The God who will sustain the universe through the crucifixion is also the man whose body is shaking in a garden, face in the dirt, asking His Father for an exit.

Nevertheless. The most important word in the prayer. Maybe the most important word in the Bible. It separates the desire from the decision. The wanting from the choosing. The human preference from the divine surrender. Nevertheless — not as I will, but as thou wilt. I've told You what I want. Now I'll do what You want. Both are real. Both exist in the same sentence. And the obedience wins.

Every hard obedience in your life will pass through this same structure. You'll feel the recoil. You'll want the cup to pass. You'll fall on your face in some metaphorical garden and say: if it be possible. And then the nevertheless arrives — or it doesn't. Jesus' prayer didn't suppress His humanity. It submitted it. And the submission — not the suppression — is what made the cross possible.

Nevertheless. When you find that word in your own prayer, you've found the place where obedience actually lives.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture