Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 26:42
He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Verse 42. O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me] If it be not possible – to redeem fallen man, unless I drink this cup, unless I suffer death for them; thy will be done – I am content to suffer whatever may be requisite to accomplish the great design. In this address the humanity of Christ most evidently appears; for it was his humanity alone that could suffer; and if it did not appear that he had felt these sufferings, it would have been a presumption that he had not suffered, and consequently made no atonement. And had he not appeared to have been perfectly resigned in these sufferings, his sacrifice could not have been a free-will but a constrained offering, and therefore of no use to the salvation of mankind.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark saith Mar 14:39,40, And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy), neither wist they what to answer him. Saying the same words. How our translation came to translate this so I cannot tell, in the Greek it is , which must be translated, the same word, or the same speech, not words (if that were the evangelists sense). But that it is not, for, as it is plain our Saviour used more than one word, so it is as plain it was not the same speech, or form of words, for we have met with four different forms already: our Lord prayed but thrice, so as he could not say the same speech. But here signifies matterspeaking the same matter, or to the same sense, and this we translate it, Mar 1:45; 10:10, and in a multitude of other texts, in correspondence with the Hebrew he comes to them a second time, and findeth them asleep. So quickly did they find the truth of what he had but now taught them, that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, for there is no doubt but they did what they could to keep themselves awake.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
He went away again the second time,…. To the same place as before, or at some little distance; after he had reproved his disciples for their sleeping, and had exhorted them to watchfulness and prayer, suggesting the danger they were liable to, and the condition they were in:
and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. The sense of this prayer to his God and Father is, that if his sufferings and death could not be dispensed with; if it was not consistent with the decrees of God, and the covenant of grace, that he should be excused from them; or if the glory of God, and the salvation of his people required it, that he must drink up that bitter cup, he was content to do it; desiring in all things to submit unto, and to fulfil his Father’s will, though it was so irksome and disagreeable to nature.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
42. Again he went away a second time. By these words Christ seems as if, having subdued fear, he came with greater freedom and courage to submit to the will of the Father; for he no longer asks to have the cup removed from him, but, leaving out this prayer, insists rather on obeying the purpose of God. But according to Mark, this progress is not described; and even when Christ returned a second time, we are told that he repeated the same prayer; and, indeed, I have no doubt, that at each of the times when he prayed, fear and horror impelled him to ask that he might be delivered from death. (207) Yet it is probable that, at the second time, he labored more to yield obedience to the Father, and that the first encounter with temptation animated him to approach death with greater confidence.Luke does not expressly relate that he prayed three several times, but only says that, when he was pressed with anguish, he prayed with greater copiousness and earnestness, as if he had continued to pray without any intermission. But we know that the Evangelists sometimes leave out circumstances, and only glance rapidly at the substance of what took place. Accordingly, when he says towards the close, that Christ came to his disciples, it is a hysteron proteton; (208) just as, in another clause, he relates that an angel from heaven appeared, before he speaks of Christ’s anguish. But the inversion of the order carries no absurdity; for, in order to inform us that the angel was not sent without a good reason, the necessity for it is afterwards stated; and thus the latter part of the narrative is, in some sort, a reason assigned for the former. Now though it is the Spirit of God alone that imparts fortitude, that does not hinder God from employing angels as his ministers. And hence we may conclude what excruciating distresses the Son of God must have endured, since it was necessary that the assistance of God should be granted to him in a visible manner.
(207) “ A requerir qu’il ne veinst point a ceste mort;” — “to ask that he might not com to that death.”
(208) Hysteron proteron (ὕστερον πρότερον) is a figure of rhetoric, by which the natural order of events is reversed. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(42) If this cup may not pass away from me.There is a slight change of tone perceptible in this prayer as compared with the first. It is, to speak after the manner of men, as though the conviction that it was not possible that the cup could pass away from Him had come with fuller clearness before His mind. and He was learning to accept it. He finds the answer to the former prayer in the continuance, not the removal. of the bitter agony that preyed on His spirit. It is probably at this stage of the trial that we are to place the sweat like great drops of blood and the vision of the angel of Luk. 22:43-44.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
42. He went away again In human sympathy the Saviour finds no resource. He is completely alone. He turns again from man to God. If this cup may not pass His prayer here has yielded the point. He prays no longer, Let it pass; but, If it may not pass, Thy will be done. “Thy will be done” limits not only all murmur, but all prayer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Again a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, your will be done.” ’
Then Jesus moves away again and His words reveal that He is still fighting His way through to full understanding of His Father’s will, which He now senses that He has almost reached. ‘If this cannot pass away except I drink it, your will be done.’ This sums up His whole attitude as He prays. For Him His Father’s will is primary. And it was vital that it should be so (see Heb 10:5-10). It was necessary that He be a willing and ready sacrifice. The cup of God’s ‘wrath’ (aversion to sin) must be drunk to the full of His own free choice. But it was not going to be easy.
The writer to the Hebrews puts it, ‘He learned obedience by the things that He suffered’ (Heb 5:8), that is, He learned in experience what the pathway of obedience fully involved in its most difficult manifestation. None other could ever learn that lesson, for no other could ever reach the point where it was required. They would fall at the first hurdle in the same way as the disciples. We benefit from His full and unreserved obedience (Rom 5:19).
Here indeed we find the distinction between sovereignty and free will at its greatest. The One Who is sovereign over all things and is one with His Father in the predetermining of His death, must here yet freely choose to die.
‘Your will be done.’ We have a reminder here of how Jesus carried out His own teaching (see Mat 6:10, and compare Mat 7:21; Mat 12:50), although the slant is slightly different. It is possibly also significant that He has only just referred to deliverance from temptation (Mat 26:41). The disciples are to pray that they might follow His example. But this is because these things are central to the godly life, not through any conscious connection with the Lord’s prayer.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The continuation of the agony:
v. 42. He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done.
v. 43. And He came and found them asleep again; for their eyes were heavy.
v. 44. And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. The Holy One of God was here almost submerged in the flood of grief and bitterness which threatened to engulf Him. Fearfulness and trembling had come upon Him, and horror had overwhelmed Him, Psa 55:5, the horror of death and hell. For the sins, the guilt, the curse, the punishment of the whole world lay upon Him; He was to die the death of a sinner, the most atrocious sinner the world had ever known. Therefore He felt the sting of death a thousand-, a millionfold. His battle in the shadows of Gethsemane was a second temptation of the devil. It was the prince of hell that filled His soul with the dread of death, in order to make Him shrink back from the tortures of the cross, refuse obedience to His Father in heaven. Thus would the plan of God and the redemption of mankind be frustrated. The sufferings of Christ in these hours are beyond the power of human language to express. For the second, for the third time He sank down to the earth. If it cannot be done, if it be out of the question for Him to expect any alleviation of His sufferings, if there is no recourse but that He drink out of the cup now held to His lips, He is ready to bow to the will of His Father. Comfort and encouragement from His disciples was not to be expected. Their eyes were heavy, pressed down with sleep. Cut off from all assistance of men, suffering the full wrath of His heavenly Father, Jesus had to fight the battle for the salvation of mankind to the bitter, but victorious end.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 26:42 ff. ] a well-known pleonasm. Joh 21:15 ; Act 10:15 . Comp. , Plat. Polit . p. 260 D, (p. 282 C), and such like. We sometimes find even a threefold form: , Soph. Phil . 940, O. C. 1421.
] not quandoquidem (Grotius), but: if . The actual feelings of Jesus are expressed in all their reality in the form of acquiescence in that condition of impossibility ( ) as regards the divine purpose which prevents the thing from being otherwise.
] without (see the critical remarks): this , which I am called upon to drink.
] without my having drunk it ; if it cannot pass from me unless it is drunk.
] this is the , Phi 2:8 ; Rom 5:19 . Observe in this second prayer the climax of resignation and submission; His own will, as mentioned in Mat 26:39 , is completely silenced. Mark’s account is here less precise.
Mat 26:43 . , . . .] for their eyes (see on Mat 8:3 ) were heavy (weighed down with drowsiness). Comp. Eur. Alc . 385.
Mat 26:44 . ] belongs to . Comp. 2Co 12:8 .
. . .] as is given at Mat 26:42 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Ver. 42. The second time, and prayed ] Prayer is that arrow of deliverance that would be multiplied, 2Ki 13:17 . God holds off on purpose that he may hear often of us, that we may ply the throne of grace, and give him no rest. The Church commenceth thrice the same suit, but riseth every time in her earnestness. Psa 80:3 ; Psa 80:7 ; Psa 80:19 If thy petition be not lawful, never prefer it, as if it be, never give it over. God suspends you, to make you eager.
If this cup may not pass, except I drink ] It passeth then, even while we are drinking of it. , hold out faith and patience. It is but a storm, and will soon be over. It is but a death, and that is but the daybreak of eternal brightness. It is but winking (as that martyr said), and thou shall be in heaven presently.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
42. ] Mark merely says of this second prayer, . Luke gives it as and relates in addition, that His sweat was like the fall of drops of blood on the ground: see notes on Luk 22:44 . (At what precise time the angel appeared to Him is uncertain: I should be inclined to think, after the first prayer , before He came to his disciples.)
The words are not exactly the same: “the Lord knew that the Father always heard Him ( Joh 11:42 ); and therefore He understands the continuance of His trial as the answer to His last words, as Thou wilt. ” Stier. Here therefore the prayer is, If it be not possible. thy will be done. It is spoken in the fulness of self-resignation. ‘Jam addita bibendi mentione, propius ad bibendum se confert.’ Bengel.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 26:42-46 . Further progress of the agony . That Jesus had not yet reached final victory is apparent from His complaint against the disciples. He came craving, needing a sympathy He had not got. When the moment of triumph comes He will be independent of them.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 26:42 . , saying; whereupon follow the words. Mark simply states that Jesus prayed to the same effect. : not . He knows that it is not possible, yet the voice of nature says strongly: would that it were!
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 26:42-46
42He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
Mat 26:42 “if this cannot pass away unless I drink it” This is a combination of a first class conditional and a third class conditional sentence. It implies that Jesus knew it was God’s will that He go to the cross, but He knew He could express His concern to the Father. It is good to know that God will not reject us because of our fears and confusion, but will work with us in love and faith as He worked with Jesus. We cannot even pray ourselves out of the will of God.
Mat 26:44 “prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more” Jesus prayed three times. This is similar to Paul’s three prayers concerning this thorn in the flesh (2Co 12:8). There is something of the Hebrew idiom of emphasis in the three-fold repetition (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 7:4). We can bring to God our concerns any time, as often as we feel the need.
Mat 26:45
NASB, NKJV,
TEV”Are you still sleeping and resting?”
NRSV”Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?”
NJB”You can sleep on now and have your rest.”
It is hard to interpret this Greek idiom. Is it a question? Is it irony? Is it a statement? Is it a command? Although the meaning is uncertain, it is obvious that Jesus has won the victory and He now stands erect, ready to face the night trials, the morning beatings and crucifixion.
“the hour is at hand” “Hour” was a significant idiom used throughout the Gospels, particularly John (cf. Mat 12:23; Mat 13:1; Mat 13:32; Mat 17:1), to describe this moment (cf. Mar 14:35; Mar 14:41). See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HOUR at Mat 24:36.
“is being betrayed into the hands of sinners” This is the fulfilled prophecy of Mat 16:21.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Thy will be done. The very words of Mat 6:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
42.] Mark merely says of this second prayer, . Luke gives it as -and relates in addition, that His sweat was like the fall of drops of blood on the ground: see notes on Luk 22:44. (At what precise time the angel appeared to Him is uncertain: I should be inclined to think, after the first prayer, before He came to his disciples.)
The words are not exactly the same: the Lord knew that the Father always heard Him (Joh 11:42); and therefore He understands the continuance of His trial as the answer to His last words, as Thou wilt. Stier. Here therefore the prayer is, If it be not possible. thy will be done. It is spoken in the fulness of self-resignation. Jam addita bibendi mentione, propius ad bibendum se confert. Bengel.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 26:42. , …, except, etc.) Whilst Jesus drank the cup it passed away.-, I drink) And now by this very utterance of that word He brings Himself nearer to the act of drinking.-, be done) The prayer of Jesus approached now nearer to suffering; cf. Mat 26:39. Behold His obedience.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the second: Mat 26:39, Psa 22:1, Psa 22:2, Psa 69:1-3, Psa 69:17, Psa 69:18, Psa 88:1, Psa 88:2, Mar 14:39, Mar 14:40, Heb 4:15, Heb 5:7, Heb 5:8
Reciprocal: Gen 22:7 – My father Psa 31:14 – Thou Psa 89:26 – Thou Psa 110:7 – He shall Mat 6:7 – repetitions Mat 6:9 – Our Mat 6:10 – Thy will Mat 7:21 – my Mat 20:22 – the cup Mat 26:36 – while Luk 22:42 – Father Joh 12:27 – is Joh 12:28 – Father Joh 18:11 – the cup Act 21:14 – The will Rom 15:3 – Christ Gal 1:4 – according Phi 2:8 – and became 1Pe 3:17 – if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6:42
Notice Jesus says this cup which denotes something present with him then. See the comments on the subject at verse 39.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 26:42. Again a second time. Mark (Mar 14:39): spake the same words. The prayer is substantially the same, but the form indicates more fully the resignation and self-sacrifice: the cup had not passed away, He must drink it, and He says: Thy will be done.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 26:42-45. He went away again the second time For the sorrow of his soul still continued; and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup, &c. If it be necessary, in pursuance of the great end for which I came into the world, that I should endure these grievous sufferings, thy will be done I acquiesce in thy appointment, how painful soever it may be to flesh and blood: and he came and found them asleep again He returned thus frequently to his disciples, that by reading his distress in his countenance and gesture, they might be witnesses of his passion. Our Lords pains on this occasion were intense beyond expression, for he went away the third time to pray, saying the same words as before, that is, offering petitions to the same effect, and in the same spirit of intense desire and perfect resignation. It appears, however, from Luke, that his inward conflict was greater than before, for notwithstanding that an angel was sent from heaven to strengthen his human nature, left to suffer, it seems, without its usual support from the divine, yet the sense of his sorrows so increased, that he was thrown into an agony, and his whole body was strained to such a degree, that his blood was pressed through the pores of his skin along with his sweat, and fell down in great drops to the ground: a circumstance which was the more extraordinary as he was now in the open air, and that in the cool of the night. Some, indeed, have interpreted Lukes expression, his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, in a metaphorical sense; fancying that, as those who weep bitterly are said to weep blood, so they may be said to sweat blood who sweat excessively by reason of hard labour or acute pain. But others more justly affirm that our Lords sweat was really mixed with blood to such a degree, that its colour and consistency was as if it had been wholly blood. Macknight. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith, Sleep on now, &c. For by your watching you can show no further kindness and concern for me, who am now to be delivered into the hands of my enemies. Some late interpreters translate this with an interrogation thus, Do ye still sleep on and take your rest? This appears at first to suit better the words which follow, Arise, let us be going. I cannot, however, says Dr. Campbell, help favouring the more common, which is also the more ancient, translation. Nor is there any inconsistency between this order, which contains an ironical reproof, very natural in such circumstances, and the exhortation which follows, Arise, behold, the hour is at hand The long-expected hour, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners The Greek word, , expresses more here than is implied in the English term sinners. Our Lord thereby signified, that he was to be consigned to the heathen, whom the Jews called, by way of eminence, , because they were idolaters. See Gal 2:15. For a similar reason they were also called , lawless, impious, as destitute of the law of God.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jesus’ repetition of His request illustrates persistence in prayer, not vain repetition. Persistence expresses the intensity with which we feel the need for our petition and our faith in God’s ability to meet our need. Vain repetition relies on the simple repetition of words to wear God down.
Jesus’ again illustrated the importance of submission to the Father’s will for His disciples. He had taught them the importance of this attitude earlier (Mat 6:10). By submitting to God’s will Jesus learned obedience (Heb 5:7-9). [Note: See S. Lewis Johnson Jr., "The Agony of Christ," Bibliotheca Sacra 124:496 (October-December 1967):303-13.]
"In the first garden ’Not your will but mine’ changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. Now ’Not my will but yours’ brings anguish to the man who prays it but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man from Gethsemane to the gates of glory." [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 545.]
"After three assaults had the tempter left Him in the wilderness; after the threefold conflict in the Garden he was vanquished." [Note: Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:541.]