Thy will be done

May 31, 2025 | Read and think about Matthew 26:36-50

This passage is a good way to think about Jesus having a nature as both God and as human.

It starts just on a small mountain outside of Jerusalem, pretty late at night, in the garden of Gethsemane.  It’s an hour, perhaps two, after the Last Supper Jesus shared with His apostles.  And the passage ends with Jesus being seized to be placed on trial and ultimately crucified the next day.

But taking a step further back, today’s passage starts with the testimony of John the Baptist, which we read a few weeks ago in the post, “Lamb of God.”

              “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

It’s good to let those words sink in.  They are what the garden of Gethsemane was all about.

Gethsemane was the doorway to the last stage – the sacrificial stage - of Jesus’ mission as the Lamb of God.

In this moment, Jesus prayed to avoid this pain, this kind of death.  How human.

And yet, He also could have called 10,000 angels to defend Him.  He could have made that call.  He was God. Yet He completely let go of any ability to alter a certain, known outcome.  He submitted to the Father’s will.  

This side of Heaven (at least), we will never fully understand the mixing of the human nature with the God nature of Jesus, particularly in this moment.

Jesus had a strong desire to not have to endure the cross.  He prayed and asked if there was some other way.  But in order to defeat sin and make a bridge for us to Heaven, His desire to do the Father’s will had to be stronger, and it was.

Thank you, Lord, and Amen.