1/28/2026

Day 28:

Jesus in Gethsemane (Revisited)

Matthew 26:36–46 (NLT)

We return to Gethsemane because no journey into surrender is complete without lingering where surrender was most costly. Every surrendered life in Scripture—Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Joseph, the apostles—finds its meaning here. In this garden, the sinless Son of God chose obedience that would crush Him so redemption could be offered to us.

Jesus came with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane and told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Taking Peter, James, and John with Him, “He became anguished and distressed” (Matthew 26:37). The language is strong—overwhelming sorrow, crushing weight, suffocating anguish. Jesus did not face the cross with detached resolve. He faced it with full emotional and spiritual awareness.

He said to them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (v. 38). This was not fear of physical pain alone. Many have endured death bravely. What pressed Jesus to the edge of death was the cup He saw before Him—the full weight of sin, the outpouring of divine wrath, the momentary rupture of fellowship with the Father. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Falling face down, Jesus prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me” (Matthew 26:39). This was a real request, not a scripted prayer. Hebrews tells us, “Jesus offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears” (Hebrews 5:7). Surrender does not bypass agony; it passes through it.

Yet Jesus added the words that changed eternity: “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Three times He prayed this prayer (Matthew 26:42, 44). Each time, His human desire recoiled from the cost. Each time, His obedience prevailed. This was not passive resignation—it was violent obedience, the crucifixion of legitimate desire for the sake of divine purpose.

Luke records that “an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him” and that “his sweat became like great drops of blood” (Luke 22:43–44). Extreme anguish produced physical bleeding beneath the skin. Surrender cost Jesus bodily, emotionally, and spiritually. Obedience was not painless—it was hemorrhaging trust.

Meanwhile, the disciples slept. Three times Jesus returned and found them exhausted and unaware. He gently said, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41). This applies not only to them, but to Him as well. His spirit was fully surrendered; His flesh recoiled. True surrender is choosing God’s will even when every human instinct resists it.

After the third prayer, Jesus said, “Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!” (v. 46). He did not wait for fear to disappear. He did not stall until peace arrived. He surrendered—and then walked directly toward the cross. Everything that followed flowed from this moment. Calvary was decided in Gethsemane.

This is why Jesus later told His disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). He never asks us to walk a road He Himself refused to walk. Our surrender is always a response to His.

What cup are you asking God to remove? What prayer do you keep repeating? Gethsemane teaches us that honest struggle does not disqualify surrender. We can tremble, weep, plead—and still obey. Resurrection always waits on the far side of surrender, but the path always runs through the garden first.

“True surrender is not the absence of agony, but obedience that chooses God’s will while every human desire begs for another way.”