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)
After His last supper with the disciples, Jesus went to a garden known as Gethsemane. The name means “olive press.” There, olives were pressed for their oil. So too, here the Son of God would be pressed.
In Gethsemane, Jesus was disturbed (sorrowful and deeply distressed, 26:37). In part, this was from knowing the physical horror waiting for Him at the cross. But more so, Jesus was distressed at the spiritual horror waiting for Him on the cross. Jesus would stand in the place of guilty sinners and receive all the spiritual punishment sinners deserve; He who knew no sin would be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). This was far beyond a noble death as a martyr; Jesus would become the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
That is the context for this prayer of Jesus: If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. God the Father would never deny the Son any request, because Jesus prayed according to the heart and will of the Father. Since Jesus drank the cup of judgment at the cross, we know that it is not possible for salvation to come any other way. Salvation by the work of Jesus at the cross is the only possible way; if there is any other way to be made right before God, then Jesus died an unnecessary death.
Repeatedly in the Old Testament, the cup is a powerful picture of the wrath and judgment of God (Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15). On the cross, Jesus became, as it were, an enemy of God, who was judged and forced to drink the cup of the Father’s fury, so we would not have to drink from that cup – this was the source of Jesus’ agony.
The cup didn’t represent death, but judgment. Jesus was unafraid of death, and when He finished His work on the cross –receiving and bearing and satisfying the righteous judgment of God the Father upon our sin – He simply yielded Himself to death as His choice (John 19:30).
In saying, nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will, Jesus came to a point of decision in Gethsemane. It wasn’t that He had not decided before nor had consented before, but now He had come upon a unique point of decision. He drank the cup at Calvary, but He decided once for all to drink it at Gethsemane.
This struggle at Gethsemane – the place of crushing – has an important place in fulfilling God’s plan of redemption. If Jesus failed here, He would have failed at the cross. His success here made the victory at the cross possible.
If your trust is in Jesus, His victory at Gethsemane and at Calvary becomes your victory. Rest in His finished work today.